No Spark

[spintly]

I thought I had my 88 R ready to go for a XC race on Sunday, but couldn't compete because I have no spark. I kicked it once, nothing, kicked it a second time and it wanted to fire, then nothing after that. Took my plug out and my buddy held the plug against the head and I kicked it over, no spark. With my digital Ohms meter and Clymer manual I started troubleshooting. All wires from the ignition to the stator have coductivity within spec. The coil has conductivity with spec. The pulse generator has conductivity within spec. I hooked a light meter to the wire that runs the light and it produced light. I am thinking it is either the CDI or the stator. Is there anything else that I can test? I am willing to travel to get the problem fixed. I live in NW Pennsylvania. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

[sangheraent]

i had the same problem i had sheared the flywheel key. 4 bucks and a little loctite later i was running again. open the stator and take a look just opening it will tell you a lot.

[spintly]

If the woodruff key was bad, how am i still getting power to run the light? Are these seperate pieces?

[Latemodel32]

Sounds like a bad ground wire. Have you checked your killswitch ground wire? That is what happend to me yrs ago when i had a 250R my ground wire came unhooked

[fearlessfred]

Originally posted by spintly
If the woodruff key was bad, how am i still getting power to run the light? Are these seperate pieces?

your ignition windings and lighting coils are seperate,so one could work and not the other. even if the key is broke the lighting could still work checking grounds is a good idea with any elec prob. keep in mind that the 88 89 take a pretty swift kick to make spark . that is just my experence . not anything i have seen in writing

[red88r]

Check your ground on the shifter side by your upper radiator mount. Very common problem from what I have found. Take the bolt out and mount off and then remove enough paint to get a good ground. Then I put grease or anti-seize or something to keep it from rusting. Pinch the ground between the mount and frame.

[C-LEIGH RACING]

Those connectors in the harness could be the problem even though they look good & feel tight when pressed together.
Far as the ignition, in the wiring harness, the black wire with the white stripe is your main ignition wire & where in connects to the CDI box is where most of the ignition problems come from if its not a grounding problem.

The male pin down in that connector on the CDI box for the black/white stripe wire, can become loose & even break loose connection inside the CDI & then you end up with no ignition at all.

You figure over the years at the times that connector has been unplugged & then pluged back up, soon or later somethings got to give because that little male pin not made out of much.
Probably wouldnt hurt, to run an extra grounding wire direct from the engine case up to the point where the ignition ground wire mounts just so you'll be sure the voltage can make the circle.


If theres any thing on a 250R, that will make you pull your hair out because of problems, it that old stock ignition system.
Lifes to short to have to deal with it, so go ahead & bite the bullet & get the CR250R ignition setup & be done with ignition problems.
Theres even a CR system now with lighting coils so you can ride at night.
Neil

[J.B.]

More info on CR ignition with lights please...

[C-LEIGH RACING]

Ricky Stator, & at one time Service Honda had two different versions, low watt & high watt.
Neil

[spintly]

Opened up the stator side of the case and found nothing wrong. Wires are nice and tight and the flywheel hump looks really clean. I checked my ground again and removed the powdercoat on the frame and put the ground wire between the frame and the radiator mount (cleaned all wires and metal contact areas). I am ordering a CDI box tomorrow. If that isn't it, then back to the drawing board. Might go with a CR iginition sometime in the future. Thanks for all of the responses. I'll keep you posted.

[spintly]

Got my CDI box yesterday. Presto - SPARK! Thanks guys for all of your suggestions. I really appreciate it.