A fine and theoretical point: Spark is generated in ignition coils when the current flow in the primary coil is interrupted/stopped (points/circuit opens) and the magnetic field created by previous current flow in the primary coil stops, causing an instant collapse of the primary magnetic field, with lines of magnetic force moving through the secondary coil (spark to the plug) and inducing a very brief but large current flow and high voltage. In other words, the spark is triggered by an interruption of current flow, not the establishment of one.
From: Allen Thomas Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2014 7:51 PM To: Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers! Subject: Re: [Nighthawk Lovers] Re: No spark on 2 cylinders Can you share the wiring diagram I'll take a look and see if I make sense of it. Yes it should be straight forward since you are getting some spark. If you had no spark then that can get tricky depending on the various safety circuitry. Once the system is getting juice the pulse generator sends signals to the CDI which grounds the coils which makes them fire. Allen Thomas On Jul 22, 2014 8:00 PM, "EGrider" <[email protected]> wrote: Yes, I have a PDF or the official Honda shop manual and there is a wiring diagram at the end. It's black and white, though, and wiring diagrams kind of give me a headache. I'm just feeling my way here. I guess the pickups, CDI boxes, coils, spark plug wires, and spark plugs are the complete system, right? If the components are good, then it must be the connections between them? On Tuesday, July 22, 2014 8:32:42 AM UTC-4, EGrider wrote: After I got Old Yeller cleaned up Sunday, I started in on a craigslist 1985 V30 I picked up in Virginia a couple weeks back. I put a battery in it and all electrics worked, even the horn. I was excited that this was going to be a battery and carb clean job. But when I put a fifth plug in the #1 cylinder wire and hit the key, no spark! Luckily I have 2 other running V30s, so I pulled the CDI boxes and plugged them into a running bike. Started right up. I pulled the back coil and stuck it in another bike and got no spark- aha! But when I put a known good coil off that bike in the new one,I still got no spark. About then I decided to pull a wire from one of the front cylinders and put a plug in it. I expected it to be dead, but I got spark on the front. This led me to think I had a bad pickup, or what the manual calls a spark generator. I pulled the connector and tested with a VOM per the manual. Both front and back pickups had the same in-range resistance, and I got the same reading from a running bike. So the front (2-4) cylinders get spark, but I'm not getting spark from a good CDI, a good coil, and what seems to be a good spark generator on the 1-3. Without removing the case cover, maybe I could reverse the pickup wires and see if I get spark (albeit at the wrong timing) on the 1-3 cylinders? After that, I’m not sure what I’m left with. I’m not much at reading wiring diagrams—they give me a headache—but all I can think of is testing the connectivity of pertinent wires on the harness. Can anyone offer any other clues or comments to get spark on the 1-3 cylinders? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
