2003 drz 400E no spark

[DanielKLR650]

So a couple months ago I bought a basket case drz 400E cause I wanted to build a spare bike. I bought it from the original owners who had parked it in 2013 supposedly because whoever was riding it in the family went to the military not due to being broke down. I went to have a look at it and even though the plastics were in terrible shape it appeared pretty solid otherwise and was pretty cheap and had already been converted to street legal.

After getting it home I started tinkering and pulled the spark plug and put a little lube down the cylinder since it had sat for so long, while the plug was out I decided to check for spark. No spark… and here I am over a month later and still no spark. After trying a different spark plug and still no spark I broke out the ohm meter. I got my hands on a service manual and started testing… the ignition coil, pickup coil, and signal coil all ohmed with in spec. I then checked for proper voltage and ground at the cdi which I do have and also went around cleaning grounds and checked the fuse and fuse holder.

Being an E model it doesn’t really have any safety switches other then the clutch switch which does not cut spark, however it bypassed it anyway, I also bypassed the ignition switch and made sure the kill wire is open circuit( not grounded ). I also checked that the white wire to the ignition coil has continuity from there to the cdi and I isolated the regulator rectifier and tps. At this point I have a total of 3 ignition coils, 3 cdis, and 2 stators and this bike will not spark with any combination of any of them. I’m beginning to wonder if there could be an issue with the flywheel causing a no spark issue, any ideas what I may be missing?

Also I know I should be checking peak voltage and I should have ordered an adapter the 2nd day of this, I thought I could get away with out it and that’s not working out for me, I will be ordering one but in the mean time any input is appreciated.

 

[Rydah]

I assume you're holding the spark plug on the head so it's grounded, right?

 

[DanielKLR650]

I assume you're holding the spark plug on the head so it's grounded, right?

Yup.

 

[Windmill]

My kill switch wasn't working. I spayed it and moved it off and on many times. It cranks good now. I have also had bad kickstand kill switches in the past.
Let us know when you solve the issue.

 

[humanrace]

On the E model, if the engine turns over, the fuse, Ignition switch, starter button and clutch switch are all working properly. The kill switch has 12 volts running through it on the S and SM models, but the E model uses a ground to kill the spark. Make sure the black/yellow wire at the CDI is not shorted to ground.

 

[humanrace]

I remember working on a DRZ with this problem many years ago. My memory fails me on what the solution was, but I do remember that parts from an S model had been switched to an E model. Turning the switch on, even without cranking, would cause one spark to occur at the sparkplug and then nothing.

 

[DanielKLR650]

On the E model, if the engine turns over, the fuse, Ignition switch, starter button and clutch switch are all working properly. The kill switch has 12 volts running through it on the S and SM models, but the E model uses a ground to kill the spark. Make sure the black/yellow wire at the CDI is not shorted to ground.

I remember working on a DRZ with this problem many years ago. My memory fails me on what the solution was, but I do remember that parts from an S model had been switched to an E model. Turning the switch on, even without cranking, would cause one spark to occur at the sparkplug and then nothing.

The kill wire to the cdi is not grounded, checked that a while back, when I first started messing with it if I clicked the ignition off and on while cranking I would get 1 spark. I have since lost that though.

 

[Hellwig]

Mine just crapped a stator a few weeks ago due to the bolts holding the starter clutch to flywheel backing out. Ran great one day, and next it wouldn't start but had some fire. I replaced it with a $40 stator from Rocky Mtn and two wires were correct color but swapped from where they should have been, similar results as yours til I corrected it.

I had a similar issue to yours on a kdx 200 a few years ago, tried everything and ended up being the cdi. As far as I know, there isn't a good way to test cdi's without some very expensive equipment.

After you exhaust all your testing options and are sure you have checked and rechecked your wiring and connections, you might consider hunting a new /used cdi. New are pricey, used arent nearly as bad.
I dunno about Chinese knockoffs.

 

[DanielKLR650]

Mine just crapped a stator a few weeks ago due to the bolts holding the starter clutch to flywheel backing out. Ran great one day, and next it wouldn't start but had some fire. I replaced it with a $40 stator from Rocky Mtn and two wires were correct color but swapped from where they should have been, similar results as yours til I corrected it.

I had a similar issue to yours on a kdx 200 a few years ago, tried everything and ended up being the cdi. As far as I know, there isn't a good way to test cdi's without some very expensive equipment.

After you exhaust all your testing options and are sure you have checked and rechecked your wiring and connections, you might consider hunting a new /used cdi. New are pricey, used arent nearly as bad.
I dunno about Chinese knockoffs.

I have 3 cdis at this point and for certain one is known good is runs fine on another bike. The wires were crossed on the new stator that I got, I corrected that and still no spark. Thanks for the reply.