Ask the Editors: New Ignition, No Spark
Anyone seen some spark?
You didn’t specify in your question an important fact to the diagnosis process: Did the machine make spark prior to your upgrading to the Black Dragon ignition?
If not, the most common explanation is a short, which can be diagnosed using a multimeter set to “continuity” and placing the leads upon each length of wire you wish to test. A result of unequal ohms means a short in that particular wire.
If your system worked fine prior to the ignition upgrade, the next step would be to confirm that the coil itself is outputting voltage. First measure the resistance between the primary wire that comes from the CDI box and the ground wire. The resistance should measure around .5 to 1.5 Ohms. If that checks out, you can then measure the resistance between the secondary wire (spark plug wire), which should measure in the thousands. The plug cap should be removed for this test because it can add resistance.
Pay careful attention to the results here because once you’ve ruled out shorts, grounds, switches and the spark plug itself, it is possible to have gotten a faulty ignition kit.
