I wondered about the ignition switch and took it apart yesterday to check it out. It looked fine, but to be sure, I cleaned the contacts inside. I will remember this suggestion and give it a try if everything else fails.

Thanks so much!
Jackie

 

What I do is connect the ohm meter to the each end of the wire to be tested. Use the ohm scale. A wire will usually read around .3 ohms. While watching the meter, flex the wire back and forth at different positions along its length. Pay particular attention to bends in the harness.You will know the wire is bad when the reading spikes.

 

When you have no spark do all the lights work (head, tail, reverse, and neutral) and does motor turn over?

Also, when checking for a spark, do you have the plug grounded?

 

When I have no spark.. absolutely everything works, even the lights, and the starter is spinning like crazy. Also, it's a new battery of the correct size. Everything is normal except there is no spark when I ground the plug.

Thanks,
Jackie

 

It may be a problem with either your kill switch or your ignition switch.

Basically what they're doing is bringing the black/yellow wire to ground. This wire disables the ignition at the C.D.I. unit.

If you read voltage at the black/yellow wire going into the C.D.I. it should be floating (not zero) when the ignition is on and the kill switch is in the run position. Voltage should drop to 0 when the either switch is off.

If that isn't happening then you can test your switches:

Ohm out the black/yellow to the black/ white wires on the ignition switch. They should switch from 0 ohms in the off position to open in the on position.

Also you can do the same check on the kill switch if you can access the wires.

 

Thanks Kenm... I will do these tests tomorrow morning. Now, when I test the voltage going into the CDI, is that AC or DC? I read somewhere that it's AC coming from the stator, but not sure where it turns to DC.

Thanks so much for troubleshooting this with me!
Jackie

 

The C.D.I. has 2 wires coming from the magneto,black and blue/yellow, those will be ac. It has 2 wires that appear to come from the pickup,black /yellow and green/white. I would make sure that these switch as the engine turns over (probably 0-5 or 0-12 V DC. If your pickup is flaky that would explain your symptoms. It has an output to the coil, a ground and the black/yellow wire that is used to shut the engine down, by being pulled down to ground. I don't know what voltage is supposed to be on this pin, I'm guessing A.C. since no D.C. comes into this unit.

Here's a better method to troubleshoot CDI disable circuit:

To troubleshoot unplug black/yellow connector at CDI, connect test leads from harness side of wire to neg terminal of batt. With ignition on( you don't have to start engine) you should read infinite, when off or kill switch on reading should be 0 ohms.

You're welcome!

 

Hey Kenm....

This morning I performed the test in the quote above. With the ignition switch on and the kill switch off, In got a reading of .4 on the VDC scale of my digital multitester. I didn't have time to dismantle the kill switch to check it because I had to go to town (35 miles away!) I will get to that tomorrow morning, I hope. Is there a way to totally bypass the kill switch? In the 21 years I have owned this atv, I have never used it.

The test you mentioned in a later post re: the 2 wires that are coming from the magneto to the CDI has me confused. I'm not sure how to test these wires and knowing the wrong hookup can fry my CDI, I will wait for further directions from you.

Also, if my stator (magneto) was rebuilt, would that include taking care of the pickup, or am I just assuming too much?

Thank you SOOOOO much!
Jackie

 

You can test the ignition switch and the kill switch in place by using this method. This is just the "stop" side of the ignition switch, the power side appears to be working since everything else has power.

Disclaimer: I am not an ATV tech. I have never worked on an ATV electrical system. I have some electronics experience and own the same ATV as you. I do not have a shop manual for this bike (which you should consider buying), I just have the wiring diagram in the owners manual as a reference. Just so you won't think you're talking to an official Suzuki tech.

To troubleshoot unplug black/yellow connector at CDI, connect one test lead to black/yellow wire from harness side of wire and one to the neg terminal of batt. With ignition on ( don't start engine) you should read infinite (ohms), when ignition off or kill switch off (kill) reading should be 0 ohms.


It looks to me that you could unplug the black/yellow to trouble shoot the problem. This would remove the ignition switch and the kill switch from the circuit. That pin would stay high and the engine would run, but to stop it you would have to shut off gas or use choke. Look at your manual, this wire only goes to ground through the switches.


In your manual you will see a little coil to the right of the magneto, that appears to me to be the pick up which is going to be something like this : Electronic Ignition Overview I have no idea if it's a part of the magneto assy. or not, but I do know that it tells the CDi when to fire.

You could check with your dealer to see if it was replaced or checked out.

 

Hi Kenm :-)
It doesn't matter to me if you are a Suzuki Tech or not. You are the only one who has taken this amount of time to help me with this problem. You seem to know more about this quad than the dealership where I spent tons of money to get it fixed. THANKS!!!!

I have to drive to town again today (another 70 mile round trip!) but will try some of your troubleshooting when I return.

Here's my ATV dressed and undressed! LOL!

In the second (stripped) picture, I have dropped the gas tank to pull out the wire harness and then put it back up so I can continue to drive it. The wire harness is now on the outside of the frame so I can get at it more easily.