XJ700 CDI

I have an electronics question. Does anyone know the frequency of the CDI box burning out on an '86 XJ700?

The story......Quite a while back, On the advice of a mechanic, I purchased a brand new CDI for my Maxim to fix an electrical problem. Turns out it was a broken wire and not the CDI box at all (which I found out after I got fed up and took it to a different mechanic). The result was that I was then the proud owner of a few hundred dollar paperweight which I could not return because of the no return policy of the company for electrical parts.

I was considering trying to sell it, as I don't imagine they go bad often, but would hate to get rid of it and later find out it would be a good thing to have on hand. Any thoughts?

 

Probably rarely , but if i suggested yeh sell it your other could stop the day its gone , its older stuff , your guess i guess as thats all it will be

 

It's almost like you know me and my luck! It's almost certain to burst into flames the instant the new one is out the door! I know there's no "right answer" to my inquiry, but it just seems like one of those parts that rarely goes bad. Thanks for the input! Brett

 

I just got an XJ650 that I have been trying to get on the road. One of the issues I had was a bad ignition module. I got one off of ebay but there was no gaurantee it was a good one, so I bought another one off a member here. Turns out the one I got off ebay was good, so I now have a spare. I intend on keeping the extra one cause, like you said, the minute I get rid of it I will need it. My advice is, unless your really hurting for cash, keep it just in case!!

Just my .02 worth..

 

I just bought one off ebay as a spare part only.... you never know when you will need it..... but you will have it !

 

It is always nice to have one for troubleshooting as well. If you have a spare you can definitively rule the CDI out and focus on other matters (unless of course the minute you hook it up, your bike blows that one too - but unlikely.)

The CDI seems to be the "hail mary" of why bikes don't run in the eyes of some "mechanics". I would keep it, sell it on Ebay if you ever sell the bike.

My two cents.
Rob

 

Your welcome , strange stuff that luck stuff , and it is stuff , if i was in your situation scenario , i 'd make a real good guess , flog it and have 200 bills in the pocket the tci still ok stuff real good And Then the rear wheel would fall off .

 

All good points. I think I will keep in on hand "just in case"....that way the one on the bike will never go out and I get the added bonus of a beautiful paperweight!

Funny that "luck" came up again, as I had another strike tonight. Just for good measure, I decided to change my brake fluid (I'm waiting on cluch parts anyway....another "good luck story" behind my needing a new clutch boss and clutch cover). Anyway, now I need to find another screw for my master cylinder to replace the one that I had to take out with an easy out. I was hoping that I might be able to find something at a hardware store, anyone know if that is even worth trying?

The saga continues.......

 

I've been successful at hardware replacement using ACE Hardware and other Mom 'n Pop places. HomeDepot and Lowes carry a fair assortment but their product line is usually thin toward the smaller and larger sizes. Sounds like you've got some shoping to do!

 

The hardware stores like Ace have has much metric stuff as they do SAE stuff now. Shouldn't be a problem to replace.

You might want to pick a metric thread pitch guage, just so you know you're getting the right screw/bolt/nut.

 

Thanks! I was hoping that it would be just a standard metric machine thread, and sounds like it probably is. Hard to believe with all of the little drawers of nuts/bolts I have collected at home from various cars, machines, etc, that I didn't have something on hand! Luckily there's a decent hardware store down the road that has a good selection nuts/bolts. Cheers! Brett