christmas gremlin

So.. This morning I tried to start the 550 (it's been sitting a while, but with stabil in the tank). It didn't.

(few cuss words and a bit of ether later).. it fired up, but running only on the 2 outside cylinders. The inner two were cold.

After mucking about with it for a couple of hours, spark has disappeared on all 4 cylinders. So.. I got to checking everything I could, I let it sit for a while. About 2 hours later, I tried again - this time I got weak spark, then after a few cranks it sputtered and the spark disappeared again. (UGH!)

So.. I thought it might be the TCI -- I re-touched all the solder joints inside the TCI, patched a couple of corroded traces. I put the 550's TCI on the 750 - it fired right up, revved up through the whole range.

I put the TCI back on the 550 - nothing.

The fuse box has been redone, all fuses are good. The battery is getting a tad weak, but will hold a strong charge for a few cranks. The bike has 13K on it, so starter/alternator brushes should still be ok.

So.. any clues on what to check next?

thanks!

...and merry christmas too

 

From what I've read on here and other places, the ignition on these bikes is very touchy about the battery. Something about the starter pulls all the available power from a weak battery and won't leave enough to run the ignition. Try replacing it with a good strong bettery and see how it goes from there.

 

Pull the plugs and replace them. I would bet they are fouled. You dould also check the coils. A good strong battery is also a good choice.

 

My chips are on the plugs too. Had a similar situation last winter - actually rode from the barn to the house. When it was time to go back only 1 cylinder firing. I was able to restore them by giving them a shot of ether.

**EDIT**

Clarification: I pulled the plugs and gave them each a quick squirt of ether.

 

ok, new plugs and battery after the holidays. we'll see what happens then.

thanks

 

are 1&4 on the same coil ? like a 750
you can you test the coils with a weak battery

 

yup, the 550 is the same way... 1&4, 2&3. I was also kinda surprised that the TCI's are interchangeable.

Can coils just go bad for no reason? I fired the 550 up not long ago - maybe a month. It was running fine then.

 

everything in my house breaks for no apparent reason, just ask my wife and kids
see if those plugs will spark right from the battery to the coil