Newbie here! No spark, bike will not start!

[Thevoyagerguy58]

Hello, I have a 2003 voyager, the bike turns over but won't start.fuel pump works, pulled a plug and I don't see a spark, turns over good, battery good, is there a way to check that the igniter is working? Tried disconnecting the sidestand to bipass it,is there any other safety thing that can prevent tje motorcycle from starting? Thanks!

[triton28]

If you have direct clean wire contact of the wire lead from the coil with the threaded barb inside the plastic plug caps and a clean spare plug to observe when the spare plug, inserted into the #1 or #4 plug lead, is grounded against the cylinder head and you do not get a spark while rotating the engine then I would first check the 3 plastic connectors which have a direct bearing on the firing of the coils.
The first is the white 4 terminal connector where the 4 wire sub harness from the pickup coils meets the main harness. Check it for corrosion and clean if necessary.
Next would be the 2 connectors mounted to the igniter itself, Check the terminals as mentioned before.
If all is good with these 3 connectors I would then nip 1/4" of of each plug lead and reinsert onto the threaded barbs of the plastic plug caps to ensure good contact.
If still no spark then I would, as I have spares, substitute a known good igniter into the circuit.
The main wires to check are the White to the ignition switch; then the Yellow/Red from the ignition switch to the engine stop switch; and the Red from the engine stop switch to both coils AND the igniter itself, see Chapter 15, pages 18-22.
I hope this is of some help,
Dave

[Thevoyagerguy58]

Thanks! I did see some corrosion on the spark plug cable after taking off the cup, and I even try to see if it was any spark directly from the cable but nothing, disassembled the "run" swich, it looked clean, jumped the sidestand, and checked the connections to the igniter.still no dice. I'll check the connection you mentioned from the pick up coils. I don't have a spare igniter to check unfortunately. Is there a way to check if the igniter is sending a pulse to the coils? Thanks again

[triton28]

There is a procedure outlined in the Motorcycle Service Manual on the pages I referenced but it is suggested that one should/must use the genuine Kawasaki tester to get the correct results so that may or may not be of any help to you.
If you need the manual go to the "Tech Center" option of the main "AVA Home" page and peruse the available options.
As well as the connector you can also do a check of the pickup coils with an ohmmeter.
Dave

[Thevoyagerguy58]

I did see that,but as you mentioned, you need the kawasaki tester, so no go. I was looking for a way to check for a "pulse" coming out of the igniter

[Thevoyagerguy58]

so small update, when I press the start button, I can see a weak spark, but it only spark one time? ideas? and,also, I can see a wire pink and black coming from the diodes (I see it on the diagram, I have no idea were the diodes box is) on the diagram, going to igniter, what it do? thanks! is a shame that the shop manual shows 10 pages in how to fix the alternator, and only one for the whole ignition system!

[triton28]

The Pink/Blue wire goes completes the circuits for the starter lockout, neutral and sidestand switches; see Electrical Section 15 page 21.
Try jumping your battery with a known good battery as it may be that your battery is old/weak. Not being where you are I can't tell.
Also as a longshot, check the plastic terminal block connector for the RH handlebar switches where this sub-harness connects to the main harness.
Yeah they probably could have expanded the info for the ignition system but in fairness it is relatively simple compared to the alternator/starter.

[Thevoyagerguy58]

I have the motorcycle connected to a big truck battery, so no problems there, is honestly a simple system but,without acceso to a good igniter I'm stuck, any ideas were to get one? I tried ebay but the 2 there now are the old ones,is a guy here that rebuids them? Also, the yellow/black wire is supposed to be connected to ground but checking with a prob light it doesn't ligth up.I tried coneccting this to ground but still nothing. I get 12v to the igniter, so 8s either the pick up coils, ignition coilsxor igniter.

[Nails]

I don't have anything to contribute, but I'm curious about the backstory. I assume you just bought it. Did it die of a sudden? While running hard and hot?
I wonder whether you could find someone to mail it to for testing ... given that we're coming on winter anyway.

[triton28]

It sounds as though you may well be correct in your diagnosis of the problem being the igniter itself.
Generally the pickup coils and/or the actual spark plug coils are less likely to be problematic due to being wire windings only with no thyristers/diodes/capacitors or pcbs to fail.
Just to be sure do check the pickup and ignition coils as the manual outlines and if they check out OK then you pretty much will know for sure. You can also check out the igniter with a digital multimeter but not being the actual Kawasaki special tool I don't know if the readings would be accurate or not.
Most ignition coils fail ONLY after they have power to them for an amount of time and the wire windings heat up, expand and then internally an intermittent wire contact becomes an open circuit and VOILA: no more spark from that coil until it cools down and the internal wire again makes contact with it's other half, or doesn't. But the spark only remains present for a few miles down the road until the coil heats up again and opens the circuit.
The pickup coils would probably operate on the same principle.
Pete Franchi who does the Clarion repairs to radios and CBs was working on the igniters awhile ago but I never heard anymore on that. Look up Voyager XII radio repairs on Google and send Pete a line. Perhaps he has come up with a repair schedule for the igniters. https://amervoyassoc.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6538
Nails;
that is a great idea.

[Thevoyagerguy58]

Yep,unfortunately, look like the igniters on ebay have no warranty, and obviously iscno way to check them out, I guess I have brick till I find a good working one! I'll still buy a cheap ignition coil to wire to the exit from tje igniter to see if I get anything

[Thevoyagerguy58]

I dont see in the shop manual a procedure to check pick up coils? only a picture showing them?

[Nails]

Pickup coil inspection starts on 15-19.

[triton28]

There should be 2 wires for each set of windings. Place the probes of the multi meter one on each wire of one wound coil lead and measure the resistance in ohms and check against the chart.
The schematic doesn't really show which wires go to which pickup coil but I'm sure if you trace them you may find that the Black/White and Blue do one winding and perhaps the Yellow and Black wires do the other, but that is just a guess.

[Thevoyagerguy58]

Thanks!

[Thevoyagerguy58]

Well,small progress! I took the side panel to access the pick up coils connection, and one of the coils showed zero resistance, so I got to the coils and look like the bike was dropped and tje side protection bar impacted the pick up coils coverplastic), and broke the pick up coils base. I Ordered a used one from ebay and will report back!

[triton28]

In case you still need an igniter look up this Item Number on eBay.
256271755957

[Thevoyagerguy58]

Thanks! It was ther pick up coils. Got a used one on ebay and she purrs like a kitten! Tjsnks for your help!

[cushman eagle]

Hi,Thevoyagerguy58,I am glad to see you were able to get her going

[Nails]

Glad it's not the igniter.
Who has actually had one of those fail? I mean godfersure failed, not just replacing it along with other stuff.