KX Riders
Maintenance & Technical => KX500 Original => Topic started by: Green Fiend on May 07, 2011, 03:16:44 PM
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Hey Guys,
I'm new to the forum. Been creeping for a long time. Have always owned a kx. 125s 250s and always wanted a 500. Well finally got one. Now I really need your help. Went over the whole bike, replacing any part that had any wear. Good compression, new plug, new pipe, new reeds. Took it to local Kawasaki dealership, they went through the carb rejetted it. They told me it had intermittent spark. That's funny cause bike ran decent when I took it there. I know anything is possible. Anyway when I took it out today it ran good for a while
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what do you mean by "a while"?? You can search in here and find all the info about your ign. and test everything you can with an ohm meter. :roll: Sounds like you need a new CDI, but don't quote me on that! :lol: Maybe you should look into the ignition system that is in the for sale section. $$ though!!
But, probably worth it. :wink:
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Ran good for a while, pulled the clutch in and it stalled. Not so much stalled as just died. Gave it a few kicks started up again ran for a few minutes, through jumps and rough terrain when I pulled the clutch again And it died. Would try to start but die immediately. Then after a few minutes it would start run again and die. It was very sporadic. Dealer said it's probably the stator. Seem more simple to me. Any suggestions? Really am glad to be part of. This is a great site. Look foward to getting to know you guys.
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Sounds strange, maybe a stator problem... I know that kawa put out 9-out of-10 stator coils out of spec. from the factory. Mine being one of them. Ask -Kaw rider- what he thinks. ( he will prob. tell you to send it to him to fix it. :-D ) He is the YODA of all things K5! :wink:
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Ran good for a while, pulled the clutch in and it stalled. Not so much stalled as just died. Gave it a few kicks started up again ran for a few minutes, through jumps and rough terrain when I pulled the clutch again And it died. Would try to start but die immediately. Then after a few minutes it would start run again and die. It was very sporadic. Dealer said it's probably the stator. Seem more simple to me. Any suggestions? Really am glad to be part of. This is a great site. Look foward to getting to know you guys.
OK, why did the dealer you took your bike to "rejet" the carb, and not fully diagnose and repair the "stator" issue ?
Also what is "good" compression ? We need a hard psi # to help remember we are reading your description and not riding your bike. It is extremly tough when you describe your engine as "it runs i pull the clutch in and it dies". We need a lot more details...
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Ran good for a while, pulled the clutch in and it stalled. Not so much stalled as just died. Gave it a few kicks started up again ran for a few minutes, through jumps and rough terrain when I pulled the clutch again And it died. Would try to start but die immediately. Then after a few minutes it would start run again and die. It was very sporadic. Dealer said it's probably the stator. Seem more simple to me. Any suggestions? Really am glad to be part of. This is a great site. Look foward to getting to know you guys.
OK, why did the dealer you took your bike to "rejet" the carb, and not fully diagnose and repair the "stator" issue ?
Also what is "good" compression ? We need a hard psi # to help remember we are reading your description and not riding your bike. It is extremly tough when you describe your engine as "it runs i pull the clutch in and it dies". We need a lot more details...
+1
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I do apologize, it is pretty hard to explain it all. The reason I didn't have my dealer finish diagnosing the problem is quite honestly I didn't have much faith in them. They called me and told me it wouldn't start, that they had bad news. I stopped by and started it on the very first kick. They didn't have somebody that could start the beast. They showed me some kid in the back with a goose egg on his leg that looked like a softball! Told him it takes a man to start a K5! I took it apart today and it looks like the previous owner(original) had been fooling around with the wiring under the tank. There is no telling what's been going on! I really appreciate you guys time, I think it needs some serious diagnostics. Think I'm going to take it to a dealership couple towns over. Have them do a full test on all systems. Came too far to turn back now! PS there is a black philips head screw in the top of the head. Is this normal? Seems out of place. Had a lot of bikes, never saw that. Oh yeah it's a 2004. Thanks guys, sorry for killing your time. I really do appreciate your responses.
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save your time and money and we here can walk you thru it here. Do you have a electrial meter.
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I do.
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I think the clutch cable is rubbing against the statoe wire and cause some issue there. and when you pull the clutch in cause it the move the stator wire hardness and then it dies. pull the plug and kick it over and see if it has a great spark.
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It's funny you say that, I think that's exactly what's happening. Took gas tank off earlier and the last guy had the clutch cable and stator wires underneath the white plastic sheath. They were actually rubbing into the frame not through the wires, but you could see they had alot of pressure on them he also had them tied together. I might be wrong but it looks like the wires go in that white sheath. That's where I put them, like it was meant to be. Put the clutch cable where it can have play and move free. Wasn't going to try it today, but that's insane you came up with that, I wasn't sure seemed too simple, but then again seemed to be something simple all along. I'm going to take it out now. I'll let you know. Can't wait.
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I'm sorry I meant the throttle cable was tied together with the stator wires under the seat. I thought about that on the way to the park. Clutch cable was clear except where it rubbed into the radiator bracket. Taped that up. Got to the park and couldn't get it to fire at all. I hate electrical problems!
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check for spark if it don't start.
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Chiilllll out, just go through it step by step. The ignition in this bike is like three parts, so it's not too complicated. Ohm out what you can to see if anything is fried, check all your wires and connectors, Ect. There is a lot of stuff on here that can help you, use the search tool. BUT FIRST, do what kaw said and pull the plug, have your buddy hold it, kick it over good, and see how good and strong your spark is. That is your first indicator. Screw the dealership, it's a waste of $$ and gas getting the bike there! BEST $$ spent is on the service manual, www.repairmanual.com they got em all. And don't be scared to tear into it... you can always fix what you break :lol: look around on here, ask some questions. but check your spark first, KAW knows what hes talkin about. I think he might be trying to walk you through it! :wink:
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Chiilllll out, just go through it step by step. The ignition in this bike is like three parts, so it's not too complicated. Ohm out what you can to see if anything is fried, check all your wires and connectors, Ect. There is a lot of stuff on here that can help you, use the search tool. BUT FIRST, do what kaw said and pull the plug, have your buddy hold it, kick it over good, and see how good and strong your spark is. That is your first indicator. Screw the dealership, it's a waste of $$ and gas getting the bike there! BEST $$ spent is on the service manual, www.repairmanual.com they got em all. And don't be scared to tear into it... you can always fix what you break :lol: look around on here, ask some questions. but check your spark first, KAW knows what hes talkin about. I think he might be trying to walk you through it! :wink:
PM sent !
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I got spark but it seems weak. Bike has a BR8EIX plug. Is that right? It's new, just replaced what was there.
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Sorry man, been a while hows it going?? figure anything out yet?
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That's fine, no worries. I went back to the dealership the other day to pick up my street bike.(highsided it couple weeks ago) while I was there I asked them if they did a full diagnostic on the ignition. He said they did and that's what they were trying to tell me when I picked the bike up. Guess I was so pissed I didn't want to here it. But they were still pretty vague saying the stator is putting out intermittent spark, and that it would cost $350.00 just for the stator. I looked it up and can get one for,I think it was $289.00 from Kawasaki parts warehouse. It's bad when you don't have faith in those guys. Anyway before I do anything I want to run the tests on my stator myself. Where did to say I can get that info? Found couple posts on tests but it looked like conflicting info. Believe it or not I am pretty mechanically inclined, just never really tinkered with the electrical systems. I don't think my shop has on two strokes either to be honest with you. Thanks for your help.
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Make sure you don't have any broken leads anywhere first, then ohm out your stator: 153-230 Ohms: Black/White to Black/Yellow 7.9-11.9 Ohms: White/Red to Black/Yellow. That's spec.(mines: Blk/Wh-Blk/Yel= 318.4 Ohms , Re/Wh-Blk/Yel= 10.3 Ohms, The first is out of range by 88.4 ohms respectivley. And the second is on the high end of within range.
And shake or wiggle the leads when your ohming it and see if the reading goes open loop.(broken wire) Don't know if that will help.
There are some coils here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ELECTREX-LIGHTING-Stator-KAWASAKI-KX500-89-04-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem19baf96eb0QQitemZ110511091376QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories
And
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ELECTREX-Stator-Source-Coil-KAWASAKI-KX500-89-04-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem230be78769QQitemZ150523578217QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories
I'm still learning too as far as ign. goes and I don't have my manuals in front of me here. so i'm not much help right now! :-D
But I would say IF it is def. a stator problem then pull the flywheel and see what is going on in there. It could be as stoopid as a loose terminal screw or broken coil lead, if so it would suck to pay a dealer $350 for a new stator when all they did was solder a wire!! :lol: I trust NO dealership! :wink:
I am an electrical enginner by trade, but I don't mess with systems unless I have to! Can only keep so much data in my head at one time!!
But if you wanted to know how an inverter works, I could talk about it all day! :lol:
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(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i75/Friar-Tuck/service%20repair%20maitenance/th_ElectricalSystem13-1.jpg) (http://s69.photobucket.com/albums/i75/Friar-Tuck/service%20repair%20maitenance/?action=view¤t=ElectricalSystem13-1.jpg)
There are more of these pages here: http://s69.photobucket.com/home/Friar-Tuck/index#
After you click on the link, go to the 5th page. (start on the bottom of the page next to the pic of the choke needle)
I couldn't figure out how to put them in order, :oops: but they are there.
Tuck\o/
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Thank you, I don't trust the dealers either!! I'll run the tests tonite and post results. I'm going to try to find a pulled today to see if I can pull the flywheel. I'll let you know. Thanks again
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FYI.....
ALWAYS check the simple things FIRST before you start assuming expensive components and spending hundreds of dollars on perfectly good parts. go over the wiring harness and look for a broken or chaffed wire. In my experiences either you have spark or you don't (if a component has failed). Granted you could have a suspect stator, but it's a possibility the external coild is bad and failing when the engine gets hot. Disconnect the kill switch wires and drive the bike this will rule out a grounding kill switch issue.