Ok I take that back now that I got a chance to look at the diagram. The grey wire should be power all the time with ignition switched on. The other 2 wires should pulse a ground signal while cranking. Let me know what ya got goin on there.
Evil-
I'm currently at work so all I have to work with is my manual on my laptop. I will be back on the forum tonight and I'm going to attempt to troubleshoot this issue when I get home. Is there a way I could test the Coil itself before I track down the wiring harness?
The bike was running 2 weeks ago and then it just crapped out on me.
sounds like a coil to me. same exact thing happened on my duc monster few years back....coil.
let us know.
yeah, exactly what i just told ya. you dont have to track down the harness, just unplug the coil harness and check there. turn the ignition on. check the grey wire for power (it should be batt voltage). If ok, Crank the engine while checking the Y/G wire. You should see ground in a pulse pattern. If ok, do the same with the BL/R wire. You should again see a ground pulse signal while cranking. If everything is as i say it should be, then you have a bad ignition coil. If you have any difference in what ive said then your problem is elsewhere. Trust me, this is the quickest way to diagnose a bad coil pack.
Evil- Thanks for all the help, I really appreciate it.
How exactly should I go about testing the 3 wire connector as mentioned above? You mention "pulse Signal" ect., would I find this using a voltmeter or another tool? Im new to the voltmeter. I have read the manual for the voltmeter but still am highly under-educated with it.
Sorry for my incompetence reguarding electrical issues but any guidance would be greatly appreciated
No problem man.
I'll walk ya through it step by step.
First off, you can do it using a dvom (voltmeter) but its a bit more confusing if you arent familiar with one. A much easier way for a complete "yes or no" answer would be to buy a test light on the way home. Any auto parts store, or even walmart will have one for less than $10. It can vary, but they generally look like the one pictured below.
When you get home, remove the entire airbox assembly (cover, upper, lower) to gain access to the coil pack.
Unplug the 3 wire electrical harness from it.
Hook the alligator clip of your test light to the negative terminal on your battery. Now poke the positive terminal of the battery and make sure your test light, lights up!
Turn the key and power switch on, but dont crank it yet.
Next poke the terminal side of the harness you just unplugged from the coil. Dont poke too hard, or you could damage the terminal. Your test light should light up indicating you have power at the grey wire.
Now take the alligater clip off of the negative batt terminal and move it to the positive batt terminal. Poke neg terminal to make sure it lights up.
Next you poke the Y/G wire and try to start the bike. While cranking, you should see your test light pulse (it will flash to the rhythm of the crank turning)
Repeat the step above for the BL/R wire, and you should also have the same pulse.
Let me know what ya find man.
Evil- Wow! I really do appreciate everything you've helped me with today.
I will swing by and buy a test light on my way home.
Obviously, I'm assuming if I get the correct results on the above 3 seperate tests, it can be conclusive that it is the coil?
Thanks again for the help, and for being so prompt, this forum definately kicks ass! I'll do the tests, and let you know how it turns out later tonight-- Jason
Glad to help man :)
Yes you assume correct
Evil-
I ran the test and of course, 2 of the 3 wires were faulty. I read your instructions and did the test several times.
When the aligator clip was hooked up to the negative battery terminal and I touched the Grey wire, the light did come on.
But when I switched the aligator clip to the positive terminal on the battery, turning the key and switch on, neither of the other two wires (Y/GR or BL/R)pulsated like mentioned previously when i cranked the motor
I'm kinda frusterated, I was hoping this was just going to be a simply coil replacement or maybe a faulty ground but it appears not.
Where do you think I should go from here?
Ok that means either your ecm isnt sending a crank signal, or your ecm isnt recieving a crank signal.
BTW do you have ecmspy, and have you checked for codes?
You are basicly left with 3 things it could be.
1. a bad ecm
2. a bad cam sensor
3. a broken wire
Next what you're gonna have to do is pull the front sprocket cover. Its held on by 3 torx screws. after that is removed, you will be looking for the plug connector for the cam sensor. It will be a 3 wire plug and the harness will disappear into the timing cover. I dont know what year bike you have, but on my 05 xb12s the 3 wires are R/W, GN/W, BK/W. If yours are different colors then let me know and i'll figure it out for ya.
unplug the connector and get your test light ready. connect the alligator clip to the positive terminal and test to make sure it works.
key on and power on, but no crank.
now you should have 2 halves of the connector in front of you since you disconnected it. one half will be the sensor side (the connector half leading to the cam sensor). The other half will be the harness side (the connector leading to the rest of the engine harness).
holding the harness connector side, probe the BK/W wire. It should light up indicating you have ground at that wire.
switch the alligator clip to the negative terminal and test to make sure it works.
next on the same harness side connector, probe the R/W wire. your test light should light up indicating you have power at that wire. Now if it does'nt light up, dont freak out just yet because that wire is a 5v reference, and your test light might not have a bulb that lights that low. If it lights good, if not then check that same wire with your dvom. set it to V, place the negative lead on the negative batt terminal, and probe the R/W wire with the positive lead. It should read about 5v.
If those both test ok, then you will move onto the sensor side of the harness (the other half of the connector).
using your dvom, turn it to V. Place the negative lead of your dvom on the negative batt terminal. probe the GN/W wire with the positive lead, and crank the motor. You should see a fluctuation in the display value.
If you have no activity on the dvom, then replace your cam sensor. If you have activity the whole time cranking, then let me know and i'll go over the final part with you.
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