Power to the regulator/rectifier, nothing to the coils...Need guidance.

jradvantage

jradvantage

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Greetings,

I have 1978 650E with the regulator/rectifier combo unit.
I'm no expert, but a friend and I poked around to see why I'm not getting any spark to the plugs.

I have what appears to be a stock electrical set-up (points, condenser), save for the aftermarket regulator/rectifier combo and what appear to be newer looking coils in the stock mounting area. Checked all the wires to the coils (with the key "on") Nothing.

Checked the wires going to the regulator/rectifier (with the key "on"), and I have power. I don't appear to have any power coming out of the regulator/rectifier. So, I'm thinking the problem is the regulator/rectifier.

I would like to know if that's the problem, or if there is anything else I need to check.

I am NOT very handy with the electrical stuff, so any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks,
John
 
Fuse is good. I have headlights, blinkers, starter works, brake lights, horn...

Just no spark at the plugs. I have voltage at the connector that plugs into the connector from the regulator/rectifier, but no voltage in wires that connect top the coils.
 
Thanks for the replies.

Looks like the kill switch or the connection may be the issue.

According to the wiring diagram, the ignition coils get their power via the Red/White wire which comes from the kill switch.

I'll have to check out the kill switch in the morning and report back.

Thanks,
John
 
Kill switch looks pretty rough.

Will clean it up and try later.

In the meantime, would I be able to bypass the kill switch by connecting the two kill switch wires to each other? Still want to see if I can get some spark at the plugs.

Thanks,
John
 
Yes, that will work. One thing I do for test starting is to leave the engine stop switch off, run a jumper from battery positive to the coils. This bypasses any wiring issues between the battery and coils. If you leave the "kill" switch on power back feeds into the rest of the system, drawing to much power away from the ignition.
I have done this test using a spare car battery and some jumper wires, used the kick start, and test run engines.
Leo
 
Thanks to hmusket for suggesting the kill switch. That appears to be the problem.
Thanks Leo for suggesting the tests. I got spark going directly to coils and got spark connecting the brown and the red/white wires going to kill switch. It appears to be all systems go!

I'm one step closer. Now, I just need to get the kill switch back together and test that.

Thanks again for your help. It's much appreciated.

John
 
jradvantage said:
Thanks to hmusket for suggesting the kill switch. That appears to be the problem.
Thanks Leo for suggesting the tests. I got spark going directly to coils and got spark connecting the brown and the red/white wires going to kill switch. It appears to be all systems go!
Click to expand...

Good on you for having the guts to give it a try. One of the benefits of the XS is that, while not 'simple', they are not particularly complicated and a novice wrench can become a rookie wrench pretty quick. Lots of good information here and people who are willing to answer intelligent questions.
 
Got the bike running tonight after working on it for the past year!
And it sure sounds nice.

I had a 1974 Norton Commando back in the late 80's until the early 2000's. It was very hard to work on as there weren't any forums with the kind of knowledge you find here. Kind of wish I'd have kept it, but I couldn't be happier with the way my xs is turning out. No way I could have fixed it on my own without the help of the fine people here on xs650.com

Thanks,
John
 
Good job on finding and fixing your problem. Now that it's running you need to check the charging system. Your bike won't run well for long without a good charging system.
Easy to do. With a multi-meter set on the 20 volt DC scale. Test battery voltage with the bike at idle. Somewhere around 12.5 to 13 volts is good.
Now slowly rev the engine while watching the meter. At somewhere between 1800 and 2200 rpms the voltage should rise up to around 14.1 to 14.5 volts. While never going over the 14.1 to 14.5 volts at higher rpms, like 5000.
If you don't get reading like these then you need to do a bit more troubleshooting.
Leo
 
Charging system seems to be working fine. I've put about 30 miles on it this past week. Using lights, electric start, blinkers, etc...checked the battery this morning and it read 12.94 volts. Will check the voltage per your instructions to make sure it's charging in the proper ranges.

Currently working out a bit of a stumble when taking off from an idle. Cleaned and gapped the points helped some. Will check timing and also the mixture screws on the carbs (they are 2.5 turns out - stock setting). I have commando xs exhaust and unipods.

Thanks,
John
 
Your carbs run a bit lean stock, with the different exhaust and Uni-Filters it can be running even leaner.
If your jetting is stock you might need to change the jetting.
Leo
 

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