Close...but not quite

[Pathfinders]

Looking at a fuse is not a good way to test it. Use your meter. I have been fooled by a fuse in the past and wasted a few hours troubleshooting.

[Jeff Richardson]

Yes, the kill switch is just a cutoff of the ground wire between the switch and the CDI. What else would most effectively kill the motor? Somebody in this tread posted the manual of the hawk 250. It showed the break in the ground wire by the kill switch. Good to eliminate these things. IMHO

[Jeff Richardson]

Assuming your switch is only on/off, by the video, you can connect the only 2 wires together (completing the ground). Or just sending a new ground wire into the pin it connects into the CDI.

[Jeff Richardson]

This

[Ski_rush]

Thanks for the wiring schematic. Here is the latest update (one day I soon, I will be able to submit a post saying that the bike is running and I'll post a video to show it, but that's not today):

1. I worked with Douglass today and we believe that we've confirmed that the kill switch located at the throttle seems to be working. I am still not confident my meter is working well, but I thought I'd use because it seemed to be behaving. I opened the switch and confirmed the kill switch wires. While it was open, I tested the voltage at the switch, and here's what we found.

a. Key on, kill switch button off = 0.00v.
b. Key on, kill switch button on = 8v.

I interpret this as it's working, no?

Next, Douglass walked me through testing the ohms.The ohms test also seemed to show that the switch was working. So, the good news is that I think the kill switch (at least at the handlebar) seems to be working.

2. Since the multimeter seemed to be behaving better, I decided to test the coil again. I found an odd result that I'm hoping to some help on.

a. First, I left the 2 wires connected to the coil connected and just pushed them back a little to allow me room to place the multimeter leads. The meter read 0.000v with the engine cranking. No spark either (tested with spark plug grounded to the head).

b. But, then I decided to see what happened to the voltage readings if I disconnected the those two wires going to the coil. Now, I connected the meter leads to those wires (I left the coil out of the equation). This time, I get 0.0 when the key is on and engine not cranking...but, very high numbers when the engine is cranking. The meter jumped to 200 then 300v, etc. Not sure if that's normal, but that's what it showed. It's very small and simply meter (about the size of a pocket calculator).

So, the question is why are the numbers 0.000v (cranking or not cranking) when the wires are connected to the coil...but 0.000 (engine not cranking) and high readings with the engine cranking? when the leads are connected directly to the wires themselves without the coil? Shouldn't the readings be the same whether the wires are connected to the coil or not?

Or, is it possible the coil really is the faulty part and it's "canceling out" the voltage? Not sure if that sounds like nonsense, but just asking.


Thanks

[Landsvw]

Looking at the diagram, here’s where I would start. The black B wire at the CDI is a hot (12
Volt) wire. The B/W wire is a hot (12 volt) wire. So, I’d test them both, with key on to confirm 12 volts. The kill switch literally just grounds the CDI to the frame and kills the volts, so I’d disconnect the 2 wires going to it just to make sure it’s not grounding. Make sure the ground wires are all grounded by using the ohm meter part of the meter. Report back...

[Landsvw]

Then, if both the wires going to the CDI are 12 volt, you’ve eliminated everything except the CDI, the pickup coil and the regular coil. And the wiring going between them... and the spark plug wire.

[Landsvw]

So that the weirdly labeled wire, L/W which I have no idea what color that is, but it’s coming from the pickup coil in the magneto to the CDI. I’d put my electric tester on it and look for a small voltage output as the bike cranks. It’s the signal that tells the CDI when to tell the coil when to spark.

[Landsvw]

And by the way, most of the bike should show 12 volts. So 8 volts at the kill switch seems weird to me.

[Landsvw]

The pickup coil will be a smaller voltage tho, since it’s just sending a tiny voltage signal for the CDI to know when to allow a spike of 12 volts to go to the coil. Also, if I remember correctly, if you brush a 12 volt wire quickly against the B/Y coil wire, you should get a spark at the spark plug every time the wire brushes against it. You’re essentially simulating what the CDI does. So you can prove the coil this way.

[Ski_rush]

Originally Posted by Landsvw

so I’d disconnect the 2 wires going to it just to make sure it’s not grounding. Make sure the ground wires are all grounded by using the ohm meter part of the meter. Report back...

I'm not sure what you meant here. Can you explain a little what I'm supposed to do?

[Landsvw]

And don’t forget, your spark plug has to be resting on engine metal to have any spark, since the outside of the sparkplug is the ground and the middle of the sparkplug is the hot wire. Report back...

[Landsvw]

Originally Posted by Ski_rush

I'm not sure what you meant here. Can you explain a little what I'm supposed to do?

So, looks like this bike is using (according to the diagram) green wires for ground. Any place you see a green wire, use your ohm meter (continuity not volts) to verify there is a connection. So, at the coil, touch one end to the Green terminal, and the other end to the engine, a bolt on the engine, etc. to verify that someone didn’t accidently not ground the wiring harness.

[Landsvw]

All green wires are a common ground to the engine and frame and negative terminal on the battery.

[Landsvw]

I saw a message concerning the CDI unit, AC or DC. But it’s now vanished. If I remember correctly, the units will have different plug-in connectors, and you will have to verify which type yours has to make sure what type of voltage it runs.

I Did a google search for ac/dc and found this:

“How to tell my style of CDI? (AC or DC)
Your CDI has two plugs, a 4-pin and a 2-pin. The 4-pin side may have 3 or 4 wires connected to it (both AC and DC versions). If the 2-pin connector has only 1 wire going to it, it's a DC CDI. If there are 2 wires attached to the 2-pin connector, then it's an AC CDI.

Note: A very few DC-powered CDI systems will have two wires on the two-pin connector. For these systems, please check to see if your headlights will work while the engine is not running, and if your stock CDI has "DC" printed anywhere on it. In these cases, you need a DC CDI.”

And, looking at the wiring diagram provided, that diagram, anyway, shows a DC CDI, Based on the rectifier converting the AC voltage from the stator to DC. So you have a DC CDI if that diagram is correct for your bike.