No Spark on my '71 Harley-Davidson

Harley Fan

Well, after a good 3 years or more of just sitting in my garage, I finally got to fix the Gas Leak it had. I put some fresh Mixed Gas in it and a good Battery and gave it a whirl. It just cranked over and nothing happened. Figuring it was a Spark problem, I put my Spark Tester on it and sure enough, No Spark.

I figure it is the Points, but wondering what you all say?

Thanks

BGW

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AKAMick

It would be a good place to start,

Lochlin

You may want to refer to this testing procedure to see what the issue is. This is written for early 80s Columbias but I am pretty sure the circuits are similar if not exactly the same as the HDs.


With your multimeter find the DC setting or settings.

Hold the black wire to the - terminal on the battery and the red on the + terminal. You want to have 12v or a bit above.

If that’s good then keep the red on the battery and move the black to a bare part of the frame. You should get just about the same reading as in the battery

Next move the black to a bare part of the engine. You should still have about the same reading as on the battery. This would indicate that the grounds are likely good.

Now take that black wire and clip it or stick it in a crevice somewhere on the frame so you still get the 12 v reading if you hold the red to the + on the battery.

Next follow the + wire from the battery down to the solenoid. Put the red wire there you should still get 12v. If not you have a wiring issue from the battery to the solenoid.

Next follow the small wire that is under that terminal. It should go to a small rectangular device with 2 terminals. This is a circuit breaker. Both terminals should read 12v with the red wire of your meter. If not your circuit breaker is bad (these don’t go bad often so this is unlikely).

From there take the red wire and touch it to the small terminals on the key switch. Should be 12v there if not you have a wiring problem between the circuit breaker and the switch.

The key switch has to be switched on from this point forward.

From there take the red wire and touch the single wire on the gas pedal micro switch. You should have 12v if not your key switch is bad or you have a wiring issue.

At this point you need to activate the microswitch by pressing down on the accelerator. Spin the drive belt off before you do this in case your cart suddenly springs to life. With the accelerator pressed test the other side of the microswitch (the side with two wires attached to it). You should have 12v here if not your microswitch is bad.

Next, take that red wire and put it on the + side of the ignition coil and you should still have 12v. If not you have a wiring issue from the microswitch to the coil OR your electronic ignition module is bad.

From there, take the red wire and check the small terminal on the solenoid. This should also be 12V.

If that’s good then check the other fat terminal of the solenoid.

If that’s got 12V then you are up to the fat wires on the key switch or the starter itself.

If thats dead then its just about got to be the solenoid.

Harley Fan

Appreciate the replies.

Auto Electric is sure one of my weaknesses, lol, but I will give it a try if the Points prove to not be the problem.

Thanks again.

raydhd

I would look at the points first. The original harley units are very prone to failure. Put in a few sets of harley replacements before discovering acel units for 6cyl chevy trucks fit right in. Those never failed and were sold with my breaker plate on Ebay after switching to the snowmobile engine.

Harley Fan

Sounds interesting. What size 6-Cylinder Chevy Points would you be referring to? Would it be the 230-250-292 type? Also does it have to be the Accel brand? or would any brand do?

Harley Fan

Just to follow up on my thread from last July, it was the Points.

I picked up a set of DR2240 Standard in my travels and finally got a chance to put them in the other day. Hardest set of Points I ever had to put in a vehicle, lol, but it was mainly because I just wasn't used to it yet on these great carts.

Started right up and runs great.

Appreciate all the help.