New Coil, No Spark

[sontag1]

I have the 1982 G1. I have recently had some wiring issues, and I thought I had them all straightened out.

http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/gas-y...ess-blues.html

I am now getting ~12V at the wire leading to the coil, and my ground wire leading to the coil has continuity (12v to the + post of the battery). I am sure that I have my timing plate installed correctly.

So.....I am not getting any spark. I removed the plug from the jug and plugged it into the coil boot. When I hit the gas pedal, the engine turns over just as it should, but I have no spark at the plug. It was pretty dark, and I figured I should be able to see the spark jumping the gap at the plug.

Now, I have a brand new coil, but it looks a little different from my old one. Here is a link to the one I bought. (I also bought a brand new spark plug)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171566436363...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

There is no bridge between the two bolt holes of the new coil like there is on the old one.

I was getting pretty discouraged, so I stopped before I broke something else.

Any ideas what to do next???

[bigstik40]

I am not very familiar with G1's, but your no spark problem could also be a bad CDI or bad pulser coil. Not sure how to check these out, but I think you need to be sure wiring is correct, grounds are good, and +12 volts is being supplied to the CDI. If still no spark, I think you need to check by installing a known good CDI to see if that corrects no spark. I think you check the pulser coil by reading the ohms. A service manual should help. Sorry I can't be of more help. - RAY

[slonomo]

I've used those coils, should work fine.

Usually when coils go bad they throw a weak spark, orange in color. I've never had a coil just stop working all together. I'm guessing you have a wiring problem. If you had a wiring problem in the past that you fixed, it could be a bad connection. Also, if any of the wires grounded out before, it could have fried the other primary ignition components, and you should replace those.

[slonomo]

Originally Posted by sontag1

I am now getting ~12V at the wire leading to the coil, and my ground wire leading to the coil has continuity (12v to the + post of the battery).

Shouldn't the ground wire be connected to the negative post of the battery? Just something to check? You said the ground is connected to the positive? That would be a problem. Right?

The ground wire should also have continuity to the frame. Retest that ground wire at the coil, see if it has continuity to the negative terminal and the frame. If that is wrong, you could have found your problem.

[sontag1]

Originally Posted by slonomo

Shouldn't the ground wire be connected to the negative post of the battery? Just something to check? You said the ground is connected to the positive? That would be a problem. Right?

The ground wire should also have continuity to the frame. Retest that ground wire at the coil, see if it has continuity to the negative terminal and the frame. If that is wrong, you could have found your problem.

I was not communicating clearly. I touched my neg lead of my meter to my ground wire for the coil and my pos lead of my meter to my pos post of the battery. I got 12V, so I knew I had a good ground.

I actually cut the mess out of my hand the last day I was working on the cart, so I have not been able to work on anything for a couple of days.

I was drilling a hole near the muffler's heat shield and when my hole punched through, the skin directly over my knuckle of my right index finger ran down the vertical edge of the heat shield. It cut me to the bone (literally) and man did it ever hurt! Be careful working on those G1s, they bite!

[slonomo]

Man I feel you. I always wear gloves, but that doesn't always protect my hands either. I almost lost 2 fingers on my left hand a couple years ago. I was tuning the carb while the engine was running, my "gloved" hand got too close to the starter/gen....WHAM!! Hand got sucked into the pulley, under the belt, and wrapped my ring and middle fingers around the shaft of the pulley....the wrong direction. Dislocated 3 fingers and permanent injury to my ring finger, but I still have it. None broken, no surgury. Got lucky. Had to go to a plastic surgeon for evaluation.

My advice to you....go to the doctor if you haven't already!

[sontag1]

Yeah, I did go to the DR. He fixed me all up.

I am itching to get my hands on the cart though! The swelling has gone down, so may be this evening.

[slonomo]

Did you have to get a tetnus shot? Those suck. Hurt worse than my injury lol.

Glad you're ok. You'll be back at it soon.

[sontag1]

So....I got out there this morning and did all the steps from the "so your yami wont turn over" thread, and everything seems to check out. The solinoid is clicking away and I am getting voltage on my big lugs. Voltage at the starter/generator is good as well.

What I am finding is that when I push the gas pedal the orange wire that hooks to the coil is only reading between 5V-6V. I had a couple of spikes to 11.8V, but it only happened a couple of times. I would suspect that is way low (hence no spark). I unwrapped my wire harness (to look for breaks/shorts in the wire) and that orange wire leads to a small sealed black box.

Where am I getting my drop in voltage???

[1989Marathon]

What is the battery voltage while cranking?
Make sure the coil is properly grounded. Also make sure the ground going into the CDI(black box) is good.