77 liquifire

JDXsand00s · Post by **JDXsand00s** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 7:49 pm

i just bought a 77 liquifire 440 which has no spark. i'm used to the old school points and condensors so i need some help. turning it over with new plugs gives me a spark every now and then, but i think the cdi is bad. is there any way to test the cdi box to see if it is good? i was also hoping that someone could tell me the electrical specs out of the manual such as generating coil continuity and so forth. i'd like to find out what is wrong so i can fix it before winter, which is hopefully soon. Thanks.

harleysportster · Post by **harleysportster** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 9:00 pm

Ryan,
Here is a link from Hewtec Electronics, providing test specs on the stator/alternator. You can not test the cdi without special equipment but by testing the other components, you can rule out what is wrong. if everything checks out ok, the cdi is bad. If your cdi system has round plugs, use the "A" style specs.
http://www.hewtechelectronics.com/images/F...UG%20WIRING.pdf
try checking for spark, laying both spark plugs on the head hooked up and by pulling on the recoil, turning the engine over as fast as you can.
If you get spark, either the lowspeed windings or the low speed circuit in the cdi is bad. You can email me direct if you need any other help.

JDFanPa · Post by **JDFanPa** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 12:44 am

if your getting it every now and then do some basics like making sure coils are grounded good,plug wires and end caps have good corrosion free connections and Im 90% sure the cdi box needs to be grounded on these also so make sure it is securly bolted down maybe even add a ground strap

JDXsand00s · Post by **JDXsand00s** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 10:04 am

my internal coil seems to be good; it has great continuity. the other coils seem to have matching continuity so i assume they are good. after i bolted it back together and tried starting it on the bench, i had spark out of cly. #2 for a minute and then, nothing. nothing out of #1 at first, or both of them now. brand new plugs, too. i kept pulling with no response. could it still be the cdi? does the engine haveto be grounded to the chassis?

harleysportster · Post by **harleysportster** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 5:45 pm

You can check for spark on the bench. Do not try and start the engine on the bench. The kill switch wire is part of the main coupler which is unhooked.
A few things to note as mentioned earlier. Clean all the mounting screws and the ground wire to the external coils. Clean the primary wire to each external coil(red/white). The cdi must have a good ground, clean the metal housing/ mounting bolts and the grounding cable (black wire) and the ground wire which goes to the external coils. Check the green wire from the stator to the engine crankcase for continuity.

What were the ohm readings for the stator / alternator and timing ring.

JDXsand00s · Post by **JDXsand00s** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 7:17 pm

my red and white trigger coils seem to be right: they are at 30.8 ohms apiece. the alternator seems high, though: the yellow is around 2.5 mega ohms and the blue is about 20 kilo ohms. does this mean my coil could be screwed up?

harleysportster · Post by **harleysportster** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 8:26 pm

Ryan,
When you check the blue wire, set the ohm meter to 0-100 ohm scale. The reading should be 76 ohms measured against the engine case or stator frame.
When you check the yellow wire, set the meter to the 1000 to 2000 + ohm scale. The reading should be 2.7K(thousand) ohms measured against the engine case or stator frame. Let me know if you get different reading this time.

JDXsand00s · Post by **JDXsand00s** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 7:09 pm

i used 4 different testers this time: the trigger coils are good, but the alternator seems to be at 0 all the time on the one testor and the extremely high numbers on the other three. all were grounded to crankcase so i'm guessing that the high numbers are what my continuity really is.

harleysportster · Post by **harleysportster** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 9:17 pm

Ryan,
The cdi unit is problably bad but HUMOR me buy giving the ohm specs for the YELLOW wire and the BLUE wire.
Yellow wire ohms =.....
Blue wire ohms =......

JDXsand00s · Post by **JDXsand00s** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 11:26 am

the yellow was around 4 m ohm and the blue was 15 k ohm. i'll see if i can get a good cdi at the junkyard and hope that that does the trick. thanks for your help and i hope i can get it fixed by winter.

harleysportster · Post by **harleysportster** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 12:42 pm

Ryan,
If the ohm readings you stated were taken from testing the stator / alternator, the stator / alternator is bad. The 30 ohms you found on the timing ring is correct, but that is seperate from the stator.

JDXsand00s · Post by **JDXsand00s** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 6:53 pm

i had a glimmer of spark a couple of days ago but in later attempts there has been nothing; however, could a defective stator produce even that 20 or so seconds of spark out of one cylinder? i don't know where those few sparks went but i wonder what could be malfunctioning and still allow for limited spark.

harleysportster · Post by **harleysportster** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 7:18 pm

What are the condition of the wires coming out of the crankcase from the stator. Maybe some are cracked or split. You problem sounds like a bad cdi box but the only way to come to this conclusion is by testing the stator windings.