The International CBX Owners Association

OK, so I have the bike running better that it has in years (see No Fuel to Cylinder # 1 saga) by using the Yamalube Ring Free product and I take her out yesterday AM to warm her up so I can change the oil (says to change the oil after using this product) and she runs fantastic. I'm less than 1/2 mile from home and she instantly goes onto significantly less than 6 cylinders at all RPM. Like someone flipped a switch.
I limp home and change the oil, then let her cool off. On startup (yes it will start) headers # 3 and 4 stay cool and all others get hot within seconds (#1 gets hot just like the others). Hmmmm.

Pull the tank and check spark to the # 3 and # 4 plugs and no spark. Since 3 and 4 are from the same coil - I'm thinking I now have an electrical issue (stock '80 Marysville with 26K miles on it). I'm hoping it's corrosion to the blade connectors to the middle coil. Clean those and no change.
Do a search on the forum and find a terrific write up on checking coils ("Another coil problem" - 04/2008). Remember, I'm an electrical dunce/noob.

Here's the results..... Coil resistence = 2.9 ohms
4 pin connector = 3.0/3.1/3.0 ohms from the ground pin.
Between secondary terminals = 12,280 ohms
Between primary and secondary terminals = Infinite (or what I'm assuming is inifinite - it's the same reading as holding the meter's pins in the air).

Per the evaluation I found in the forum, these are as they should be.
Any help/advice appreciated.
Confused (again) in San Antonio.

OK, CBX gurus, what am I missing/doing wrong and where do I go next ?

When checking coil resistance at the 6 prong plug - I get 550 ohms for the # 3/4 coil (pink leads) - which is within specs per the shop manual. I haven't checked the spark units yet, but I'm not clear on how the manual is recommending it be accomplished (or a least it says to uncouple the 6 prong clip, then attach a positive lead checker to the 4 prong coupler and the 6 prong coupler, then turn on the ignition and ground each lead for the different pairs of cylinders and the voltage should go from 12 V to 0 V. My voltmeter/ammeter only has one positive lead and I'm skeered to just check the 6 plug while unhooked (with my luck, it would fry the spark units or something).

BTW, both # 3 and 4 plugs were damp with fuel.

Also (this whole process is beginning to make me a little obsessed), I did check the plug wires, cleaned all the contacts and put the wires back in the secondary terminal for the middle coil.

I have not checked the pulse generator as yet (can these just fail from one second to the next?).
Any help, sharing of similar experiences, recommendations, advice deeply appreciated.

Mike Nixon wrote "A tiny reduction in resistance, of say, some fractions of an ohm, won't probably do much harm however. The transistor is easily damaged in Honda's TPI (Transistorized Pointless Ignition) system. Even just starting the bike with a low battery can kill it (the transistor)." In a post from 04/2008.

Could I have damaged the ignition by starting the bike with a low battery ? I was having battery charging issues the weekend before this all occured.

Black box changing, switch coils & see if the problem follows. If it does, it's the coil. If it doesn't either sparky unit or pulser...

Can I just swap plug wires and primary connectors from the 3/4 coil to the 1/6 coil and see if there is now spark to the 3/4 plugs and the fire goes away from the 1/6 plugs ? If this is the case, then it's a duff coil, yes ?

What do you think of the possibility of my having damaged the transistorized ignition by starting the bike with a weak battery?

RC166LVR wrote:Can I just swap plug wires and primary connectors from the 3/4 coil to the 1/6 coil and see if there is now spark to the 3/4 plugs and the fire goes away from the 1/6 plugs ? If this is the case, then it's a duff coil, yes ?

What do you think of the possibility of my having damaged the transistorized ignition by starting the bike with a weak battery?

Yes . . . you can swap em around to check !

Most likely a low battery "would not" cause damage. If you swap your wires around and find the problem
is in the coil "great" . . . if not, shoot me a PM - I have a pulsar unit I can send you to try out.

Bob

zxbob, thanks mucho.

I'll get back to you.

What I really need is to purchase Mike Nixon's CBX Ignition Manual but I don't have (and don't want) a PayPal account and can't seem to PM him from this forum.
How can I contact him?

RC166LVR wrote:What I really need is to purchase Mike Nixon's CBX Ignition Manual but I don't have (and don't want) a PayPal account and can't seem to PM him from this forum.
How can I contact him?

PM sent.

N.

Again, thank you.
This is a terrific forum and group of members.

OK. Still don't have spark to the 3/4 plugs and my 5 year old Westco AGM battery (always kept on a Battery Tender) gave up the ghost, so I ordered a new one due in today.
Mike Nixon has been kind enough to walk me through some checks and I have his CBX ingition diagnosis booklet (I highly recommend it). Unfortunately, I couldn't get any of the coils to fire their plugs with the bypass wire method, which is somewhat puzzling to both Mike and I.
I have, however, another plan to swap the primary leads from the 1/6 coil (I know the 1/6 system is good) with the 3/4 coil and check the 3/4 coil while turning over the motor (with the new battery) and see if the problem is the coil or upstream from it.
If the 3/4 coil is good, I'll do the supplemental check on the pulsar unit for 3/4 to see if it's the spark unit (the spark unit is what I suspect, as I did try to start the bike several times with a low battery before all this started) - I was not aware of the CBX's electrical vulnerability to a low battery.

If it IS the spark unit, does anyone have any thoughts on how do I obtain a set (I've read they are one bonded together unit for all 3 spark units)? I don't think they're still available from Big Red.

If nobody offers up a spare here, Louis Mintrone is your man. He'll have a dozen .

If you have to replace the spark unit, I would go through the effort of replacing them with the later "red" ( cable cover) units from the Prolinks or CB-F models. These are individual units and you will have to use a small adapter harness, but that should not be too difficult to make. These later units are improved and "leak proof". Getting another 3-unit early model set and hoping they will work is a gamble. And anybody will charge you an arm an a leg without standing behind them.
You can also buy brand new improved units through "Sixcenter" in the Netherlands. I hear these are great units. Also on the pricey side, though.