No Spark, where to look first?

[bamboozer]

2002 Vmax, ran great one day, died dead as a door nail the next with no signs of life and electrically dead. Replaced the battery, sprayed the on/off switch and got it to turn over (YAY!), but no spark. Plugs are new, wires in good shape and nothing apparently burnt. Where should I start to look?

 

[Fire-medic]

I'd disassemble, clean and check all grounds to begin.

The pick-up coil on the crankshaft area is known to fail, and particularly it can work when cold, and fail when hot. Look at the factory manual for doing the resistance check on it.

Also check the sidestand switch, the plunger can get sticky, which will keep your engine from running.

 

[one2dmax]

Under the seat and just next to the battery (maybe around the left side of the bike) you'll see this connection. Unplug it and perform the test (going down to the left). You're looking for any number though there is a stock ohm requirement. We've found that it either works or it doesn't regardless of the measurement (if it measured with a number it almost always works).

 

[MaxMidnight]

Have you got power to the main fuse and power to all of the other fuses?

 

[cwkerr007]

If your starter is working and your ntrl light is on then it's not your safety switches clean all your conn and have a good charge on that new batt if that doesn't fix it go to what sean told you,if you have sinal from your pick up,then reply back and I will look at mine and tell you where to unhook the ign kill wire so you can see if the ign is being grounded

 

[Bill Seward]

Side stand relays have been known to fail. Might be something to look at.

 

[maxgz-3376]

Not starting when HOT problem.Lots of good checks mentioned.From my old memory banks ,I once read that there is a relay in the left hand Dyno cover that can short when HOT. My 85 is Not firing when Hot. Will do grounding of 2 brush holder starter plate and replace this relay unit. Have not been to yamaha store to confirm # yet. Believe my problem the later as starter still spins motor over nicely. Glenn. VMOA# 3376.

 

[eric1959]

No spark, it's not a starter or side stand relay but like fire-medic said you should check your pick-up coil first.

 

[cornish vmax]

No spark, it's not a starter or side stand relay but like fire-medic said you should check your pick-up coil first.

I had the same problem turned out to be the pick up coil. Early version had twin pick up coils, later had one. connections are under the seat quick ohms check open circuit or very high resistance means you need a new one

 

[Demonsinmysemen]

I had the same problem turned out to be the pick up coil. Early version had twin pick up coils, later had one. connections are under the seat quick ohms check open circuit or very high resistance means you need a new one

I'm actually having a similar problem. Not trutry to sound dumb but I don't know exactly how to check pickup coil. I know it's a connection under the seat that has orange/black wires. So, how do I check it exactly? Each prove onto the portion of the cables after they're unpliggun? Or am I supposed to follow the wire down to where the shaft is? Because it goes behind some sort of case and if I remove the 5mm Allen screws, oil leaks. Again, sorry to sound ignorant.

 

[one2dmax]

You unplug the connector and check the pins sticking out (where the wiring goes down the left side of the bike). If you get a reading when set on the ohms portion of the meter then you are probably ok there (even if it's not 100% in spec). If you don't get a reading then you likely have a bad pickup. The connection will look like the picture but you need to unplug before taking the measurements.

 

[Fire-medic]

I believe the 1990-2007 ignition uses a single pick-up coil with orange and black, two leads one is orange, the other is black (VMX-12E wiring diagram, pp.16-17 http://www.vmaxguru.com/Tech/Gen1/Manuals/VMX12-Service-Manual.pdf ). The 1985-1989 ignition uses more leads because it has more pick-up coils. Refer to the 1985 manual wiring diagram for model VMX-12N, which has 5 wires from the pick-up coils.

Setting your VOM to ohms, to a low value, and reading between the orange and black should get you a value something around 100 ohms. If you get no reading, the pick-up coil is bad.

https://www.vmaxforum.net/threads/im-dying-over-here.47468/page-2

 

[sufidancer]

I once pinched my coil wire that runs under the starter cover when replacing starter clutch . It was a bitch to trace down. No spark until I retaced my steps and found the wire was comprised.

 

[Fire-medic]

I once pinched my coil wire that runs under the starter cover when replacing starter clutch . It was a bitch to trace down. No spark until I retaced my steps and found the wire was comprised.

"Comprised" = "made-of"

"Compromised" = altered for the worse; unable to function as it should

I know what you meant.

 

[bamboozer]

There is no orange with black wire connector I can see. So far unable to load a picture, getting a message of "file too large". Don't get it as it's your standard issue nothing fancy picture/

 

[one2dmax]

An orange wire and a black wire. Two separate wires in the same connector under the seat and typically behind or beside the battery on the left side.

 

[bamboozer]

This is what I've got, no orange and black wires

 

[one2dmax]

What's this one

 

[G max]

What's this one

That's the wire to your starter.

 

[bamboozer]

Starter works fine, new battery and it spins fast. Problem is no spark at any of the plugs.