Electrical - '84 200s

[kmichels]

Ok, stupid question. My atc is randomly having no spark and other times fires first pull. I'm thinking electrical issue (duh). but not sure if it is hardware (stator, coil, etc.) or wiring.

First question - What is the proper way to ohm out the ignition stator (like I'm 5. One lead to green one lead to red, etc. I think I've read it should be around 300?)? Got a 3 prong plug (with 1 empty slot) with the green and yellow wires in it. Then a single connector with a red.

Observation - Just went out and pulled it and it started up no problem. Unplugging the 2-Prong with Yellow and Green wires kills the light but not the motor.

Second question - Is that normal operation? or is something grounding out to close the circuit? I was assuming that the green would have been like a common ground to close both circuits and would therefore kill both the light and motor but, obviously not, at least on mine.


I don't know the wiring diagram and although I tinker, coils/ignitions/stators/electrical aren't my strong suit (yet).


Thanks in advance for the info.

[mendoAu]

Electrical is not my strong suit either but hopefully someone with more ability could delve into the 12volt/110v thing about this era honda.
Check out CDI threads cause had identical problem on my 84es. You will read about how cdi's are pricey for this year (round plug that had to be converted to square plug for cheap cdi's on e-bay. Thats what I did but now I've seen ROUND PLUG CDI's for cheap on e-bay, etc. For a few bucks you can eliminate that and then go on into more complex troubleshooting.

[wonderboy]

Observation - Just went out and pulled it and it started up no problem. Unplugging the 2-Prong with Yellow and Green wires kills the light but not the motor.

Second question - Is that normal operation? or is something grounding out to close the circuit? I was assuming that the green would have been like a common ground to close both circuits and would therefore kill both the light and motor but, obviously not, at least on mine.

Good observation. No, your's is not unique. the 2-prong plug is exclusively for the lights. It will have no effect on if the engine will run or not.

The single connector (red connector with black/red wire) provides the power necessary for the CDI to operate. It is only a single wire, so the other side is simply grounded through the engine/frame.

Not to add confusion, but the 2-prong connector for your lights: the green wire there is a dedicated ground. However, all the grounds eventually are all tied together. The frame picks up the ground from the wiring harness via the eyelet under the mounting flange of the ignition coil.

To test your "Exciter Coil" (what the service manual calls the coil that powers your CDI) check the resistance on the single connector wire (should be black wire with red stripe) to ground. So, put one lead on the black/red wire that goes into the engine and put the other lead on the engine itself. The manual says you should have between 150 and 400 ohms. If that checks out, confirm again but take the one meter lead off of the engine and put it on the frame (bare metal). Make sure you have a similar reading. This will confirm that your ground connection is good.

244340

[kmichels]

I think I've got it traced to either the cdi brick or the pickup. I get a small output from the pickup though, which I understand to mean it's good.Gonna pickup an eBay cdi and try it out.

Another observation though. What's special about the plug boot? I know it's good but I can't ohm it out? Doing some research myself but figured if someone knew here, why not ask.

[kmichels]

Well, figured out the answer to my own question I think. Need a VOM meter

[kmichels]

After some frustration with local post office and consistent delivery problems every time our regular carrier is on vacation... New CDI is installed and ATC starts and runs every time I'm itching for a ride. Only thing that sucks is it's bigger than the original so the old sleeve didn't fit (easily) and the sleeve that came with it didn't have a pocket in the right side for hanging. Stretched the old one to fit though and all is good.