04 Ninja 500 Dies while riding... wont restart -Seems no spark?

[OreoGaborio]

BTW, I know you're really thinking it's a spark issue, but the fact that you're also saying the plugs aren't wet makes me question fuel flow.

I say check your bike's Prostate..... disconnect the fuel hose at the carbs, stick it in a fuel can, turn the petcock to the on position and key the starter. See if ya got a healthy stream.

[stoinkythepig]

Hmm ill have to check this. Where is the crack sensor? Any pictures of this? Would this just go out in middle of ride? Where do I test it

I'm pretty sure it's on the left side of the engine, under the crankcase cover. Kawasaki calls it a pulser coil. The wires from it will exit the engine and route up toward the battery area. You can disconnect it and test it without taking the cover off. Just unplug the connector and connect the two wires to the two leads on an ohm meter. If it shows infinite resistance, it's bad.

it looks like this:

[Paul_E_D]

Stoinky, I think checking the simple stuff first makes more sense. That's that last thing on the list here I would check. Pete's list if the correct troubleshooting order for this bike.

[BackMarker-943]

My 01 ZRX would die while riding it ... It felt like it was run'n out of fuel ... I check'd every electrical connection on the bike .... Come to find out , that my kick stand switch had corrosion on the pins and would cause the bike to shut off randomly ..

Hope this might help ?

[Maple50175]

Silly question to eliminate an easy mistake: When you tested spark, did you hold the plugs against the engine case to ground it?

Having raced these as well, I concurr with the other guys...
Gas cap (clogged vent creates vacuum in tank)
Petcock (bad vacuum tube OR the diaphragm within the petcock itself is a very common failure point)
Coils (corrosion on the contacts or failed completely)
Crank position sensor (IMO, this is the least probable, but still possible)

All are pretty common issues.

Yes I put them against the engine to test them
It's not fuel related Would both coils shit the bed together though ?
Crank sensor is only 8$ so that's cheap fix

[Maple50175]

My 01 ZRX would die while riding it ... It felt like it was run'n out of fuel ... I check'd every electrical connection on the bike .... Come to find out , that my kick stand switch had corrosion on the pins and wo cause the bike to shut off randomly ..

Hope this might help ?

Where is this switch o. My bike

[Tunertype]

Where is this switch o. My bike

Near the kick stand(kick stand switch)



If your looking at switches that can cause it not to start you can also check your clutch switch and neutral switch.

[jasnmar]

Agreed, but OP believes he has a lack of spark problem, not a doesn't turn over problem.

I suspect he has a fuel problem.

[Maple50175]

Agreed, but OP believes he has a lack of spark problem, not a doesn't turn over problem.

I suspect he has a fuel problem.

It's not fuel. No spark even tried to use starting fluid and no luck

When I have the ohm meter which settings do I use? I wish someone had an ex500 on here lol

I will check connections and switches tomm. It cranks over but doesn't start and it was running. Then completely died while I was slowing down at a light

[jasnmar]

If it were a kickstands switch problem, it wouldn't turn over.

Have you checked to see if the plug wires will arc to the case?

Have you checked for voltage at the coil?

You could be right, but dry plugs make me worry.

You need 3 things to run. Fuel, spark, and air (and not that much air).

[Degsy]

Wirelessly posted

Rectifier

[stoinkythepig]

Wirelessly posted

Rectifier

That's part of the charging system, not the ignition.

[stoinkythepig]

It's not fuel. No spark even tried to use starting fluid and no luck

When I have the ohm meter which settings do I use? I wish someone had an ex500 on here lol

I will check connections and switches tomm. It cranks over but doesn't start and it was running. Then completely died while I was slowing down at a light

Get a digital multi-meter and set it to ohms (the horseshoe). Connect the two meter probes together and verify the meter reads zero, note what it reads when they are not connected, that's the open circuit reading (zero is a dead short). Connect the two meter probes to the two wires on the pulser coil. It will read something if it's good or open circuit of it's bad.

Don't bother checking the kickstand, clutch, or kill switch, if any of those have failed, it won't turn over.

Just to be clear, these are the "facts" I am using for troubleshooting:

It turns over normally
It is getting fuel
Both spark plugs fail to arc when grounded to the case
It was running normally then just died, no sputtering, no surging, it just stopped.

If any of the above "facts" are incorrect, all bets are off.

Based on that data:

It has to be electrical
It can't be an ignition coil or plug wires (there's two of each and they don't fail in pairs at the exact same time).
It can't be the negative 12 volt wires (the side of the circuit that gets pulsed) to the coils
It can't be the battery

It has to be something common to both halves of the ignition.

Might be the +12V wire at the coils, but only upstream of both coils.
Might be a fuse.
Might be a burned land in the junction box
Might be the ignitor
Might be the ignition switch (I really doubt that though, but I am not 100% sure)
Might be the pulser coil.

That's all that is common to both halves of the ignition system. I'm hoping the fuse was checked... Burned lands are common on some older Kawasakis junction boxes, but usually on high mileage bikes. Ignitors are pretty reliable. The pulser coil sits in a hot, vibrating engine and is made many feet of very fine wire wrapped tightly around a ferrous core. I have replaced more than one of these in the past. It's also really easy to test.

[Sheppo]

I suggest you get it from your work to some where close and one of us can help you in person. Diagnosing issues like this over the internet is like pushing rope uphill to herd cats.

[TheIglu]

Coil. Had it happen on my old EX500 racebike. Would run like a champ until warm, then die.

Coils will test out fine when cold, but hot they will shit the bed.

[Maple50175]

Get a digital multi-meter and set it to ohms (the horseshoe). Connect the two meter probes together and verify the meter reads zero, note what it reads when they are not connected, that's the open circuit reading (zero is a dead short). Connect the two meter probes to the two wires on the pulser coil. It will read something if it's good or open circuit of it's bad.

Don't bother checking the kickstand, clutch, or kill switch, if any of those have failed, it won't turn over.

Just to be clear, these are the "facts" I am using for troubleshooting:

It turns over normally
It is getting fuel
Both spark plugs fail to arc when grounded to the case
It was running normally then just died, no sputtering, no surging, it just stopped.

If any of the above "facts" are incorrect, all bets are off.

Based on that data:

It has to be electrical
It can't be an ignition coil or plug wires (there's two of each and they don't fail in pairs at the exact same time).
It can't be the negative 12 volt wires (the side of the circuit that gets pulsed) to the coils
It can't be the battery

It has to be something common to both halves of the ignition.

Might be the +12V wire at the coils, but only upstream of both coils.
Might be a fuse.
Might be a burned land in the junction box
Might be the ignitor
Might be the ignition switch (I really doubt that though, but I am not 100% sure)
Might be the pulser coil.

That's all that is common to both halves of the ignition system. I'm hoping the fuse was checked... Burned lands are common on some older Kawasakis junction boxes, but usually on high mileage bikes. Ignitors are pretty reliable. The pulser coil sits in a hot, vibrating engine and is made many feet of very fine wire wrapped tightly around a ferrous core. I have replaced more than one of these in the past. It's also really easy to test.

All fuses have been checked all are good none are bad

I used a test light the other day to the power wire going to coils. I have 12v going to them for sure. I'm buying a multimeter tonight.


So on the pulser coil I just unplug it put it on ohms and see if its steady numbers or if it keeps moving correct

[jbmass]

No, if the coil has no continuity when you connect the test leads to it, it's bad. In other words, when your turn the meter on to ohms the meter should read OL when the test leads are not touching each other or anything else. If you touch them together they gain continuity.

If you see OL- it's bad. It can have a high ohm reading, coils do.

[stoinkythepig]

All fuses have been checked all are good none are bad

I used a test light the other day to the power wire going to coils. I have 12v going to them for sure. I'm buying a multimeter tonight.


So on the pulser coil I just unplug it put it on ohms and see if its steady numbers or if it keeps moving correct

Yeah, it will either be open, or read something like 200 ohms. As long as it's not open, the actual number you read is likely not important.

[Maple50175]

Yeah, it will either be open, or read something like 200 ohms. As long as it's not open, the actual number you read is likely not important.

enough is enough, I can't figure it out, I went and bought a used CDI box on ebay for 40 shipped, hoping this will fix it. Would be epic if it did.... IF anyone has a 01-06 i think ninja 500 let me know

or if anyone wants to see bike in person let me know i can after my work closes.

[smokinjoe]

Yeah, its not the crank sensor. It sounds unlikely you are getting power to both coils but no spark since they rarely fail in pairs. It could be the vacum line or petcock not opening

[Maple50175]

Yeah, its not the crank sensor. It sounds unlikely you are getting power to both coils but no spark since they rarely fail in pairs. It could be the vacum line or petcock not opening

cant be the vacum or petcock, i dont even have gas tank on there still should be spark when i ground out the plugs..

its gotta be the CDI or stator.... unless its something stupid

[csmutty]

Stator went on my ex500.

[Degsy]

Wirelessly posted

Wirelessly posted

Rectifier

That's part of the charging system, not the ignition.

But it will turn a battery to shit lickety-split.

[drinkingmymilk]

Wirelessly posted



But it will turn a battery to shit lickety-split.

But with a shit battery, what's powering the starter?

When ever I've seen a rectifier go, the head lights won't even turn on, let alone the starter spin.

[Degsy]

Wirelessly posted

Wirelessly posted



But it will turn a battery to shit lickety-split.

But with a shit battery, what's powering the starter?

When ever I've seen a rectifier go, the head lights won't even turn on, let alone the starter spin.

I havent gone back and re-read the thread but i thought the battery needed charging all the time. Maybe a different thread.