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ZL600; Running problems
Topic Started: Feb 19 2011, 09:28 PM (1,421 Views)
TomH65
Member
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Hi all,
I have a Kawasaki ZL600 Eliminator that is acting up. It has had new leads and plugs, carbs cleaned, new air filter and a full tank of high grade fuel.
I was out on it today and all semed to be ok after trouble starting the engine (it took about six attempts, then one cylinder fired, then finally on full choke, all four). I rode 14 miles and all semed quite well although a few misfires along the way. Then all of a sudden the engine just simply died. It didn't lose revs like it does when it misfires, it just died as though the kill switch had been pressed.

Has anyone got any ideas as to what it could be? Any help would be much appreciated.
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hugojose
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It sounds electric, and could be from a loose wire on the kill switch, to bad igniter, to bad alternator, although in this case it would still run on battery. Don't think both coils went bad a the same time. What does it do when you push the button? Check if it gets sparks. With factory manual and multimeter you could trace electric voltage.
Edited by hugojose, Feb 20 2011, 01:20 PM.
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TomH65
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Thanks for your reply hugojose, I'll look into that. When I press the start button, the starter turns quite fast indicating that the battery is ok, but it takes a few attempts to fire up. It seems that it tries to fire on only one cylinder at first, then after a few more tries, and the choke fully out (even when warm) it fires on all four.
I had the same problem before changing the plugs. It ran ok for a while and then went bad again.
Cheers, Tom :074
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hugojose
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How many miles (kilometers) on the bike? Have you changed the plug caps? Also, the igniter could be a suspect. If you have a factory manual, it should have a test for it based on resistance..
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TomH65
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Just short of 17900 miles on the clock. I believe it to be genuine according to the service history that came with it. It had been stood idle for a couple of years.
The leads were changed last year but not the caps.
That's as far as I got with all the cash I've spent on it sine buying it in Summer 2009.
Thanks for that, I'll have my local mechanic to check that for me. :055
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TomH65
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Bike still misfiring. could it be the CDI? or the coils? I'm a novice to bike electrics. Anyone got any more ideas before I sell it for spares? (Don't want to do that but I'm at a real low with it at the moment). :fdq
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hugojose
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Do you have a factory manual to check the primary and secondary on coils? The igniter could also be bad. In fact if coils were replaced the igniter is begining to sound like real suspect, however, they tend to be expensive brand new. Factory manual has a table with resistance test for the igniter plugs. If you don't have a factory manual I could post from mine, but I don't have a ZL600, I have a Zephyr 750.
Edited by hugojose, Apr 7 2011, 10:51 PM.
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TomH65
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Hi again Hugo, Thanks for your response. Can you please explain how to check these? I only have the handbook, but that doesn't give much info on resistance etc. i have access to a multimeter to check, if only I knew how to. Any help would be much appreciated.
When riding, I reach around 4,000 RPM and the fourth cylinder kicks in, but then cuts out again on lower revs.
Tom
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hugojose
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Am talking about the Factory Manual, not the Owner's Manual. Only the Factory Manual would have resistance values to check.

Coils have primaries (low voltage, small tabs) and secondaries (hi voltage, big leads). Coils disconnected, You put the multimeters on ohms reading and check primary ~ 12.6 to 3.2 ohms, and secondary ~ 13.5 to 16.5 Kohms. Am taking those values from my manual, does not mean you would have exactly same.

Do same with igniter, but my manual shows a 20X20 table to check resistance on all plugs. Again, it does not mean my table would be same as required by your bike.

By the way, these old 4 cyl bikes use the two-coil waste spark system. Meaning to the ignition system it is like a two-cylinder bike. one coil fires cylinders 1 & 4 at same time (one is wasted), the other one 2 & 3. If you see one of these two pairs failing, you know which coils is, if that's the problem. The spark plugs caps have also a resistance in them (well mine does), to 'condition' the spark and this is also worth checking

Edited by hugojose, Apr 8 2011, 11:24 PM.
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