[CLIFFR]

Still will not start, Last night I took the white wire off of the coil that runs from the ignition switch and ran a hot wire direct from the plus side of the battery to the coil, Still nothing. I have replaced, Iginition module, sensor plate, coil, plugs, wires, battery, 30 amp circuit breaker, stator, voltage regulator and still nothing. I have 12 volts at the coil with the key on, the bike turns over great with "No Spark" 12 volts at the battery, and the sensor plate test at 4.5-5.0 volts as stated in the manual, I have searched for a broken or melted wire and I can not locate, were should I be looking? This all started after the bike was running like crap and died, would not start so I replaced the battery, when I hooked up the battery the positive lead arched and now I realize that I should have stopped there. Bike started up fine and sounded smooth for about a minute and then the voltage regulator smoked and total melted the back out of it by the time I shut it down. Someone, anyone please, and advice or help, I want to ride not wrench. HELP!!!!!

[CLIFFR]

No Spark, Has anyone out there had this problem? I have tried everything!!!

[DaveFxst]

I have no idea if this will help you, but my 1991 883 Sporty developed a similar problem. Ran fine for years, then the battery went flat. A new battery worked for about a week, then it started running really rough and died. The plugs were totally carboned from low spark. The new battery was drawn down to zip. After a long and fruitless search like you described, it turned out to be the wires from the voltage regulator were pinched under the seat frame. The insulation shaved on the frame side where I couldn't see it. It created a dead short situation. Repair was a simple matter of clipping out the bad part of the harness and adding about 3 inches to remount it to where it wouldn't get rubbed. I did NOT blow up the voltage regulator, however. Your description sounds like a classic dead short situation, which would explain the battery arcing when you hooked it up.

[CLIFFR]

battery is not arching since I have replaced everything and still have nothing, could it still be a short? Is there a easy way to find a short instead taking everything apart? When the voltage regulator shorted what would have been in line to take the hit next?

[hotroadking]

Electrical gremlins can be a PIA to trace down, but taking your time or take it to a dealer is your option IMHO, if you don't want to wrench LOL

You've replaced everything I can think of, do you have a SM, work the diagram back from the plugs to the power source, follow the wires back and look for a cut that may be shorting it out

[CLIFFR]

turn on the key and lights work with 12 volts on each side of the coil so that tells me the key switch is good right? and the kill switch is working or the bike
would not even turn over right?

[ffflhtcui]

I don't know anything. I had a Honda Accord one time with same symptoms. Turned out the starter circuit was shorting out the ignition circuit. But, that was a car. Fixed it by replacing the ignition switch itself.

[hotroadking]

I would work backwards to each component testing along the way the connections between them a continutity check would be a good start on each wire.

Also have you verified each plug is not working no spark, make sure the plug is touching the head so it'a grounded when you test, if not you can fry an electronic ignition.

Also what about fuel, are you sure it's getting fuel?

Three basic things to get running are:

Compression
Fuel
Spark

[CLIFFR]

I have the tank off of the bike, so there is no fuel, I am trying to get spark to the plug first, once I see spark I no she will run once I put the tank back on right? If it is a shorted wire I keep lookin, I have already looked the back over again, again and again with no luck!!! surely someone out there has had the same problem on a sporty.

[ffflhtcui]

Cliff,

My point earlier was check to see if you still have 12v going to the coil when you push the starter button. You said that you have 12v to coil when ignition is on.

Velly interesting!

[CD]

Like HRK and I have said, you have to start at the end and work backwards! What you attempting to do is shotgun troubleshooting which rarely works. We all will attempt to help but, if we suggest doing something like performing the ohm test on the coil, the voltage and resistance tests on the sensor and module please be able to provide some answers back to us as othrewise, we are just guessing.

Here are some more thoughts.

Since you have provided hot directly to the plus side of coil (white wire) but leave the wire on.. That means in theory that the problem is upstream as the coil is the last stop on the ignition circuit right? So, we need to go backwards from there ONCE we verify the coil is still good. Ohm it per the book and then go backwards to the module and perform the tests in the book from there you go back to the sensor plate and test it IAW the book. Since you replaced the sensor plate make sure you put the wires in the correct holes and the pins are making contact. If they are not, the singnal can be too weak to trigger the module. At every point, check the connections and wiring for condition.

You mentioned you had an arc when you connected the positive lead? First, a little lesson in battery connections. When removing and installing a battery, you should always use the following sequence. Remove Negative cable, then Positive cable. Install Positve cable then install Negative cable. NPPN is what we always taught the newbies. The reasoning is that is nearly impossible to short out a battery this way. What I suggest doing is to see if you have a ground or short circuit going on. First, verify the correct cables are on the correct posts (I know but humor me here) then, disconnect the GROUND side cable and observe if you have any arcing at all. Make sure the ignition is off and wiring is normal. If you have any arcing, you have a short somewhere that is pulling a load and possibly on the ignition side. You can isolate the branch circuit by disconnecting the power supply from one 15 amp breaker and then the other. The one that eliminates the arc is where you start troubleshooting.

[SteveZ]

Hey

I am having this exact same problem myself ~ I have a 1200 1989 sporster that is producing no spark! It was running very poorly, acting as if it wasnt getting enough gas to the carb, when it just stopped running. It turns over great, but no spark.

I have replaced the coil, and have the correct volts going into it. I have checked all the wires ~ all are healthy.

No offense Cliff ~ but im glad im no the only one with this problem

[twalkeroh]

I also have this same problem. I have an '88 1200 sportster. My bike was running fine up until this point. I wheeled my bike out of the garage, turned on the ignition & fuel, pulled out the choke and pressed the starter button. The bike started then died. I pressed the starter button again to no avail. Now I have no spark. I've replaced the plug wires and the coil, still no spark. I was just getting ready to buy a new ignition module when I ran across this forum and read where you had changed your ignition module, now I'm afraid to change mine if it's not bad. Is there a way to check the ignition module? I'm stumped too.
twalkeroh

[dutch]

I don't have a good reason but 98 and 99 sports have a common problem of bad modules. I have replaced alot of them and there is no check for them other than working your way back to them, the only other factor in the mix is the bank angle but have never found a bad one. Dutch

[chucktx]

you asked a question about the kill button.......yes the bike will still turn over with the kill button engaged. disconnect the killbutton and see what happens...... keep us informed..
chucktx