Cannibal not starting

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arcsum68 · #41 Post by **arcsum68** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 3:22 pm

Saw you were looking for a Voltage Regulator and Coil, is that what the problem turned out to be?

wayneschofield · #42 Post by **wayneschofield** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 4:13 pm

I'd be tempted to crank it over with the sparkplug out and a pluglead pushed carefully up the coil going to a plug. Disconnect the fuel pump wire and put a timing light on the pluglead and you should then be able to see:-
1; that the spark is strong ( with insulated pliers hold the plug away from the motor, the spark should jump a good quarter inch) and
2; see what the timing is when cranking.... cranking over with the plug out will make it a whole lot easier on your starter, battery and wires 'till you establish what your problem is....

A noid light or stethascope on an injector will tell you if they are firing.

Make sure it is petrol (sorry, 'Gas') you have in it too, I lost count of the times someone put the wrong fuel in a can.....

Often you can get a motor to fire if you pull the coil (or lead) away from the plug a little. This allows the voltage to build before jumping to the plug and will help fire a fouled plug.....

Make sure the basics are right first. It's likely only something silly and you'd be sick if you part the thing out for a poxy $2 part.... don't give up man!

Canniboomer · #43 Post by **Canniboomer** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 4:25 pm

Moral of the story..... If you live 200 miles from the next Cannondale, buy ANOTHER one! That way you always have parts handy to swap and test. I would think that owning only one Cannondale would be very difficult, and can lead to thoughts of "parting out". r.porter has it easy!, have you counted his machines? (spare parts a-plenty).

Or, just invest in extras of everything vital: relay, coil, plug, reg/rectifier, fuel reg, pump, stator, injectors, etc....
Don't part it out!......just buy more stuff instead!

ABM-CANNIBAL · #44 Post by **ABM-CANNIBAL** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 1:51 pm

Still haven't figured out the problem. I do got a voltage regulator coming from Happyboy so will try that once it comes. If that doesn't work, I will buy a new coil.

I won't part it out. Just getting frustrated and really missing riding.

I will try the trick with pulling the coil a little off the spark plug.

wistech · #45 Post by **wistech** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 2:31 pm

QUOTE (ABM-CANNIBAL @ Sep 21 2007, 08:51 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Still haven't figured out the problem. I do got a voltage regulator coming from Happyboy so will try that once it comes. If that doesn't work, I will buy a new coil.

I won't part it out. Just getting frustrated and really missing riding.

I will try the trick with pulling the coil a little off the spark plug.

Sure sounds like the decomp has broken. Just unplugging the voltage regulator will eliminate it from the system so no need for a spare. Same with a coil .If the spark is bright it will run. Pull the valve cover and get it over with. Have you done a voltage drop test on the starter to make sure its working ?

ABM-CANNIBAL · #46 Post by **ABM-CANNIBAL** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 3:05 pm

I will try the regulator & coil first and then go buy a compression tester and see if the compression looks to high or low. Depending on the reading I will drop the motor as a last resort. I know it will only take a few hours but I hate doing it. After that I will send the exhaust cam to Happyboy to get the Decomp fixed. He will probably end up sending the decomp to you wistech.

Hopefully the coil or regulator will fix it or I will probably be down another month.

wistech · #47 Post by **wistech** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 5:24 pm

Just to check the decomp you could just pull the valve cover. Its possible the return spring has just broken or weakened. Although dropping the engine can be done probalbly faster . Funny thing is Ive had a quad with stuck off decomp and although it would barely turn over it would start if it hit just right. I do remember applying throttle made it crank very slow.

NRath · #48 Post by **NRath** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 4:30 pm

I haven't read the whole post, so I hope this hasn't been metioned. But, with regards to the coil spark, it's a little difficult to tell by looking if you don't have a known good one to look at first. Long ago, a guy had a problem (not mine, I was fixing)- wouldn't run, occasionally backfire and almost start. Pulled the plug, put it back in the coil, and grounded it. It had what seemed to be a healthy looking blue spark. Swapped coils anyway and the quad started right up. Checked the spark with that coil and it was brighter.

So, unless you've seen the intensity of a good one a couple times so you really know it, it could be a weak spark.

wistech · #49 Post by **wistech** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 5:26 pm

QUOTE (NRath @ Sep 22 2007, 11:30 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I haven't read the whole post, so I hope this hasn't been metioned. But, with regards to the coil spark, it's a little difficult to tell by looking if you don't have a known good one to look at first. Long ago, a guy had a problem (not mine, I was fixing)- wouldn't run, occasionally backfire and almost start. Pulled the plug, put it back in the coil, and grounded it. It had what seemed to be a healthy looking blue spark. Swapped coils anyway and the quad started right up. Checked the spark with that coil and it was brighter.

So, unless you've seen the intensity of a good one a couple times so you really know it, it could be a weak spark.

So true When we dynoed my moto the last time it had an intermittant miss. Spark was good and bright while looking at it but it would just stop sparking occasionally while watching it during cranking. A weak coil will have a orange yellow spark. A spark plug that is cracked internally will also show a weak spark so slap a new one on to verify .

Canniboomer · #50 Post by **Canniboomer** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 5:44 pm

Getting back your first post of symptoms, and your later saying that you found white scum in the chimney -- that's an indicator of water invasion (did you do washdown before parking it for a few weeks?, and was that upper coil boot sealed with extra goop?). You can see from the pics that water even reached to the base of the sparkplug after dodging the lower boot, and could have easily migrated thru the coil and ruined it. I just bet that a new coil, a fresh plug, and a cleaned cylinder will get you back to starting.

...as for proper charging After you start?, I would agree that seems like a separate issue with separate fixes.