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| The Honda CA95 / Benly 150 Restoration The little brother to the CA160 in our family of Hondas |
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#1
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Thanks Spokes! Now for a no spark question..
Thanks to Spokes, I now have a nice original wiring harness. It sure is nice to have the wires match up. I expected her to fire right up this afternoon, but no such luck. Fully charged battery, no spark, cranks just fine on electric starter. I've looked at my shop manual, but it is obviously written for pro mechanics that know their way around a wiring diagram. Intuitively I put my test light on the green wire where it is held to the points by the little spring and as I expected, no flashing from my test light, I would expect that if eveything was working properly I would either blow up my test light or get a nice flashing as the points did their thing while I cranked the engine over with the starter, but nothing. My next idea is to trace that wire back to the coil? (I think) and just keep going until I get something. Does it sound like I am headed in the right direction or should I throw about 500 dollars at my friendly Honda dealer
 ?Steve 
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#2
08-12-2012, 03:30 AM
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The CA95 veterans can correct me, but here's my two cents. Time to systematically trace the cause, but a few quick questions first.
Do you have a multimeter to test voltage? Was the ignition switch in position II or III? If it was only in position I, it will crank but not provide voltage to the ignition. The tests below would be with the switch in position II (no need for headlights for the testing). So, the harness power is provided to the ignition at the coil with the black wire. Are you getting voltage if you measure from the black wire to ground? (bare aluminum on the engine itself is a good ground source). If so, proceed to the next step. If not, check the connections in the headlight nacelle, since that black wire gets its power source from the key switch. If you have voltage at the ignition coil's black wire, do you get voltage between the ignition coil's green wire and ground? If so, proceed to the next step. If not, the primary windings in the coil are suspect, but check for torn/frayed wires at the coil housing, too. Green is a typical color for ground, so the ignition coil's green wire tells us that this eventually gets grounded - which it does, through the points. With the points open (stick a business card or similar insulator between the point contacts) and the key switch in position II, are you getting voltage between the green wire where it mounts to the spring connector and ground? Voltage may read a bit lower, since the condenser is also mounted there and is also grounded, but you should get some voltage. If so, you're in good shape, so verify the point gap setting. If no voltage is here, there's a connection issue where the points wire routes through the engine case. I'll leave it there for now until we hear back from you. Cheers!
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#4
08-12-2012, 09:06 AM
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No Spark
Thank You Spokes and ByTheLake:
This is exactly the help I need, thank you. I am going to print your answer out and take it down to my shop and go through it step by step. I already stuck a fuse in and traced that wire (red) to the main switch and it is providing power to the switch. I probably should tell you, that, if I get the color of a wire wrong, it is because I am partially color blind. I am good with yellows and blues but most everything else is some shade of brown to me. When I am working on the wiring I have my son standing by for help. I will go through the things you outlined and come back with some answers. You guys are my lifeline!  Steve
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#5
08-12-2012, 04:55 PM
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One site that I've referred to many times is Dan's Online Motorcycle Repair Course. The site is quite old and full of typos and grammatical errors, but it's jam packed with a lifetime of motorcycle repair wisdom and advice. From the link above, you can scroll down and get an idea of how his site is organized. I've referred to the site many times, sometimes just for casual reading.
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#6
08-12-2012, 06:02 PM
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ByTheLake: I took your advice and looked up Dan's online motorcycle repair course......I don't understand...in the first paragraph he quotes from the Bible and then follows with: "In reality, you are really working for God, and not man." ...I assume there is an alterior motive to his motorcycle course...??? That is as far as I got...I am confused as to your motive?? I think I will stick to this incredible forum. Thanks.
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#7
08-12-2012, 10:54 PM
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No Spark condition checked with testers today
ByTheLake:
I dug out my multitester, bought a continuity tester and kept my test light handy. My battery (three months old and kept on a battery tender since new) shows 6.42 volts at the terminals. When the key is in position two there is no power to the black wire, the one connected to the coil. There is power to the black with red stripe wire, the one connected to the magnetic switch. When I put the key in position three the black wire leading to the coil becomes powered, the magnetic switch wire remains powered. When the green coil wire is tested in this position it shows power with the test light grounded to an engine fin. At this point, following your direction, I stuck a business card between the contacts of the points and tested for voltage where the green wire is captured by the little spring and found no voltage. So, first thing in the morning, I have Monday off (Yes!) I will check for continuity in the points wire. Thank You So Much Steve
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#8
08-13-2012, 02:39 AM
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Quote:
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#9
08-13-2012, 03:44 AM
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Quote:
I stumbled on it this past spring and read through the entire site (course)....the few Biblical quotes can perhaps be used as inspiration or not depending on your beliefs, lol..
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#10
08-13-2012, 12:16 PM
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Thank You ByTheLake No Spark Resolved!
Thank You for giving me directions in how to approach this no spark problem. Up until now, I didn't even know how the system worked. Now I do. Kind of anyhow. This morning I did the last step you gave me in testing the points wire for continuity and I found the problem. The points wire wasn't plugged into the coil, it was plugged into the magnetic switch and the coil wire was plugged into the connection meant for magnetic switch. I can sure understand now how you can't just plug like colored wires together and hope for the best. It takes a little understanding how it works. Now that I have plenty of fire I just have to go back and do some reading on timing...
Thank You ByTheLake! Steve
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#11
08-13-2012, 12:30 PM
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I just love happy endings.
Now onto my own wiring fun - the maker of my Asian aftermarket C95 harness took some creative liberties with a few of the colors, so I've been mapping which colors have been swapped with what. Never a dull moment.
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