Topic: 1990 CBR1000f hurricane No spark. Great juice. Melted connector?

[footdragger]

Ok not sure where this thread should go. I'm new here because I've run out of places to turn and this certainly looks like the place, if any, that I will get my answer.



For the past six months I've had issues starting my 1990 hurricane. It always seemed to be a low battery but I tested and the battery/charging system is not suspect.



Voltage is 13.4 solid (lithium battery) and load-tested. Even after cranking the battery returns to about 13v.



Here's the two problems I've noticed.



1. The starting motor kinda wa-wa's. If you're old enough to remember how turntables had that issue, you'll understand. That's the only way I can describe it. Up and down, as if the voltage is inconsistent.



2. It only sparks once every twenty seconds of turning or so. The spark is totally blue, fat and strong when it DOES.



The power to the harness in this model goes through the starter relay from the battery. It's a fused link. That seems to have overheated and melted the connector. Not shorting, just HOT.

The resistance from the battery positive to the ignition coil hot is about 1ohm. Voltage is getting there fine.

What should I be testing? It has to do with wiring somewhere because it's intermittent and clearly melted. Can anybody recommend a more specialized forum for these models?

[dusterdude]

Fashion a way to jump across the starter relay terminals,turn the key on and see if it starts when you jump the relay.it seems you may be old enough to remember when jumping ford solenoids were done in this fashion

[footdragger]

You mean throw a box-end across the studs? Already been there! Hah! The problem is not on the starter side of the relay, it's the starter switch side, which is also the positive to the harness on this model. Seems it's gotten hot there and melted. Probably a regulator not regulating right.

[750cafe]

Bad ground wire connections to frame/battery. Your starter switch could also use a good cleaning on the contacts.

Eric

[footdragger]

Ok guys thanks for the advice.

I pulled the starter and kill switches apart. They had light sticky runny grease. Completely cleaned with degreaser and now get 0.00ohm resistance across the leads.

Cleaned batter cables and ground straps.

I've eliminated the ground as an issue, since I'm connecting all four spark plugs directly to the battery negative with alligator clips.

Get this. The spark is excellent but only while the throttle is held wide open! It kinda feels like maybe when the engine spins faster the battery works less and has more voltage for spark.

Another thing, it idles perfectly, PERFECT. But when the revs drop to about 1,000 I hear half of the cylinders missing. It doesn't like low RPM.

As I understand, the pickup coil is a generator and needs the movement of the relict or wheel to charge it so it can discharge. Wouldn't a weak one need more speed to sustain enough power to the ECM?

I checked the pickup and the ohms are correct.

The battery seems to be draining faster than it should suggesting high resistance SOMEWHERE but I can't spot it.

How much resistance should I expect across the posts on the starter solenoid?

[footdragger]

Found out the up and down draw was the alternator damper. It's slipping and not spinning the engine at all! SMOOTH, HONDA

[ofreen]

How many miles on your CBR?

[footdragger]

39,000. What is the purpose of this damper? It's a miniature multi disk wet clutch. Why does the alternator rotor shaft need some sort of damper from its crank engagement???

[ofreen]

There is a lot of info on that damper over here - http://cbrforum.com/forum/

[Don R]

My xs850 thread above I cleaned the battery cable terminals, took the starter apart, lubed it and cleaned out all the carbon, added a ground jumper from the engine ground directly to the starter, I used a lawn tractor starter relay and most of all I removed the glass fuse block and put in blade fuses found ar O'riely auto parts .That was the one thing that did the most. 5 fuses seperate fuses with feeds for each one just like we need.