1994 EN500 Engine not starting

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Billy
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Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2010 2:31 am

1994 EN500 Engine not starting

Postby Billy » Fri Dec 17, 2010 2:53 am

Hi All,
I'm new to this website and hope I can get some advise on my problem.

Last week, on the way home, the bike engine died on 2 times on the road. I was lucky that the engine could be re-start and managed to get home. However the next morning it could not start at all.

I sent the bike to the mechanic (M1) and was told that the there was no spark and he is very certain it is the igniter problem. He is in the midst of ordering the igniter as there is no stock in KL.

I recently decided to get another mechanic's opinion whilst waiting. Mechanic No.2 (M2) said that usually the Japanese electrical components have very very low failure and suspects it could plug coil / magnetic coil or some wiring got shot. M2 said if the wiring is shot, replacing the igniter will just burn the igniter again making it one big costly affair (igniter cost US360+)

Can anyone advise
1. How to check if the wiring is shot?
2. How to test if the igniter is working?
3. How to test if the plug coil / magnetic coil is working?
4. If the problem is something else?


Thanks in advance

Billy
KL, Malaysia.

Just some background history of some other recent issues
I had to change the thermostat body about a month ago as it was leaking coolant. Whilst it was at the shop, the mechanic recommended to have the radiator drained and washed which I agreed to.

After all was done, I took the bike off and the engine stalled 5 times. Each time I managed to re-start it. I brought it to the mechanic who previously serviced the bike. According to him, he tighten up some parts and it was working again after that.

2 weeks later I brought it back to him for the maintenance service (engine oil, spark plug and oil filter change)... Rode it for about a week and then this problem arose.

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Triangles
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I ride: '94 Black Cherry Vulcan 500, '06 Candyfire Red Vulcan 500 LTD
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Re: 1994 EN500 Engine not starting

Postby Triangles » Sun Dec 19, 2010 9:48 pm

I'm very familiar with the electrical system since earlier this year I had a problem with the charging system. After having a dead battery a couple times I noticed one day when coming home that my turn signals stopped working. I thought that was odd. I got home and put a volt meter on the battery. it was still running with the battery drained down to 9V! Narrowed it down to a corroded pin on a connector that had gotten hot and melted due to increased resistance caused by the corrosion.

Where are you located maybe someone here is close enuff that they can lend a hand? Nevermind apparently I didn't read your post thoroughly enough.

Before you drop $300+ on a new igniter. Used parts are much cheaper on fleabay or google can help you find a salvage parts dealer. In the how-to section there are instructions on how to use kawasaki's parts diagrams to see if any other bikes and years of those bikes used the same igniter. Ok so I was bored and did it for you. You're looking for part# 21119-1219 which is the igniter for all years of EN450 (454 LTD), '90-96 EN500A (be careful both EN500A and EN500C were made in '96), and EX500 (ninja 500) '87-93. I'd imagine you'd be able to find used significantly cheaper.

I'll extend the offer that if you want to send me your igniter with prepaid return shipping, I'll plug it into my '94 to eliminate that as a possible problem. After seeing where you are, that's probably not practical.

The '94 EN500 has two crank position sensors. The igniter uses these to determine crank position and RPM. The igniter then calculates the ignition advance based on RPM and sends a pulse to the ignition coils at the appropriate time to fire the spark plugs. There really isn't a lot to the ignition systems on these bikes so there isn't much that can go wrong. I would try the following things in approximately this order if you have a no spark condition. I'll assume your mechanic has already done some of these.

- check to make sure the ignition coils are getting +12v. if not, time to check fuses and/or pull out wiring diagrams to trouble shoot why. I'm assuming you've checked both plugs for spark by now.
- try new spark plugs (easy $6 thing to try) I've never had this problem, but I've heard of others having ignition issues with relatively new spark plugs that were cured by new spark plugs.
- I'd check the wire connections for the crank position sensors. Clean up/replace any corroded connections. I guess the same applies to the igniter's connection.
- I haven't looked at wiring diagram in a while, but I'd imagine one of the wires on the plug to the igniter would be a supply voltage for the igniter to run off of. I'd check this wire and troubleshoot with wiring diagrams if the supply voltage is not present.
- At this point if all checks out ok, I'd be looking on fleabay for a used igniter.

Given the age of the bike I'd suspect a loose connection in the crank position sensor wiring causing the igniter not to detect RPM which would result in no spark since the igniter thinks the crank isn't moving. The igniter would be my second suspect since it's unlikely for both ignition coils to fail simultaneously.

Get an OEM shop manual!!! They are indispensable. I actually recommend both a Haynes manual and the Kawasaki shop manual. FYI there is only a shop manual "Supplement" available for the EN500A. You're supposed to use the shop manual for the EN450 (454 LTD) and then the "Supplement" tells you what is different from the EN450. I already had the shop manual for the EN500C when I got my EN500A. Between the "Supplement" and the 500C manual I haven't had a need for the EN450 manual.

Oh yeah to answer your questions...
1. No quick easy thing here. Get a manual with wiring diagrams and a multimeter. Start checking continuity, voltages, etc. Although checking connections for corroded/burned contacts is relatively quick and easy.
2. Find someone else with the same bike and convince them to try your igniter on their bike. There really isn't anyway to bench test these.
3. It's highly unlikely both ignition coils died simultaneously. If one's sparking and the other isn't, swap them to see if it's the coil that is bad or the wiring.
4. I'm pretty sure the bulk of my post above already answers this.


Let us know how things work out. Oh yea I almost forgot. Welcome to the forum!
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Triangles
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I ride: '94 Black Cherry Vulcan 500, '06 Candyfire Red Vulcan 500 LTD
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Re: 1994 EN500 Engine not starting

Postby Triangles » Sun Dec 19, 2010 9:52 pm

After having typed all that, another common issue with the Vulcan 500's is loose battery terminals that can cause the bike to stall for no apparent reason. However if this were the problem I'd assume you'd have issues getting the engine to crank let alone spark from the ignition.
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AKrider
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I ride: '93 Vulcan 500, '06 Honda Rebel, '81 CX 500
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Re: 1994 EN500 Engine not starting

Postby AKrider » Thu Oct 06, 2011 4:09 pm

Just wanted to pass on a supplier of some electrical parts for our machines as well as others. Try this link, http://www.ricksmotorsportelectrics.com/index.php
I just installed a CDI box I got from Rick's on my wife's 93 Kawasaki Bayou, it's dog training season here cold enough to run but not enough snow for sleds, anyway I found the CDI bad while I was replacing many corroded electrical connectors and the local "Stealership" wanted $450 for the stock unit or they would sell me one from Rick's for $160 if i could wait a week, I hit Rick's website and let UPS take the dealer's profit for 2nd day air and 3 days later we're up and running. I know they sell stators and rectifiers and rebuilt starters for our bikes, just do a parts search by year and model to find out exactly what they carry.

Hope this helps someone out.
We are what we repeatedly do, excellence is a habit.


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