XR600 problems

[pb1963]

I have a 1990 XR600 that I just started having problems with. One day it decided that it wasn't going to start. I kicked and kicked until my foot was bruised. I then decided to push start it and it fired up. After it was good and warmed up I shut it off and tried to start it again, nothing. I've been able to push start it a couple of times now after having no luck with the kick starter. I checked the spark and was surprised to see there was none. We checked everything, coil, pulse coil, stator and they were ok. That left us to believe that it was the CDI box. Bought a new CDI box and still nothing.

Another thing that it started doing was that it appears the auto decompression system is hanging up. I can kick it through 4 or 5 times before it comes up solid. Any one else have this problem.

Thanks for the help

pb1963

[JetPilot]

Check your stator windings... If your stator is going bad, it may produce enough energy to spark and run at slightly higher RPM's but if the stator windings are going bad, they may not be able to produce spark to start with the kickstarter.....

[XR6's_rule]

I agree with jetpilot, check or have your stator tested, 9 times out of 10 that's the problem. The stator was a weak point for the 85-90 XR600's. As for the 4-5 kicks before compression, this is normal- all Xr6's from 88 on have this feature. This camshaft integrated auto decomp flicks the R/H exhaust valve open for a few revolutions to clear the cylinder then releases making the bike theoretically easier to start but stretching out the time taken to start it!

[pb1963]

Anyone no how to test the stator?

[Rod Green]

If your XR has both an automatic and manual decompression diconnect the auto(just pull the cable for now).If this helps and you can live without it

remove the clutch cover and take out the auto decompression arm that rides on the kickstar lever. This is improtant as after a while it may snap off and fall into the lower end. It is hardened steel and can do a ton of damage.

I got this tip from Al Bakers XR's Only and have had no problems since I did it.

My XR 500 always starts in 2 or 3 kicks.

[StevePSD]

Here is what I posted several days ago regarindg how to check your stator and other ignition related items:

I bet it is the stator going bad. My '87 did the same thing. Replaced it with a unit from www.rickystator.com for $150 delivered. the early XR's are know to have weak stators.

Now, how to check.....

Remove the seat and find the two wires coming up from the left crankcase cover - they should be black/red (ignition exciter coil) and blue (lighting coil). Using a good digital meter, measure the resistance from the black/red wire and ground. It should be 230-320 ohms. I bet yours reads somewhere around 150 or so.

To check the CDI....without special tools you can't, but you can check all the inputs to the CDI and see if they are within spec. Remove the tank to do these checks.

1) Remove the two connectors to the CDI. You will measure the resistance between the following wires:

2) Check the ignition pulse generator: The resistance between the Blue/Yellow and Green/White should be between 360 - 440 ohms.

3) Ignition coil primary: Blue/yellow and Green 0.1 - 0.3 ohms

4) Ignition coil secondary: Blue/yellow and spark plug cap (remove fromthe spark plug and check where the spark plug makes contact within the cap). You should measure 7,400 - 11,000 ohms.

5) Recheck the resistance from the exciter coil at the CDI (remember to reattach the black/red wire fromthe previous check)- find the Black/Red and Green wires in the CDi connectors - you should have the same 230 - 320 ohms resistance.

If these are all good, then replace the CDI.

Hope this helps.

[pb1963]

I'm not sure what year they started going away from the cable on the auto decompressor but the '90 doesn't have one, its all internal. I know that your supposed to be able to kick it through a few times, this one seems excesive compared to my 650r that I had.

[beer_studd_76]

2 words: sta-tor

[pb1963]

Thanks for the help StevePSD. I will go see what I can figure out.

[Moredesert]

I had lots of problems with my spark plug cap on my old XR600. You might want to pull the cap off the cable and check the spark off the wire then retermanate the cap. I also had problems with the center making contact with the plug it self.

It seems that I would have no compression for the first 4-5 kicks too, until I got fuel in the motor and sealed the rings. That sounds normal to me. ?

[rmhrc630]

I have a 1990 XR600 that I just started having problems with. One day it decided that it wasn't going to start. I kicked and kicked until my foot was bruised. I then decided to push start it and it fired up. After it was good and warmed up I shut it off and tried to start it again, nothing. I've been able to push start it a couple of times now after having no luck with the kick starter. I checked the spark and was surprised to see there was none. We checked everything, coil, pulse coil, stator and they were ok. That left us to believe that it was the CDI box. Bought a new CDI box and still nothing.

Another thing that it started doing was that it appears the auto decompression system is hanging up. I can kick it through 4 or 5 times before it comes up solid. Any one else have this problem.

Thanks for the help

pb1963

Mate it's your stator.

Have it rewound and the bike will be fine.

what you describe is exactly why aussies who cross our deserts carry 1-2 spare XR600 stators.

XR600s were notorious for their stator problems - all that hot oil ruins the windings and materials they are cased in.

[pb1963]

Well I finally got around to doing the tests on the XR as StevePSD contributed.

1) resistance between the black/red wire was about 380 ohms

2) ignition pulse generator: 420 ohms

3) ignition coil primary: 0.7 ohms

4) ignition coil secondary: I couldn't get a reading from the blue/yellow wire and the spark plug cap. So i used the ground on the coil and the spark plug cap and came out with 10,230 ohms. Why do you think I couldn't get a reading from the blue/yellow wire and the spark plug cap.

These all seem like good numbers and I know it can't be the CDI box because it is new. What do you guys think???

[StevePSD]

pb1963,

When you did the check was the blue/yellow wire connected to the coil (I assume you checked these resistances from the CDI conector). If so, then your readings don't make sense. The green terminal on the coil is connected to both the primary and secondary windings within the ignition coil. The blue/yellow wire is connected directly to the coil primary winding. The other side of the secondary winding is the spark plug wire.

If you measure from the spark plug wire to the blue/yellow wire, you are going thru the secondary winding and the primary winding. If you measure from the spark plug wire to the green wire, you go only thru the secondary winding. If you measure from the blue/yellow wire to the green wire, you only go thru the primary winding.

You measured resistance (a bit higher than it should be, but it could be error in your DVOM, especially if it is a cheapie, low battery or out of calibration) between the blue/yellow and green wires - therefore the primary winding is good. You measured correct resistance from the green wire to the spark plug lead - that goes thru the secondary winding. Therefore you must have a reading from the blue/yellow wire to the spark plug lead.

I would double check to make sure you had good contact with the terminals, try measuring directly on the coil terminals. If these reading are still bad then I would suspect a bad ignition coil. While rare, it does occur. A coil is only about $35 from servicehonda.

Hope this helps.

[pb1963]

I bought a high output Ricky Stator for the bike and it fired up the first kick. What a change!! Thanks for all the suggestions.

[rmhrc630]

I bought a high output Ricky Stator for the bike and it fired up the first kick. What a change!! Thanks for all the suggestions.

Well done

roost on ??

[csholer]

dude, ihad the exact same prob with my 94 xr. got an edelbrock carb and it has not happened since. my stock carb was just screwed up.

[Loopy1110]

I bought a high output Ricky Stator for the bike and it fired up the first kick. What a change!! Thanks for all the suggestions.

How did you hook up the wiring as the old stator only has 2 wires and the new one has 5