2003 CR 250 Electrical Issues ( No Spark ) I need some input Please.

Campincracker said:

The peak voltage on the coil is supposed to be 100v minimum, mine is .500. That is less than 1 volt. Not good, so I tested the wires coming out of the stator.

Click to expand...

"The coil is supposed to be 100v minimum"--- absolutely. We're talking about the IGNITION coil, right?



The "wires coming out of the stator" need to be making >100vac as well.

If those two wires are only generating 10v, your problem is your stator, and everything else after that is moot. (From your description you're testing stuff in the opposite order from what I explained.... Why test the ignition coil output if your stator is never gonna generate the power it need for the ignition coil to test right... Start at the source of the electricity (the stator/generator/source coil)

I explained the testing I would do in step by step fashion. Start at the beginning g and test the two wires. That must


Just to ensure you're on the right path--- verify your multimeter is set to the 200 v~ setting or (VAC) alternating current

thrill-billy85 said:

"The coil is supposed to be 100v minimum"--- absolutely. We're talking about the IGNITION coil, right?

The "wires coming out of the stator" need to be making >100vac as well.

If those two wires are only generating 10v, your problem is your stator, and everything else after that is moot. (From your description you're testing stuff in the opposite order from what I explained.... Why test the ignition coil output if your stator is never gonna generate the power it need for the ignition coil to test right... Start at the source of the electricity (the stator/generator/source coil)

I explained the testing I would do in step by step fashion. Start at the beginning g and test the two wires. That must


Just to ensure you're on the right path--- verify your multimeter is set to the 200 v~ setting or (VAC) alternating current

Click to expand...

I have also set my multimeter to DC because the peak voltage adapter converts everything to DC. The alternator wires coming out of the flywheel cover are measuring about 10-11 volts.

Yes that is the correct, I tested the wires coming right out of the flywheel cover. There are 4 wires. 2 of the wires are from the alternator and two are from the ignition pulse generator. The two wires from the alternator tested around 11 volts (if this supposed to be 100V min then we have a problem here) the manual shows to test peak voltage at the coil which I did and got .5v reading at the coil. The two for the ignition pulse generator was around 2 volts which is correct. The wires go the CDI before they ever get to the coil, so I was thinking if I tested them good before CDI and bad after it would narrow the problem to CDI. However I haven't found any specs for the stator volts, I thought it should be around 12 before the CDI and boosted to over 100 at the coil but I may be completely backwards on this.

Thanks a ton for the help, I know it is probably frustrating because I know very little about electronics.

Good call with the peak voltage and DC Setting. TotLly forgot about that.

Yes, if the two wires coming out of the stator are only making 10v, your stator is bad. It may OHM fine, but the PVA test is obviously the most comprehensive test.

Also. Before you but a stator..... Test your tester on the Yamaha... Make sure it shows 100v. if it looks good on the Yamaha, then we can assume your peak voltage adapter is good, and your tests show an accurate reading of 10v on the Honda, which is too low

Stators generate ac power that is rectified and regulated for powering lights and charging a battery.

Charge coils generate power to charge the capacitors in a CDI box which powers the ignition coil and is triggered by the trigger coil.

Charge coils are also known as exciter coils and the trigger coil is also known as the pulse coil.

Some systems integrate the charge coil into the stator, but this is only on smaller bikes normally that have lighting systems and use CDI ignitions.

thrill-billy85 said:

Good call with the peak voltage and DC Setting. TotLly forgot about that.

Yes, if the two wires coming out of the stator are only making 10v, your stator is bad. It may OHM fine, but the PVA test is obviously the most comprehensive test.

Also. Before you but a stator..... Test your tester on the Yamaha... Make sure it shows 100v. if it looks good on the Yamaha, then we can assume your peak voltage adapter is good, and your tests show an accurate reading of 10v on the Honda, which is too low

Click to expand...

An update to the thread, I found a local guy that had an 02 CR 250 that let me test my CDI in his bike. Well it fired right up! Good news and bad news. However the last thing I thought it could would be the stator and he had a new one for $100 so I bought it and put it in this morning. Still no spark. I then pulled my coil off and kind of rigged it up on my YZ just double check and it. The CR coil on the YZ put out a bright blue spark! I then pulled the wire harness off and checked continuity again between all wires and also made sure they didn't have continuity with wires they weren't supposed too, while I was doing this I was bending the harness in all different directions as well. I then checked all plugs and connectors everything is very clean and secure no loose wires or pins. There must be something I am missing. It is driving me crazy. So all in all my CDI is good, stator is good, coil is good, as far as I can tell all of the wiring is good. I however have not unbolted the motor to clean the grounds but the bike is super clean so I don't know if I should do that or not. WHAT AM I MISSING?!?! I'm so lost with this bike and I am usually very mechanically inclined!

Did you post bike sat for several years? i would remove EVERY bolt associated with GROUND and clean connectors and mounting surfaces. unless the power path can return[ground] to the source[battery/stator] it aint gonna fly. my .02, hope it helps.

wanabeguru said:

Did you post bike sat for several years? i would remove EVERY bolt associated with GROUND and clean connectors and mounting surfaces. unless the power path can return[ground] to the source[battery/stator] it aint gonna fly. my .02, hope it helps.

Click to expand...

Yes it sat for about 5 years, that is basically all bolts that are mounting the motor to the frame right? I did clean the head stay bolts and where the coil mounts.

wanabeguru said:

Did you post bike sat for several years? i would remove EVERY bolt associated with GROUND and clean connectors and mounting surfaces. unless the power path can return[ground] to the source[battery/stator] it aint gonna fly. my .02, hope it helps.

Click to expand...

Pretty much just pull the motor and clean all mounts?

My next guess is its the kill switch.

Also, test the peak voltage from the new stator.

I tried 2 brand new stators in my xr400 plus the original. On stator #3 I started exploring other options, and chased my tail for over a month. (You can read about 20 pages worth in the xr400 thread).

Finally I got a stator out of a bike that I knew ran, and boom.... My bike starts.

ITS ALIVE!

I got it to start with a ground strap from the head stays to the coil ground, so I ended up pulling the head stays off again and hitting them with a flap disc on a grinder and sanded the head stays down again. So after all it was a ground problem. I should have listened sooner! Thanks again for all of the help.

wanabeguru said:

Did you post bike sat for several years? i would remove EVERY bolt associated with GROUND and clean connectors and mounting surfaces. unless the power path can return[ground] to the source[battery/stator] it aint gonna fly. my .02, hope it helps.

Click to expand...

Thank you! It's now running!

this discussion has brought back memories of 2 times I didn't realize my kill switch was off. I think I'll start a separate thread for these stories.