QuestionHi Bill,
I know you prefer questions on Hondas but your expertise in japanese bikes from the 60's may be helpful. I have a 1966 suzuki X6 hustler (two-stroke) that I've been trying to get to run for almost a year now. I've cleaned the carbs and I have spark but it just won't run (I did have it running fine last year). I noticed some arcing across the points when I kicked it over so I installed new points and condensers. I checked the coils and measured 4 ohms across the primary and 8600 ohms across the secondary for both coils (I assume within range). When I set the timing I came across a strange thing, with the points open I read 8 ohms resistance for each point. If I disconnect either one of the condensers I read no continuity with the points open (as you would expect). The other way I can break the continuity with the points open is to disconnect any of the leads off the ignition coils. I'm guessing that I have a short but I have no idea where it is. Even with this short I still get spark with the plugs laying on the side of the head but it does not appear to be strong enough for the engine to catch. Any ideas?
AnswerRobert, I think you are reading the resistance across the condensers. Isolate them and measure with ohm meter one direction then reverse the leads. The battery in the tester will "Charge" the condensers in one direction and discharge them in the opposite polarity. In that you have identical readings on both sides seems to indicate that all the components are the same.
Remember that the points are just switches for the coils primary windings and the condensers are to store energy momentarily to prevent point arcing. If you are using an ohm meter to check timing, you may need to disconnect the condensers while establishing the correct timing point, then put them back on again.
I'll assume that you are using a fully charged battery for testing and that the plug caps are okay. Old Hondas had no resistors in them, but I don't know about Suzukis. Test for spark with fresh plugs! If you have been cranking the bike over and it hasn't started, the plugs may be getting fouled again, even newer ones.
Older 2 strokes often have failures at the crankseals, which will draw air in on one side and transmission oil on the other side. Get a compression test and pressure test to see if you can isolate any seal issues. Check the rings and pistons visually through the exhaust ports to be sure that nothing is seized or broken and/or pull the heads to check the bores.
I know that early Yamahas had poor reputations for coil output quality, but not too sure about old Suzukis. Perhaps, get them tested, too.
Engines need compression, fuel/air correctly mixed, strong spark at the right time to run. Get a baseline of the condition of the engine before chasing the small stuff.
More help, perhaps, through this link:
http://www.t20suzuki.com/
Bill Silver
