Why is my ignition getting so hot?

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SteveWR450f
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Why is my ignition getting so hot?

Post by SteveWR450f »

Have 2 bikes. Son/buddy bike an 03 and my bike an 04 model. Both setup the same. Ride together.

Son/buddy bike somehow 6 months ago got some water inside. I dont pressure wash. Was using flywheel weight with spacer so maybe not a good seal. Flywheel magneto thing got rusted. Replaced that. Bike ran good for a few months. Removed flywheel weight and spacer.

2 months ago, same bike toasted the stator coil because got too hot inside. Dont understand. We were not hillclimbing or doing anything out of the ordinary. My bike was just fine. So replaced the stator coil.

Last weekend, bike again toasted the stator coil . . . So other than replacing the coil, what do I need to do? My guess is that once water got in, a bearing or something has been damaged and that now creates too much heat. What do I need to be looking for?

Thanks for your time. Steve
WR sold. Now have 03 and 04 KDX 220s.
KXF 250 forks. RB Carb and Head. FMF rev pipe. Long live the KDX !!!
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Colorado Mike
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Post by Colorado Mike »

The only bearing that pertains to your magneto is your crankshaft bearing, which would be making noise if it's getting hot I would think. Unless the seal is bad, I highly doubt water in the magneto cover would take out the crank bearing. I would think it more likely you have a chafed wire that is intermittently grounding or something drawing too much current. Does your voltage regualtor or ignition module get hotter on that bike than yours? I haven't looked, but if you can easily disconnect the lighting coil and run it, checking for heat that might help isolate things. If you have a curent meter maybe you can compare draw between the two bikes .
Mike

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'04 KDX220
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canyncarvr
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Post by canyncarvr »

Replaced the trigger/exciter coil? With what? OEM or RickyStator?


Re: 'Flywheel magneto thing got rusted. Replaced that.'

You replaced the flywheel? :shock: They're exPENsive!! And...the only reason to do that would be some damage to the magnets (say, from dropping the flywheel or maybe the magnets coming unglued...which doesn't happen much on 'H' models).

Same question for that...replaced with what?

I think something else is going on...something is being missed.

Expand some on the details?

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kawagumby
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Post by kawagumby »

"toasted the coil" How do you know it was ambient temperature and not a problem with high voltage, high current, vibration or other that caused a break-down of the insulating coating?
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SteveWR450f
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Post by SteveWR450f »

Good point. When stator coil got replaced the first time, voltage was within in normal limits. But the wires, especially on the 2nd coil, looked burnt. I will do another voltage check and report my results. Thanks for your time.

Steve
WR sold. Now have 03 and 04 KDX 220s.
KXF 250 forks. RB Carb and Head. FMF rev pipe. Long live the KDX !!!
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canyncarvr
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Post by canyncarvr »

I don't know that a voltage check will accomplish anything. Most folks voltmeters being of the $5 Harbor Freight variety, you never know what you're gonna get. Putting a 'scope on it would...if you can interpret the waveform.

Sparky boxes on KDXs do go bad, but I don't recall hearing about that happening more'n once or twice over years. Certainly you could swap the boxes between the two bikes to see where the problem goes.

Still the question...oem or not? Wrapping a trigger coil involves more than..well...wrapping wire around a pole. There are LOTS of nightmare stories from riders trying to make their bikes work with other-than OEM coils. Backfires...kickbacks...no starts...and fried coils.

Did the 'new' coil come with connectors already in place? Was it a pigtail that was soldered to the existing harness?

There is a lot of room for error that won't forgive in this situation...having nothing to do with anything you did or didn't do, either.

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