cl350 no spark

[revoluzin]

Hello,

Hoping to get some help here because I'm at a loss! Quick backstory: friend and I got 2 cl350s, rebuilt the carbs on his, it starts up, runs, idles. Rebuilt the carbs on mine, went through the same steps and nothing. We check for spark, getting spark on right side but not the left side.

So, today I was told it is more likely the points than the ignition coils. To test, we swapped his points to my bike, they don't really move much and no spark on them. Still no spark from spark plug either. So, we swap his left coil to my bike, nothing different. Then we realize that we can't really move the points at all, so we loosen the screws on them a bit and get them moving more freely (I don't know if this the correct thing to do). At this point they are definitely moving when we hit the starter or try to kickstart it, but they don't spark and the spark plug still doesn't either.

I really have no idea what else could be the culprit. We are both new to this and learning as we go along. Please help!

 

[TheCoffeeGuy]

every wire, every connector, the plug itself, the plug cap, rusty coil mounts, rusty coil mount bolts,

 

[revoluzin]

The plug and the plug cap are new. The mounts are a little dirty.

I didn't set the timing, but it would still spark and start up right?

 

[revoluzin]

Does it matter that I screwed the connections into the wrong spot, wouldn't current still flow?

 

[TheCoffeeGuy]

it will not spark and start up with the wrong timing. that is what timing does.

 

[Sonreir]

every wire, every connector, the plug itself, the plug cap, rusty coil mounts, rusty coil mount bolts,

Coil mounts won't matter in this case. That's usually only an issue with CDI coils that ground through the mounts. On points and TCI bikes, the coils are ungrounded.

 

[TheCoffeeGuy]

Good to know. I wzs just going through all the things I have experienced over the years. But it nice to know what you said. I had always wondered what the difference was. To me he has a ground short somewhere or a bad wire.

 

[Sonreir]

A pretty common cause of no spark on the 350s and 360s is how the wires are attached to the points.

There are plastic washers which are designed to isolate the coil wires from the points arms, but they often don't get the job done. If the blue or yellow wire has continuity to ground even when the point is open, you know you have an issue.