Help: shadow ignition spark issues

hey guys need some help. I gots me an 08 shadow that i just got done cleaning up the rest of the unused wiring. I am all of a sudden having an issue with getting a spark. As it stands now I am getting no spark, it is strange. My plugs are a bit sooty but shouldnt be that bad, gonna grab some new ons on monday in a hope that this is the issue, however, i am skeptical. I traced the wiring and all seems good, the issue i habe as well is after going through the maintenance manual, for my year and model it says that you have to have diagnostic equipment to check the coils and ignition module. I can understand the module but do i really need to take it into a honda service department to have the coils checked. I checked my resistance at the plugs and am getting 32.18 k-ohms from the rear and 32.11 k-ohms from the front. I have a brand new battery now so i know that it is putting out the correct voltage. Has anyone had any experience with these newerish shadows. I hate the damn thing.

oh and i check my plug gaps and they are all good at 9mm

I was having the same issue, including the sooty plugs. But mine has points and it turned out the condensor and contact breaker were shot. Drove me mental for months til I was told on this very forum to check the aforementioned parts. However I'm guessing a newer shadow is not on a points ignition system.

unfortunately no points...it is controlled by an ignition module and pulse generator...i am def at a loss

Are you getting any spark at all? If not then check the power to the coils. If you have power to the coils and are getting a spark at the plug, then it might be a computer problem.

Originally Posted by rustrocket84

Are you getting any spark at all? If not then check the power to the coils. If you have power to the coils and are getting a spark at the plug, then it might be a computer problem.

i am not getting any spark at all

just popped in my head to make sure they have a good ground seeing as i have moved the rear cylinder coil. Dont know why i didnt think of that first, gonna have to give a look see when i get off work

The coil should only ground when the ignition is firing. It'll have a hot lead in, and then when the ignition hits its timing mark it grounds out and creates the spark at the plug.
Another thing to check is if got rid of hand controls like the kill switch? and possibly the switch on the clutch lever if there is even one?

As soon as you turn your ignition to the run position and the kill switch is in the on position you should have power going to the coils.

Ok yeah that makes sense. I have gotten rid of my hand controls so the kill switch and clutch switch are running through a toggle switch. That shouldnt be an issue but it is on my list of things to double check.

If everything was fine before I would definitely look into neutral switch and kill switch. Did it have a stupid side stand safety? You know the one that kills the engine when you put it in gear with stand down...

Originally Posted by VPNick

hey guys need some help. I gots me an 08 shadow that i just got done cleaning up the rest of the unused wiring. I am all of a sudden having an issue with getting a spark. As it stands now I am getting no spark, it is strange. My plugs are a bit sooty but shouldnt be that bad, gonna grab some new ons on monday in a hope that this is the issue, however, i am skeptical. I traced the wiring and all seems good, the issue i habe as well is after going through the maintenance manual, for my year and model it says that you have to have diagnostic equipment to check the coils and ignition module. I can understand the module but do i really need to take it into a honda service department to have the coils checked. I checked my resistance at the plugs and am getting 32.18 k-ohms from the rear and 32.11 k-ohms from the front. I have a brand new battery now so i know that it is putting out the correct voltage. Has anyone had any experience with these newerish shadows. I hate the damn thing.

OK a couple things you might want to check, first, the honda shadow will act like a little bitch if it has anything less than 12v coming from the battery. 11.99 volts and she will be the princess and the effing pea. next, sounds like you have monkeyed with your wiring, if you removed the switched from the clutch lever side of your bars. there is a little dual lead switch inside the control. it has two BLACK wires coming from it going into a plug behind your neck covers. you need to connect these two together to bypass your clutch switch. also check out your kickstand switch, there is a switch on top of the kickstand that has in ignition disable function that wont let you start the bike until the kickstand is down. if im not mistaken you want to connect the Lg/R and G/w wires coming from it together to disable the ignition disable function.

let me know if you have any questions man, also, being an 08 I highly doubt your ICM is bad or your coils have gone bad. these bikes are pretty bulletproof and their electronics are typically hardy as well. good luck man, hope this helps!

DO FUN SHIT!

Originally Posted by TJBC

OK a couple things you might want to check, first, the honda shadow will act like a little bitch if it has anything less than 12v coming from the battery. 11.99 volts and she will be the princess and the effing pea. next, sounds like you have monkeyed with your wiring, if you removed the switched from the clutch lever side of your bars. there is a little dual lead switch inside the control. it has two BLACK wires coming from it going into a plug behind your neck covers. you need to connect these two together to bypass your clutch switch. also check out your kickstand switch, there is a switch on top of the kickstand that has in ignition disable function that wont let you start the bike until the kickstand is down. if im not mistaken you want to connect the Lg/R and G/w wires coming from it together to disable the ignition disable function.

let me know if you have any questions man, also, being an 08 I highly doubt your ICM is bad or your coils have gone bad. these bikes are pretty bulletproof and their electronics are typically hardy as well. good luck man, hope this helps!

DO FUN SHIT!

just picked up a new battery so that shouldnt be an issue but i will check the voltage with a multimeter just to make sure i am getting good juice. I wired the leads from the clutch switch in the control to a toggle switch below my seat. I also made sure that i had the kickstand safety switch still in the circuit. basically what happens is i take the key to run and everything works good, the starter engages, the engine turns over, it is getting fueal...perfect right...no...the only thing i am not getting is a spark, i honestly dont believe it to be the coils or mod at this point either. what i am gonna do though is pull out the wiring for the entire ignitionsystem and sit down with the schematic and just trace everything and check all the wires for anything exposed that could be causing a short or something.

thanks for the advice man, this thing is really testing me but what fun would it be if i never had any problems

Originally Posted by VPNick

just picked up a new battery so that shouldnt be an issue but i will check the voltage with a multimeter just to make sure i am getting good juice. I wired the leads from the clutch switch in the control to a toggle switch below my seat. I also made sure that i had the kickstand safety switch still in the circuit. basically what happens is i take the key to run and everything works good, the starter engages, the engine turns over, it is getting fueal...perfect right...no...the only thing i am not getting is a spark, i honestly dont believe it to be the coils or mod at this point either. what i am gonna do though is pull out the wiring for the entire ignitionsystem and sit down with the schematic and just trace everything and check all the wires for anything exposed that could be causing a short or something.

thanks for the advice man, this thing is really testing me but what fun would it be if i never had any problems

duder you cant put those two black wires on a toggle switch, they need to be wired together. right at the 9point plug they go into behind the neck covers. thats the easiest way to do it and they cant be on a switch man.

Originally Posted by VPNick

just picked up a new battery so that shouldnt be an issue but i will check the voltage with a multimeter just to make sure i am getting good juice. I wired the leads from the clutch switch in the control to a toggle switch below my seat. I also made sure that i had the kickstand safety switch still in the circuit. basically what happens is i take the key to run and everything works good, the starter engages, the engine turns over, it is getting fueal...perfect right...no...the only thing i am not getting is a spark, i honestly dont believe it to be the coils or mod at this point either. what i am gonna do though is pull out the wiring for the entire ignitionsystem and sit down with the schematic and just trace everything and check all the wires for anything exposed that could be causing a short or something.

thanks for the advice man, this thing is really testing me but what fun would it be if i never had any problems

OOOOK i just read that you have your kill AND clutch switch running through the same toggle? thats a no no. you need to wire together the aforementioned black wires that came from the clutch switch. now going to that start button and kill switch there was a B/G and B/W wire and a Y/R wire. the B/G and B/W wire should be wired into one lead and be on one pole of the start button. the other pole of the start button should have the Y/R wire going to it. if you need a kill switch, you can put it in between the start button and the combined B/W - B/G button.
hold on a minute, im going to sketch up a diagram real quick for you, take a pic, email it to myself and then.... after i get a beer, ill post it up here. trust me on this, Honda Shadows are my favorite powerplant and i work on a lot of them and i have wired MANY of them! LOL BRB sucka!

Ok dude here ya go


make sure your wires are set up like so and then we will go from there. also, fix that clutch and kill switch issue i wrote about earlier. good luck!

DO FUN SHIT!

Originally Posted by TJBC

OOOOK i just read that you have your kill AND clutch switch running through the same toggle? thats a no no. you need to wire together the aforementioned black wires that came from the clutch switch. now going to that start button and kill switch there was a B/G and B/W wire and a Y/R wire. the B/G and B/W wire should be wired into one lead and be on one pole of the start button. the other pole of the start button should have the Y/R wire going to it. if you need a kill switch, you can put it in between the start button and the combined B/W - B/G button.
hold on a minute, im going to sketch up a diagram real quick for you, take a pic, email it to myself and then.... after i get a beer, ill post it up here. trust me on this, Honda Shadows are my favorite powerplant and i work on a lot of them and i have wired MANY of them! LOL BRB sucka!

yeah man i have it wired like that...the kill switch is the stock one still, didnt mess with that one...and the clutch switch is the one i re-wired, but yeah i didnt run it the no no way, it is wired up per the maintenance manuals schematic, i made sure it was set up correctly, dont wanna go blowing fuses and burning stuff up. thanks though man, sounds like you really know the ins and outs of wiring these things, that drawing you posted is great.

and i ended up getting the bike running, it was a bonehead mistake on my behalf when i wired it. i somehow ended up wiring the leads backwards, so they were routed to the wrong coils (rear coil wiring to the front coil and front coil wiring to the rear coil). The schematic almost makes it look like it would matter but apparently it does. easy fix just took a while gettin all the wiring accesible and re-routed, but atleast she runs now and it didnt cost me any money

Originally Posted by TJBC

Ok dude here ya go


make sure your wires are set up like so and then we will go from there. also, fix that clutch and kill switch issue i wrote about earlier. good luck!

DO FUN SHIT!

That is a really nice lil drawing there and helpful to boot