Magneti Marelli failure?

discussion about the 750 Sport and '89/'90 900SS, which share many mechanicals with the Paso series
Post Reply
spargo19
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon May 17, 2010 11:54 pm
model: 750 Sport
year: 1990
Location: USA

Magneti Marelli failure?

Post by spargo19 »

So, I cleaned the bike up after a year of sleep, running great, rode to a meet (10 miles?), rode home, no issues whatsoever.

Rode to work the next day. No issues.

next day - bike starts great, runs for 30 seconds, then dies. Completely. Absolutely no spark at all. Coils have power. Battery is new and fully charged.

Is there a trigger that could have failed or is it likely my ICU just failed? I get absolutely no sparks whatsoever.
Mc tool
paso grand pooh-bah
Posts: 1874
Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2007 12:35 am
model: 906 Paso
year: 1990
Location: Newzealand

Re: Magneti Marelli failure?

Post by Mc tool »

The coils and the "magic box" are powered separately . the box is fed via the kill switch , so while you may have power to the coils it may not be getting to the box . There is also a pick up on the left engine cover that should be checked and make sure all the plugs are in properly. These dukes have shit wiring and you should check that your getting ( very close to ) battery voltage at the box , if there is a bad connection and that box is only seeing 7-8 volts it wont work . the chances of a bad connection are real good as they wernt great even when new and there's a few of em . Check out the mods to electric's , it aint hard to improve them outa sight
I wish I was young again............Id be heaps smarter than last time
spargo19
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon May 17, 2010 11:54 pm
model: 750 Sport
year: 1990
Location: USA

Update!

Post by spargo19 »

Turned out there was moisture/corrosion/problems with the plug for the ignition pickup. After all else failed, I cleaned and dried the contacts and my sparks have returned!
Post Reply