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Help - My Thruxton is dead!

6K views 44 replies 17 participants last post by  The Mad Hatta 
#1 ·
I have a 2004 Thruxton. (with carbs, therefore)

I was riding it yesterday and it just died on me.

Plenty of fuel, and no spluttering or coughing the way it would if I dan out of fuel/had a blockage, so I think we can eliminate that.

It just went from BRRRMRMRMRMRM to ........................

Lights stayed on, and the starter cranked the engine over fine, until the battery no longer had enough to keep turning it, but the engine would not fire up again.

I don't know where to start looking, except in the classifieds for something reliable. What do I do?
 
#2 ·
My two cents. Check the ignition coil. Under the front of the gas tank. My 05 Bonnie had a very similar issue. I went through everything before finally listening to people here on the forum. I ordered one around $80. Wham bam! But that's just my experience! Best if luck


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#4 · (Edited)
Other, more experienced, guys will chime in, hopefully. But assuming you've checked all the safety stuff, i.e. kill switch, side stand switch (doesn't sound like those, since the bike turns over) and the fuses, the 3 components that usually cause that symptom are the coil, the pickup coil, and the CDI (igniter). There are a lot of threads on how to check the first 2. The igniter, however, has no way to be tested.

The coil is easy to test, but might not be easy to diagnose if it's the problem. The pickup coil, also easy, but the stator/alt cover on the right side of the bike might need to come off to remove it and check it properly. Does the bike start this morning? If it does, I'd probably check this right away.

Seems like lately on here, members with a similar problem (including myself) ended up needing to replace the igniter, the most expensive part.

There are TONS of threads on how to test the first 2. Maybe Forchetto or DEcosse will chime in. They (and some others here) seem to be wizards with multimeters and soldering guns :)
 
#6 ·
IF you know someone with a Carbed Thrux or Bonnie the Igniter & Coil are easily checked using the following steps...

1 - Purchase numerous Peeps Beverage of Choice.
2 - Ring up Peep, invite him over for Beverage :beerchug and have him ride his bike over.
3 - Swap out Igniters (mark yours so you don't get them mixed up (See #1)).
4 - Try and start both bikes.... if his doesn't start (and yours does) you know the problem.
5 - If it does start swap back then follow steps 3 & 4 for Coil.
6 - If his doesn't start (and yours does) you know the problem.
7 - If it does start swap back and try starting your bike with original Ignitor & Coil.
8 - If your bike still doesn't start continue drinking (remaining or replacement) beverages :icon_drink and report finding to this thread for more ideas on what next to check.
 
#7 ·
Guy's advice is spot on.

Check you don't have a spark by pulling both the plugs, grounding one of them and turning it over. If you don't have spark then do as stated above. If you don't have a mate with a similar bike you'll need to start testing and replacing bits but its really likely it'll be pickup coil, located under the clutch side cover or the coil which is tucked up under the front of your tank. In the case that its your CDI then you're better off getting an aftermarket one from ProCom than paying the crazy prices that triumph want for new genuine one.

I had a similar prob with my ’05 T100 and it ended up being the pickup coil.


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#10 · (Edited)
Hi Londonbabe,
I had a similar problem. Here's how I got it handled. Solution is on post #8.
+1 on Gy's advice. But if that fails there's still hope.

On mine it was the pickup coil and not the ignition coil. Don't let anyone sell you a new ignitor or Ignition Control Module (expensive) before trying this less-expensive fix.
Good luck.
 
#14 · (Edited)
My wife's Peugeot has got through four ignition coil packs so far. The Net is full of Peugeot forums moaning about the problem and yet three different main dealers reckon they've never heard of the problem...wankers.

The funny thing is that all of them have the things in stock for immediate delivery and fitting...my question as to why they should have readily available spares for a part that never fails draws vacant looks from the brain-dead oafs.
 
#16 ·
Thanks, everyone. I have a friend coming over today with a meter and we'll see what we can find out.

The igniter looks fine with no witness marks on that or the seat.
The battery is out being charged. What's the betting it starts right up when I put it back?
It's cold today, whereas when it broke down the engine was hot from being stuck in traffic.

The pick-up coil - I had a look at the service manual, and it looks like I need to drain the oil and take off the right-hand side engine cover, yes? In which case it'll have to be done by a garage as I don't have the disposal facilities.
 
#17 ·
... it looks like I need to drain the oil and take off the right-hand side engine cover, yes? In which case it'll have to be done by a garage as I don't have the disposal facilities.
I don't think you have to drain the oil to open up the RHS of the engine, if the bike is on the side stand the oil all runs over to the clutch side, you probably will need a new gasket though and some sealer for where the wire and gromet runs throgh the case.
 
#21 ·
I would certainly be looking at the ignition system first, as others have said. Easiest way to quickly check for spark, unplug just one spark plug wire (from the spark plug, not from the coil), place the end near the cylinder head and crank the engine. If you see spark, you just eliminated that entire system, and you know you have a problem elsewhere. If you don't see spark, you have to narrow down where in that system the problem is. I'd bet you won't see spark. Judging from the immediate loss of ignition, a coil is your likely culprit.



Whoa now! Lets all just calm down before we say something we'll regret! :)

Seriously though, triumphs are sexy.. but I'll let a couple of my own pictures be my rebuttal:



 
#22 ·
sorry for the misinformation re grounding a single plug rather than both. i'm glad to have been corrected. thanks to the older members.

that said, i have done a single-plug grounded test on my bike and not actually killed the coil immediately. then again just because it didn't destroy the part immediately doesn't mean no harm was done to the ignition coil. a couple of short lengths of wire with alligator clips on are pretty useful to have around for this sort of stuff.

regarding removal of the clutch-side cover you can do it without dropping the oil but just throw an old rag over you right hand side exhaust pipe and work over scrap cardboard or similar to catch any dribbles. you don't want to get oil on the carpet in the lounge room.

why? where do you work on your bike?

others have suggested you buy a new gasket and rubbers. a new pick-up coil will come with a new rubber gasket and you can buy a clutch side cover for about ten quid i think. this is the easiest but not the cheapest option for resealing. i made a gasket like people used to do out of a brown paper shopping bag, cutting it to size with the shank of a screwdriver and punching out the bolt holes. you just grease it up and torque the bolts carefully and it'll hold oil in spite of being a triumph. something to consider if you're inclined to make things yourself anyway.
 
#24 ·
Some new information.
I charged the battery yesterday and put it back on the bike this morning intending to test things. And of course it started right up, no problem. This obviously renders my mulitmeter a bit redundant as everything will just read normal.

To me this could be two things:

1. It's a cold morning this morning. The other night when it failed the bike was very hot as traffic was terrible. I would imagine, being actually in the engine, that the pick-up coil is the most likely to fail through heat, yes? There's no way the igniter or the ignition coil could get too hot.

2. This is less likely but I want to eliminate it as a possibility. I had a Honda which would not run without the battery having a certain amount of charge. A dead battery or a dead charging circuit would kill it. Is the Triumph the same? Could there be a problem with the battery charging circuit that would cause the engine to cease operations below a certain voltage? I've bump started this bike on a knackered flat battery before, so I'm guessing not, and there was enough charge for several goes on the starter after it crapped out, .

I checked the igniter contacts and all that looks brand new. The ignition coil has no signs of loose connectors or damaged wiring, or water ingress (I'd need to pull the tank to check properly but it looks OK from underneath with a torch, and besides it wasn't raining when the bike died.)
 
#25 ·
no, if battery is charged and starts ok you can still test if system is charging with multimeter, volts should go up etc when revving on multimeter.
and then it might not be charging system could still be a duff battery not taking charge, so if meter reads charging ok could well be battery.
how old is the battery etc
remember its ohms needed for starting bike volts are for lights etc
 
#29 ·
Chop.. nope, you're incorrect. Maybe you need to visit your optometrist. :p

Londonbabe, if your bike just dropped out suddenly, without any other things happening beforehand (such as sputtering, dimming lights or odd gauge readout), it is most likely not going to be a battery or alternator. Especially if the bike cranked over strongly afterward, and you were able to continue to crank it over multiple times while you tried to get it to restart. That shows the battery had good amperage remaining. Now if it cranked over weakly when you tried to restart it (before you drained the battery), then yea, I'd look at the battery/charging system. It is common for worn out or damaged ignition parts to show their ugly faces when they get hot, especially if they get hotter than normal.

Because your bike is now working fine, first I'd check your alternator's charging voltage (engine running, multimeter leads touching each battery terminal) just because it's quick and simple. If that looks normal, you'll have to get your bike warmed up again, possibly back to the same temperature conditions it was in when the fault happened. If it is an ignition part having a fault due to temperature, it may happen again right away, or it might not happen again for some time.
 
#30 ·
When my pick up coil died it did not do so immediately or without warning. The bike would stop running suddenly when hot but then I'd be able to start it again when it was cooler again. The intermittent problem grew worse and I couldn't figure out what was going on until eventually it stopped altogether and I swapped out all components of the ignition system, eventually finding the problem to be the PU coil.

The mechanic at my local triumph dealership told me that he'd seen a few of around that vintage come through with dead PU coils. Mine is an '05.

Yours might be something different but it sure walks and quacks like a duck. I'll be very interested to see what it turns out to be.

Best of luck with the diagnosis and repair.


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#31 ·
Isn't the ignition coil also prone to failure when it warms up? I think that I've read that here a few times.
 
#34 ·
Isn't the ignition coil also prone to failure when it warms up?
All ignition components are prone to this. The reason being, higher temperature causes higher resistance. The part which has worn out can handle operating at normal resistance, but because it is worn out, one of two things happens, depending on the internal issue. The part experiences VERY high resistance due to temperature increase, or the part just can't overcome the normal resistance increase due to temperature increase. Either way, you just replace the part. I'm still leaning towards PU coil OR ignition coil. These coils are simple step-up transformers, so they are very sensitive to out-of-range resistance increases. They are also considered normal-wear parts, meaning they are expected to wear out.
 
#33 ·
+1. Mine would run for about a mile or two and then cut out when it warmed up. Starter cranked, lights worked but no ignition. Let it cool and it was good for another 3 blocks.
 
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