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08 zx10r no spark. HELP!!!

5157 Views 6 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  Drewsiff
Little back story on myself and bike to help you help me.
MYSELF- I am a mechanic at a powersports shop here in Tn. I'm also an automotive tech (retired) with over 15 turning on cars, boats, pwc, atv's so im fairly knowledgeable and we rounded with my mechanical ability. That being said, i also know i have a lot to learn after being out of this industry for the last 8-9 years.
THE BIKE- 2008 ZX-10R with 7k miles. Bike was purchased a couple years ago wrecked by another mechanic where im currently working. All plastics, subframe, wheels, radiator and a laundry list of brackets and supports have been purchased to rebuild this bike (shop had around $4k invested in parts alone) before i decided to purchase the bike and tackle the problem. (What i know from previous mechanic) Bike ran when bought but was in bad shape and not anywhere near street-able. Everything was purchased to build , bike was put together, running and ready to ride/sell. They decided to put new sprockets and chain on it and everything went south from there. Apparently a young apprentice decide to beat the sprocket or something on with a hammer and the bike would no longer shift after that. The bike was then tore down due to a shift fork being bent. Shift fork replaced and transmission rebuilt and bike goes back together again. Somewhere in the process the the ecm was lost so a new(used ecm) was purchased which has landed me where i am today. NO SPARK. Fuel pump primes, gages all appear to work but F.I light is on. Checked codes and im getting code 21(crank sensor) im fairly positive that i have everything hooked up and in place but might have missed something. Previous mechanic had several codes and had replaced the tip over sensor , wire harness and ignition system (key). I have a manual and have yet to really search for information as i have not had a lot of time to spend on this bike. I'm sure eventually i'll get it figured out but figured i'd jump on here and ask some questions to help me streamline my searches.

QUESTIONS-
1- Can the FI light be reset or does it reset itself when problem is fixed? Also how do you pull mutiple codes if present? I've only been able to get the 1 code and havent figured out how to toggle to other codes if there are any

2. What controls spark or prevents spark? I know some machines will get signal from crank/cam sensors but if lets say if its not getting proper reading from neutral switch it will not allow spark but will allow it to turn over. (neutral -crank- cam was just an example, no clue how this thing is wired)

3. Is it possible that the ecu is bad and can it be reflashed? someone on here reflash or have a good ecu laying around for sale?

4. Given the symptoms if described, any of you guys that work on these bikes regularly have a direction for me to start checking before i start dropping more money on good parts that dont need replaced. Not real excited on have $10k wrapped up in a $5k bike lol

I thank any and everybody in advanced for any kind of input (unless you try to explain how cleaning the carb would be a possible solution for my no spark issue lol) you can give me on this post.
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Welcome to the party!

The FI light will reset itself once the problem is corrected. There's no way to manually reset it.

If you're already getting an FI code calling the crank sensor problem, that is what needs to be troubleshot first and foremost. Just because you have it hooked up properly doesn't mean the sensor itself isn't bad. And that would most definitely cause your issue. Pull the sensor off the bike and test it and the wiring going to it. Once you know the sensor and signal wiring is good, you can move onto the next issue, whatever that may be. The crank sensor troubleshooting procedure is in the service manual. And it's a pretty simple, 2-wire input. The ECU supplies power to it and that's about it. So make sure you are getting the power to it and it has a good ground.

Multiple codes will automatically scroll and show the associated number for each, if present. The codes will roll every 2 seconds.

Usually if the ECU was bad, the ECU would be bad and you wouldn't be getting an FI light at all. ECUs don't "partially" fail.
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I appreciate your response skydork. Thats pretty much where im leaning on my next step once i find the time to get back to the bike. I was a bit relieved when i discovered the crank sensor code and the problem i was having i just havent had a chance to ohm the sensor and test power yet. I was a little slow this morning sitting at work waiting on ups and figured i'd jump on here and get a thread started to see if anybody has ever had similar issues. (cause you know, all kinds of people buy crashed bikes that have been put together and tore apart multiple times lol) I guess another reason i havent checked the crank sensor yet and the reason i commented about everything being plugged in correctly is because on my initial attempt to check spark i discovered that i had forgot to plug the crank sensor in. This also kicked the question about fi light resetting as well. Now that you have informed me about the light resetting i will definitely be checking the sensor next. I'll keep updating and asking questions on here as i go. When i got the bike there wasnt a single sensor or wiring connector hooked up, throttle body off, no plastics , tank. Pretty much a rolling chassis with motor attached. Never worked on a zx before (other than a tire or chain) so im holding a pile of puzzle pieces trying to make sense of everything. Im pretty confident i'll have more questions and pray to god you zx guys have some good answers. Thank you again SKYDORK
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recheck that wiring and crank sensor reading first. hope this is not ur problem but one i have encountered on 3 bikes in last couple of years and a real possibility. problem was either no spark, injector signal or fuel pump prime. all had wiring harness or ecu replaced, u have had both. there are 2 main numbers on a ecu, the suzuki has up to 3 different numbered ecu's for the same model years. they must be exactley the same #'s or u will have one of the listed problems. isee 2 or three for gen 3 looking on ebay at serial #'s. tell u also that wiring harness must match that ecu. seems the harness pinning varies in just these critical areas between them. so ordering a ecu/wiring harness by year alone is a big crapshoot. if crank sensor checks out, betting this is ur problem. not covered in service manuals, learned this hard way. assume u have a good wiring harness in place but ecu mismatch. just have to try different #ecu. maybe a friend/dealer can help with a different # ecu loan just to plug up. all went from no start to instant fire up with correct ecu in place. first one was ur exact problem, everything seemed to work fine but no spark. countless frustrating hours figuring it out.
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I finally have a few minutes to get back to checking the zx. I do appreciate the new direction of things to check. Im about to trouble shoot the crank sensor. Do you know if theres a vin code for the different ecu/wiring harness's? I've checked the parts fiche and see that they have a cali ecu and a non cali ecu. i only found a single part # for the wiring harness.

GAZX10- Im a little confused by your post. Are you saying youve had this problem on the zx or on suzuki's? Or is this another green suzuki model? I know on kawi's quads they are pretty much just a green plastic version of suzuki's quads.

I'll get back on here when i get more time and update everybody as i find and eliminate possibilities. THANKS AGAIN GUYS
OK. Crank sensor is checking fine. Now its to the next step. Checking ecu and harness. Does anybody else have any experience with these as gazx10 has noted above? Any way to change the harness around to matct the pins correctly?
Anybody have an ecu laying around that might match this bike up? ECU i'm using now is 21175-0163 which is superseded by 21175-0240 which works on following bikes
2008 Kawasaki Street Bike NINJA ZX-10R (ZX1000E8F)
2009 Kawasaki Street Bike NINJA ZX-10R (ZX1000E9F)
2009 Kawasaki Street Bike NINJA ZX-10R (ZX1000E9FA)
2010 Kawasaki Street Bike NINJA ZX-10R (ZX1000FAF)
2010 Kawasaki Street Bike NINJA ZX-10R (ZX1000FAFA)
Hi,

I was wondering how you got on with your crank sensor?

my 2010 FAF had fault code 21 show up last week, totally out of the blue! I changed the sensor but no joy, just keeps reading FI code 21 and won’t spark.
Someone mentioned an open circuit the other way, but I don’t know how to check that? ☹
I was just wondering what the problem was with yours?
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