CA95 won't start and/or stay running.

Grunt · #1 03-26-2012, 03:13 PM

I changed the oil in my bike a few weeks ago and it ran great. I left the tank petcock open for a couple of hours after that and now it generally won't start. I replaced the sparkplugs but still most of what it does is pop, backfire and sometimes run but rough and won't stay running. When it runs is with choke near the center of travel and acts like it's running out of gas. Gas flow is good with petcock open and closes off as it should. I wonder how they run when the battery is not so good. I keep it on a trickle charger between rides. Should I change the oil again? Would the gas have gotten into the oil?

EDIT: I checked the spark to the plugs and it was fine (still on the charger). Hit the starter and ran like a loud Japanese pocketwatch! So I guess I need a new battery. FWIW I had already checked the timing and valve adjustment.

Grunt · #2 03-28-2012, 05:00 PM

Ok so it runs well off the charger at first then stumbles and dies. I talked to a buddy and he suspects the rectifier. That's fine because I ordered the new type from Oregon Cycles a while back. What I thought might be the rectifier aft of the air cleaner turned out to be the switch item#15. Went on a search inside and my setup seems to be opposite of the parts manual. The Coil is forward and above the air cleaner and the rectifier seems to be in the "nose" of the frame. So I can plan ahead, do I need to take off the carburetor and then the rectifier is ahead of that up in the frame? Is the bolt for the rectifier the bolt on the LH side of the frame under the tank? Is this the best way to go about swapping out the part? Is there enough slack in the wiring to replace it this way or are there other things to take loose? Thanks!

Spokes · #3 03-28-2012, 06:09 PM

Something is screwy. I look forward to others input but I can help with the rectifier change, but I don't know if this might be the issue.

Basically you have to remove the wire harness to get at the rectifier.

Disconnect the battery and remove it. Remove the left cover and tool tray.

Remove the air filter

You have to open the headlight bucket and disconnect the main harness plug and disconnect a few connections that you can trace back to the main harness.

Disconnect the horn. Remove the tank, Remove the 10mm nut that holds the rectifier(mid frame-the bolt to the rectifier is milled in half and only fits one hole in the frame)

While your at it, remove the coil mounting nuts.

At this point you should be able to pull the harness, rectifier and coil through the frame and out one side.

BIG Pain.....

I'm not sold on the idea of the recifier being the problem.

Before doing the above and being that this issue has happened out of the blue, I would check all of the connections coming from the stator and connecting to the harness. You will find them in the harness boot, inside the frame, left side. The clamp for this boot is fastened to the frame with a 10mm nut.

All you need is one corroded conection to cause your grief.

ByTheLake · #4 03-29-2012, 01:43 AM

Agreed, the rectifier doesn't seem like the cause. If you started with a charged battery, you should be able to run quite a while, even without charging from bike's charging system. In your first post you mentioned your battery - did you replace it? Your symptoms are similar to my CA102 Super Cub when it has an older 6-volt battery that won't hold a charge.

Maybe Spokes can weigh in on this, since I haven't completed my CA95 and have no experience with it yet. From what I can see from the CA95 ignition switch diagram below, the alternator/rectifier (charging system) aren't even activated on this bike unless the ignition switch is in position III, with the headlight on. Is that true?

Anyway, when my Super Cub battery is old and only holds about 4.5 volts, the symptoms are similar to what you're experiencing.

Grunt · #5 03-29-2012, 02:20 AM

I have not replaced the battery yet. My friend was telling me he replaced three before he found it was the rectifier. I was just riding it on my access road in Pos II and probably not even after a tenth of a mile later the idle went way down and would barely lope and pull the bike so I shut it off. Sounds like a major PITA to change the rectifier but I probably will. It will just be a Saturday thing instead of an after work thing.

ByTheLake · #6 03-29-2012, 03:19 AM

You should be able to ride for quite a while with a fully charged battery. The coil doesn't pull a lot of power. Have you measured the battery's voltage? If its not holding a good 7 volts after a charge i'd replace it. Also, I learned the hard way to use a small charger after I overheated a new 6 volt battery with a 2 amp charger. Hopefully you have something like one amp or less on your 6 volt charger.

Jetblackchemist · #7 03-29-2012, 05:44 AM

Wow, yeah this could be any number of things symptom wise. Before we get into all that...did you turn the petcock before you rode? You said it was on; i was thinking out of habit you may have turned it off before your ride. I know it sounds stupid, but sometimes it can be something as simple as that.

Aside from what others have mentioned...Does it smoke...did it smoke and if so what color and smell was it?

Things it could be otherwise:

A faulty ignition switch or loose wire, faulty plug boot/cable, start the bike and give the key some wiggles. Check for any loose wires or connections, especially in any spots that the harness may be pulled tight. Check spark on both plugs; pull them and hold one against the head a bump the starter. Check both and try to check this in a darker place, spark can be hard to see sometimes in broad daylight. While they are out check compression if you can. Pull the points cover, make sure they are clean and not loose, check them for correct gap while you are at it.

A fouled petcock or carburetor, Gently loosen carb bowl just enough to crack the seal and turn the pet cock on...if gas starts flowing out of the bowl/carb the fuel isn't the problem...but it still could be a dirty pilot jet. If fuel doesn't flow turn the pet off and fasten the bowl back, and pull the hose from the carb, hold the hose over something to catch possible gas and turn the pet on. If it flows, your carb is stopped up, if it doesn't flow your pet is stopped up.

Loose intake/air leak, check the carb is it loose mounting to the engine? Are any of the hoses loose or is the breather line stopped up? Is the air filter clean?

Clogged exhaust, loosen exhaust pipes and see if the mount and header are clean or are they fouled up and packed with carbon and soot?

If none of the above, including what the others have said. It also can be caused by the magneto key being sheared in two...I saved this one for last because it is the most involved, although all that trouble to get to the rectifier is quite a headache in itself.

So make a list from easiest to most pain in the butt and start from the top and work your way down. If for some reason it isn't sorted by the end the smoke I mentioned at the start of the post will come in handy.

Grunt · #8 03-30-2012, 05:46 PM

It runs it just dies after about 1/10 mi. I just ordered a battery from eBay. Batteries Plus and Honda show the CA95 model bike but no battery available. The guy at the Honda shop said the same thing that ByTheLake said in that it should run quite a while just on the battery. He said guys race bikes with no charging systems. I'll give 'er a try.

Jetblackchemist · #9 03-30-2012, 09:46 PM

If that's what it constantly does then; my money is on either on bad gas, or it's clogged up some where in the fuel system. I doubt that the battery, is the main culprit.

frappy · #10 03-30-2012, 11:28 PM

Lots of good advice here from Jetblackchemist, ByTheLake, & Spokes. With respect to the battery and charging system. Your local auto parts store or Batteries Plus should be able to perform a load-test on your battery. This will tell you if the battery's strong enough to use. Also, not sure if you can do the following test, given the tenuous running condition of your bike, but you could tell if your charging system is functioning well enough to charge the battery by hooking up a voltmeter to your fully charged battery installed in the bike. Then start the bike without the headlight on and if the battery doesn't drain down at all or very minimally, then your charging system is okay. (With the headlight on, the voltage will drain down slowly, but raise again when the engine is revved.) I recently had the type of problem you describe with my T500. It turned out to be a faulty connection at the voltage regulator; where it connected to the frame with a wire connector and a screw.

Grunt · #11 03-31-2012, 03:09 AM

I haven't had the headlight on when testing and it still dies when riding around on my access road. I don't suspect fuel or spark issues because I can flood the engine trying to restart it and spark is good to the plugs with a fresh charge to the battery. Come to think of it, I started putting the bike on a trickle charger because it ran rough if I didn't and I read a post that said these bikes don't run very well if the charge isn't so good.

Larzfromarz · #12 03-31-2012, 05:57 AM

I'd still pull the carb bowl just to inspect for debris. Pull the full lines and see what the flow is from the tank ( I know you can flood the engine- but it is a good inspection anyway). Should pretty much eliminate the fuel system and not cost anything.
Typically coils work or they don't but should check for proper resistance on the primary and no continuity between the secondary (center post) and the primary (+ or -).
Is it possible you have cracked plug?
I support that a strong battery will run the bike for quite a while. Performance should deteriorate as the charge falls off (plus its BAD mKay?).
Old bike- inspect everything! wiring too especially any ground points-clean both sides and reinstall.You can measure the resistance of a ground point with a multimeter. Set to the lowest scale and measure resistance from the wire to the frame, resistance should be near zero ohms for a good ground.

frappy · #13 03-31-2012, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Larzfromarz

... as the charge falls off (plus its BAD mKay?)...

mKay?? - please explain.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Larzfromarz

... Set to the lowest scale and measure resistance from the wire to the frame, resistance should be near zero ohms for a good ground.

Would we check for resistance with the ground wire's end-connectror attached to, or disconnected (i.e., unscrewed) from, the frame? And if we find resistance, then may we assume the ground is not good?