Need lots of help on my 1982 yamaha maxim xj400?

[thescreamingkoalas]

Well i took the bike semi-apart(tank off, battery off, fenders and wheels off, side covers off) so i could get everything painted. So painting is done and bike is reassembled. I go to start it and nothing happens. Ive got power on the gauges and lights. It turns out that it was the starter solenoid. I ordered a new one but im still waiting for it. I got the old one to work sometimes but no matter how much it cranks it wont start. I pulled the plugs( which should be replaced, does anyone know what the gap should be?) and there is gas on them, but im guessing there is no spark. Could it be the ignition coils have both gone out at the same time? I found some i can order, but i dont know if thats the prob. Also once i have it running, it used to run fine all day if i wanted, but now it will run for 10 to 15 minutes only on choke and then just die out suddenly(im pretty sure it is slowly flooding out?). It wont restart again for another 15 minutes and if i take the choke off it is fine for a few minutes but then it dies. Fuses are all good as well. Need serious help, no stupid opinions. Thats all i ever get from yahoo answers. And dont say take it too a mechanic. I already checked and they are damn expensive. I want to fix it myself. Thanks ahead of time for any help
Dude, you really dont have any idea what your talking about. First off, the bike is a parallel twin 400cc, so these cylinders 3 and 4 your talking about dont exist. And if you WOULD have read the question, then youd proly understand what im trying to say. The last time i had it running it would only run for 10-15 minutes. Now its not getting spark. So it is NOT running. Nothing you said did anything to answer my questions.

 

[bikinkawboy]

First off, you've lost me. At first you say no matter how much it cranks, it won't start but then you mention having it running but it'll only run for 10-15 minutes. Which is it? Did it not start at first but it's now running? If so, what did you do if anything?

As to the ignition coils, the odds of both of them failing simultaneously is astronomical. You need to remove the spark plugs, insert them into the plug caps, lay the metal part of the spark plug on the metal part of the engine and hit the starter button. You should see the plugs spark. If you don't, then you need to be looking ahead of the coils to find out why they're not getting juice. That means kill switch, ignition switch or sidestand switch if it has one.

If you happened to remove the coils or disconnect the small wires going to the coils, make sure you have the correct ones connected. Many bikes have 3 colors. Each coil will have a black (usually) and the other will be a different color. The two wires of the same color often times plug into the same wire connector but the other two will go to their own connector. If the don't spark, to rule out a few things, connect a small wire from the + battery terminal to the odd colored wire and crank the engine over. If it then sparks, you need to look at the switches listed above. If it doesn't, you then need to make sure the wires are connected or making good connection that go to the pulser coils (most likely on the end of the crankshaft) or to the igniter.

If you do see them sparking when you first check, make sure you have the correct plugs caps on the correct spark plugs. The wires from one coil will go to cylinders #1 and #4 (outside cylinders) and the other to #2 and #3 (inside cylinders).

If you're getting spark but it doesn't run, there's other checks you can make that you can ask me about later. I suspect that there's a wire connector somewhere that got pulled loose or is making bad connection after removing the tank. Check over things closely. Good luck.