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Advice: workshop – repair ignition box
Guide: workshop
Repair ignition box
Ignition control failure can be surprisingly expensive – but it doesn’t have to be.
Cay Ury
08/31/2010
New ignition box due. 464 euros plus installation.” Ralf winces and is not sure whether the salesman is kidding him. “But that’s almost as much as my 400 bandit is worth. Can’t fix that?” Now the seller shrugs too, but with his shoulders: “No, you can only exchange. You can’t get anywhere.”
In the 1980s, electronic ignition systems gradually replaced mechanically controlled contact ignitions. “Contact spacing and ignition timing set”, was no longer found in the inspection plan of motorcycles equipped in this way, “maintenance free” was the magic word. And as a result it was not uncommon for scenes like the one described to occur.
In price regions like the one mentioned above, sales talks at motorcycle dealers usually take place about things like a complete set of suitcases. But this is about a black plastic box about the size of a cigarette box that has been inconspicuously doing its job under the bench of Ralfs Suzuki for 19 years. A very important service, because this box contains the electronic control of the ignition. And the ADAC man, whom Ralf had called, had declared them dead. The otherwise so reliable little bandit suddenly stopped jumping. “No ignition spark on all four cylinders, coils and pickups in order, I can rule out a cable break … Ignition box defective.”
Ralf is now looking for a used ignition box and finds in the relevant Internet forums that this defect does not occur that rarely – not only on his Bandit, but across manufacturers in the most diverse models. The demand is there, and the rare second-hand parts are accordingly expensive. Ralf can also find lots of parts for his bike at the big internet auction house, but an ignition box is a nuisance. It is not uncommon for this expensive part, also known as the black box or CDI, to be the reason why a vehicle is slaughtered.
Ury
After 19 years “Rest in the box”: Ignition box of the 400 bandit.
After extensive use of the search engines, Ralf also states that there are obviously motorcycle models that are almost never affected by the defect. He finds twenty offers at a unit price from thirty euros, for example, for Honda’s XBR 500. It looks very different with the Africa Twin or the Dominator from the same stable. Obviously, a loose contact, which is often found, drives the owner into an electrical frenzy. “It went really well for two weeks, and today I’ve broken down five times. The box is driving me crazy” Ralf reads in a forum. A replacement for the Dominator is much more moderate as a new part at around 150 euros.
Then the redeeming discovery: some companies offer the repair of ignition boxes. So is it still possible? After extensive internet research, Ralf’s choice fell on the company Motek, which deals with everything that has to do with electricity on motorcycles. A phone call later everything is cleared up, the Suzuki owner removes the box, which is fixed with two screws, and sends it to the specialists. Almost a week the part is back and the 400 is running again. The invoice amount including shipping costs is 188 euros – less than half of the new part. Ralf is happy and the little bandit in front “Slaughter festival” rescued.
Interview with the electrical engineer
Motek
Frank Wehmeyer, 47, qualified electrical engineer and co-owner of the Motek company.
MOTORRAD spoke to Frank Wehmeyer, 47, a qualified electrical engineer and co-owner of the Motek company in Bielefeld.
? What causes an ignition box to break in the first place?
! There can be different reasons. It is rather rare that only soldering points in the connector area break, caused by vibrations. Depending on the design, the boxes can also practically result in consequential damage from a defective voltage regulator or a broken or incorrect ignition coil “run away”.
? In your opinion, are the high prices for the original spare parts justified??
! If you only look at the material value, certainly not. However, manufacturers also have to take into account the development costs, which can be very high due to the ever more stringent emission and noise regulations on the one hand and the desire for performance and drivability on the other.
? As a layperson, it is possible to determine whether an ignition box is actually defective, especially if the ignition failure only occurs sporadically?
! This is difficult and actually only possible if you have the opportunity to try out an identical, intact box on loan. Measurement tables from manuals almost never lead to a useful result here. We then subject such boxes to a long-term test on a test circuit that simulates real operation on the vehicle. In addition, we try to provoke the error with heat, cold, fluctuating supply voltage and mechanical vibrations. But even if we cannot prove a fault in this way, we will never claim that the box is one hundred percent in order. A defect can then simply be assumed to be very unlikely. In such cases we only charge a flat-rate examination fee of 25 to 50 euros.
? How do you open the often fully encapsulated parts without causing further damage??
! Very carefully and with the appropriate special tools. We also know the places where the error is to be found in which model and then specifically open only a small area.
? A repair always costs the same?
! No. Since the boxes are constructed very differently and thus also our effort varies, a repair costs between 120 and 250 euros depending on the model.
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