SX/SXi/SXi Pro Is the MSD-4251 a suitable replacement CDI for a stock SXI Pro?

G

Gyro

Location
Australia
Over the past few months I've been trying to track down the cause of intermittent loss of ignition. On average, every second tank or so my ski cuts out and won't start for about 5 mins or so. Sometimes it manifests itself in a way where it doesn't cut out completely. Instead the engine will run for about 1/4 second then cut out for 1/4 second and before it dies completely it fires up again for 1/4 second etc. When this stop/go/stop/go behavior happens it can go on indefinitely until I turn off the motor with the Stop Switch. Strange ha? :shrug:


So far I've changed the Coil with a new one, the Stator and Pickup with a second hand one which is believed to be good. I continue to have loss of ignition every now and again. It's time to swap the CDI and it seems the MSD is cheaper and produces a more reliable spark than stock Kawasaki CDI. If there are no known reliability issues with the MSD Enhancer I should choose the MSD CDI right?
 
98SXIPRO

98SXIPRO

One Of A K1nd
Location
The Bay Area
if u run the enhancer, and you have a timing advance plate, im pretty sure ur gonna have to run a Retard Timing module. (the enhancer adds a few more degrees of advance, and if used with a advance plate, you will have too much timing). dont know much about the enhancers themselves though as far as reliablity goes...
 
G

Gyro

Location
Australia
Having been inside the Ebox a few months ago and in behind the stator housing more recently, most of the Grounds have already been disconnected and then retensioned. The only ones I hadn't disconnected and retensioned are the bolts at the starter motor so I went outside and checked them just now. Found them all to be quite secure and have cleaned the threads and retensioned all with a drop of 222 loktite. While I was doing this it occurred to me that the Ebox gets its ground in a long chain of connections. Battery -ve to starter motor, to crank case, to stator cover, to stator black wire, to Ebox. Allowing for the resistance of my test leads, continuity of this chain of connections measures less than 0.1 Ohm from battery -ve to Ebox bolt. Well worth checking, but grounds don't seem to be the problem in this case.


The motor in my ski is completely stock so I don't have an advance plate or anything like that. I suppose what I really want to know is if the MSD CDI is as good as the Kawasaki CDI? Unless I've missed something I'd like to go ahead and order a new one.
 
oxnard111

oxnard111

Creative RE Purchasing
Location
so Cali, Ventura/Oxnard area
I don't personally know a lot of about the kawi 750s. but I do know that anytime on any of the kawi's I've had, when I thought it was something in the ebox, it ended up being the stator that was the culprit.
 
G

Gyro

Location
Australia
Wow! I didn't know that Kawasaki stators are so unreliable. :bigeyes:
Is this intermittent loss of spark (days apart) a common symptom of failure?
Do you think the second hand one I swapped in could have the same problem as my original?
Surely this must be very unlikely.


I thought I was being methodical by changing only one thing at a time but don't know which way to go at this point. New Stator or new CDI.
 
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