IC Igniter failure - What caused it?

[Sayen]

I have an '01 Vulcan, and when I went to start up one day lights and everything flicked off as soon as I hit the start button. I started with the usual suspects, like the battery, and everything tested fine. We took it apart and did some wire traces and came up with a bad IC Igniter. With the grounds disconnected I have good 12v power to the ignition switch. Accessories and such turn on just fine. As soon as I connect the ground to ic igniter voltage drops to about 3-4v, and pressing the start button kills everything again. Disconnect the ground and I have power again to accessories and lights.

I can replace the part easily enough, but before I blow $300, is there anything else that I should check? Other parts that might have caused the failure? My big concern is replacing the igniter, only to blow a second unit because I fixed a symptom, not the problem.

Thanks,

- Rich

[totalmotorcycle]

Hi Rich,

Sounds like the diagnosed it pretty good. I was going to suggest a bad ground that was causing a short to the frame but from what I read you checked that. Rather than go the new IC igniter route, I'd check eBay: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0 ... er&_sop=15 as they start as low as $50 for a used one. (that eBay link isn't a Total Motorcycle affiliate link BTW, if you wanted to use one though here you go: http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200 ... =824&kw=lg )

Others may have a different suggestion though for what it could be.

Mike