Coil Confusion

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Walt
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Jun 25, 2009 1:22 pm
Location: Hanford, California

Coil Confusion

#1 Post by Walt » Sun May 20, 2012 5:06 am

Hello to all. I am finally spending a little time with the mistress in the garage. I thought I FINALLY had her all figured out. I broke down and cleaned all the carbs and set the float heights. I finally got rid of all the fuel leaks and the bike seemed to be doing great. On the lift it idled wonderfully. Quick, rapid throttle responses. Starting repeatedly on the first kick. It seemed to be running the best that it had in all of the three years that I have had her. All was good until I went to take her for a test ride. I put her in first gear and let out the clutch and blah, blah, blah....it just bogged down. I went ahead to try and ride it since it would still idle fine and it left me stranded about 3/4 of a mile from the house. Then while troubleshooting all of a sudden I couldn't get it to start. Checked for a spark and nothing. I found the lower coil bracket was broke and figured that was the culprit. I tried reading the coil and it was out of specs. I tried taking the top coil and installing in place of the lower coil to ensure that the lower coil was bad and I still couldn't get a spark. (I just plugged the wires in; I did not mount the coil) Now after reading the top coil it seemed to be out of specs. How does the bike go from running great on the lift to bogging out, to leaving me stranded and then won't even spark all in the matter of hours.

I have since ordered new competion caps from Yambits and two stock coils from HBCycles in Canada. So here is my two part question: What could I have possibly done to in my troubleshooting process to cause both coils to go bad and what else might I do to ensure that I do not repeat this with my new coils and caps. The last thing I want to do after waiting 4 weeks to get these parts together is to go and mess it up again.

I thank you all of you for your expertise and insight. I am looking forward to getting her back on the road and get my project started again.

Thanks again. -Walt
2000 DUCATI 996
1995 TRIUMPH SUPER 3
1985 YAMAHA RZ500
2006 Harley Davidson Ultra Classic
1995 ATK 250LQ

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Gary Papesh
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#2 Post by Gary Papesh » Sun May 20, 2012 1:31 pm

I tried reading the coil and it was out of specs. I tried taking the top coil and installing in place of the lower coil to ensure that the lower coil was bad and I still couldn't get a spark. (I just plugged the wires in; I did not mount the coil) Now after reading the top coil it seemed to be out of specs. How does the bike go from running great on the lift to bogging out, to leaving me stranded and then won't even spark all in the matter of hours.
Perhaps mounting the coil provides a grounding path, and this would affect the ohm reading on the coil?
Sincerely, Gary P.
The man who dies with the biggest carbon footprint WINS !!!

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Gary Papesh
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Location: Joliet,Illinois

#3 Post by Gary Papesh » Sun May 20, 2012 1:47 pm

[img][img]http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l74/g ... ncoils.jpg[/img][/img]
Hope this helps.
10 is the CDI
11 is the pickup coil
12 are the coils.
The schematic shows a black wire (B) going to ground. On each coil.
Good luck.
Sincerely, Gary P.
The man who dies with the biggest carbon footprint WINS !!!

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