No spark diagnostics

Well turns out I' may have been chasing my tail.

When I went to put it back together I tested at each stage so that I didn't end up missing something.

I started to tidy up the loom and as I moved the connectors to the ignition to zip tie them I noticed the connection was lost by the software.

Turns out the main plug into the ignition box has a loose wire(s). As I can't fix that I'm going to take it into an electrician tomorrow.

It does make sense, when I thought I'd fixed it the first time the only thing I move was that part of the wiring harness.

Going to get Joe Puiglese to rewire the bike when I can get it rolling again.
 
First I confess I know nothing about Ignitechs. Nevertheless a few things in this thread jumped out when I read through it. You've said a few times that you have power at the coils. You also said early on that the bike was missing on one cylinder (I guess then it must have been running on 2 cylinders).

Power at a coil ought to turn into power out of an HT lead, and a spark at its plug. I'm not Sherlock Holmes but maybe I'd take the single-outlet coil down to my local autoelectrical guy and ask for an opinion. Maybe its getting power but the coil is breaking down and not delivering any/enough output.

Firing on two cylinders suggests your dual output coil is okay. BTW do you have the HT leads from the coils going to the right plugs. Single output coil feeds the middle plug.
Cheers
Chris
 
treoleileagh said:
First I confess I know nothing about Ignitechs. Nevertheless a few things in this thread jumped out when I read through it. You've said a few times that you have power at the coils. You also said early on that the bike was missing on one cylinder (I guess then it must have been running on 2 cylinders).

Power at a coil ought to turn into power out of an HT lead, and a spark at its plug. I'm not Sherlock Holmes but maybe I'd take the single-outlet coil down to my local autoelectrical guy and ask for an opinion. Maybe its getting power but the coil is breaking down and not delivering any/enough output.

Firing on two cylinders suggests your dual output coil is okay. BTW do you have the HT leads from the coils going to the right plugs. Single output coil feeds the middle plug.
Cheers
Chris
Click to expand...

I was with you on that one until one of the coils stopped firing all together, then I swapped the wire and the opposite, so the coils are fine IMHO and it's the intermittent connection to the ignition box, which also drives the trigger wires for the coils, that has been causing the tail chasing.
 
cbertozz said:
I was with you on that one until one of the coils stopped firing all together, then I swapped the wire and the opposite, so the coils are fine IMHO and it's the intermittent connection to the ignition box, which also drives the trigger wires for the coils, that has been causing the tail chasing.
Click to expand...

I think I suggested that some time ago.
 
When you are crimping, remember not to over crimp the connector with gorilla grip!
If over crimped the copper strands harden and break, one of the reasons people end up soldering.

The fancy expensive crimpers have adjustable crimp force.
 
SimonR501 said:
When you are crimping, remember not to over crimp the connector with gorilla grip!
If over crimped the copper strands harden and break, one of the reasons people end up soldering.

The fancy expensive crimpers have adjustable crimp force.
Click to expand...

I found that practicing today, crushed one connection totally.
 
The store is really good, can't buy that stuff in Perth.

Dellortoman said:
Hey Carlo.

As you're something of a novice at this auto electrics business, here's a couple of tips about cable connectors:

Don't get the pre-insulated connectors with the coloured plastic collar around the part to be crimped (like the blue ones in the photo below). They're rubbish, but seem to be ubiquitous in hardware and car accessory shops.

Get uninsulated connectors with separate soft plastic covers as in the middle picture below. Slip the insulating cover onto the end of the wire, crimp the terminal on, then slide the cover back over it. This type of connector is a little harder to find. You need to go to a specialist electrical supplier or buy them on line.
Suppliers such as Ozautoelectrics sell them
http://www.ozautoelectrics.com/narva-56244-blade-terminal-insulators-suits-6-3mm-female-56224-pack-of-100.html
http://www.ozautoelectrics.com/non-insulated-female-blade-crimp-terminals-qk-series-tin-plated-brass-6-3mm-tab-0-8-1-5mm2-wire-size.html

You also need a proper crimping tool, like the one in the bottom picture at the very least. More fancy ones are available, but for your purposes the one shown is adequate. If you try to crimp with pliers, it won't crimp properly but you can solder it to make it work.

A set of wire stripping pliers is also handy if you're intending to do lot of this stuff.

Cam
Click to expand...
 
SimonR501 said:
When you are crimping, remember not to over crimp the connector with gorilla grip!
If over crimped the copper strands harden and break, one of the reasons people end up soldering.

The fancy expensive crimpers have adjustable crimp force.
Click to expand...

And the cables fall off six months later...

Soldered joints are often too rigid to cope with vibes for long, and the remains of flux continue rotting the copper strands.

piet
 
Soldered joints are often too rigid to cope with vibes for long, and the remains of flux continue rotting the copper strands.
Click to expand...


I solder with hi-tin but: I use strips of Teflon Tie Downs for 3 to 5"  along the wire wrapped in heat shrink binding the terminal end to the wire.

Time consuming but has worked for me - considering flex and vibration.
 
Absolutely right, Ron, solder can be done reliable if you do it right. It is a bit of an effort and you have to apply strict quality controls on your work, though.
 
You don't want an acid lead flux - I use Hi-Po Paint thinner to clean the ends before I tin it.

Suggest Cybertoz becomes familiar with a soldering iron and learn how to wrap wiring harnesses and don't be afraid to Modify OEM crap.

4704799448_6604091981_o.jpg
 
sfcpiet said:
And the cables fall off six months later...

Soldered joints are often too rigid to cope with vibes for long, and the remains of flux continue rotting the copper strands.

piet
Click to expand...

I was pushing for non-soldered joints that are properly crimped.
 
Officially give up. (Again)    :D

Checked my wires again, definitely something loose with my 20 pin thingo but too fiddly for me.

So borrowed Bear's Ignitech unit, and after a quick re-wire of one of the Deutsch plugs so it matched the harness on my bike I turned it on and...No change.

Coil 1 sparks (lightly) Coil 2 no spark.

Switch the trigger wires (green & yellow) and the situation reverses.

So had the bright idea to switch the wires around at the Deutsch plug that comes directly out so I could see if that also reversed the situation (I.e there was a bad/lack of signal from the yellow wire.

Anyway while I'm.starting to think about what that means I smell a slight hint of heating plastic (burning soon) and I also notice the battery is discharging even though it's on a tender (I had a small voltmeter on it which was right in front of me).

Turns out my coils are heating up like the tarmac on a hot summers day in Perth, burning to touch. So I've quickly turned of ignition and unhooked the supply to the coils - they were super hot for a long time. Completely fecking random!! :o

So me thinks it must be my shite attempt at rewiring the one Deutsch plug but no, when I try using Bears ignitech box with my harness it starts to discharge the battery pronto and the coils heat up. (The other coil this time cause I've reversed back the triggers in the Deutsch.)

(Edit: now I think about it maybe the entire older ignitech box was wired differently but I tested white as red and blue as brown as this corresponds to my 20pin wire positions and colours on the loom that goes back to the pick-ups, so maybe a rookie error there somewhere.)

Off to be tested and wired by someone who knows next week  :D

 
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