Any Pamco install tips? Don't want it to fail far from home!

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ann0yed

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So my Pamco high output kit will arrive from Mike's tomorrow and I'll install it this weekend. I've seen a few threads recently of failures so if anyone has any special do's and don'ts I'd love to hear them. 79 Special.

-jonathan
 
With the Pamco or any electronic ignition for that matter, the biggest "Don't" is never run the bike with a plug wire disconnected or you'll fry the ignition. Other than that, a good, clean install is probably your best insurance against future problems.

A very sanitary install can be done on the points models utilizing some of the original connections and wires. Your original coils have a R/W power wire running to each one. These 2 wires come from the same source in the harness. One can be run to your new coil to power it and the other can be connected to the red wire of the Pamco to provide it with power. Your original coils also had a gray or orange wire running from down near the condenser pack. The individual points wires along with one of the condenser wires were plugged into a double connector here on each wire. Pick one and connect the green Pamco wire to it. Connect the other end to the other terminal on your new coil.

The Pamco wires are very thin and I don't think adding a crimp connection to them would hold very well. Instead, I soldered short lengths of old factory wires w/ installed crimps to them. I used male bullets on the red and green so they could plug into the existing harness wires and an eye crimp on the black ground wire so it could be bolted to the frame .....

PamcoPick-upPlate.jpg


The original rubber grommet on the old points wires is near impossible to remove and even if you got it off, you would find it's hole is larger than the Pamco wire. Instead, I used an extra solid grommet from the advance housing and just drilled the right size hole through it for the Pamco wire. A length of 3/16" fuel line was used as a protection sleeve on the Pamco wire to mimic the one on the original (also near impossible to remove).
 
Hey 5twins, thanks so much for that, waaaaaaay better than those instructions on the site. I'm so grateful! Looks like the most difficult part of the install is mounting that coil...

-jonathan
 
Just to clarify:

"Pick one and connect the green Pamco wire to it. Connect the other end to the other terminal on your new coil."

So I have two orange and two gray wires. Are you saying I can use any two of those four wires for the Pamco green and the other terminal on the coil?

Thanks!

-jonathan
 
You should be dealing with 2 wires, not 4, one orange and one gray. They have double female connectors on them by the top motor mount, then enter the harness for awhile, exiting a bit farther forward by the coils. These ends by the coils will have single male bullet connectors on them. If you're seeing 4 wires, maybe you're counting both ends of the 2 wires?

Here's a labeled pic of my install that should help .....

PamcoConnections.jpg


I chose the gray wire to connect the Pamco green to the coil. The orange is not used anymore. I left the condenser pack in place in case the points need to be re-installed in the future. To keep my condenser leads from flopping around, I plugged them both into the now unused double orange connector and capped the other end of the wire.
 
Thanks for the pic and the further explanation, with all of this I'm sure I can get it done. I do indeed have two orange and two gray wires coming right out of the thick black bundle of the wiring harness.

-jonathan
 
What I'm saying is the 2 oranges (or 2 grays) are opposite ends of the same wire. Get your meter out and test them, you'll see.
 
Ha ha, noooo, that couldn't be! All 4 wires are coming out together in the same place from the wiring harness right in front of the motor mount. Anyway, what if we just forgot all about those orange and gray wires and I just connect the Pamco green to the other terminal on the coil, however I do that, with any wire. That's what we're trying to do here right? Sorry about all of this, those darn wires! :banghead:

-jonathan
 
Yes, that's what we're trying to accomplish with existing wires in the harness - but you can just run your own wire from the Pamco green to the coil (or connect it directly to the coil).

I like my wiring mods to be "plug and play" and also to not alter the existing layout much if any in case I ever want to change things back to original.
 
Reviving this a bit.

So I just did up a bracket for the coil today. And I am about to wire mine soon too.

I have a brown wire and an orange wire going to each coil.

So I take the connector from the brown wire, which I assume is POS and connect it to the red.

And then take the wire from one of the points to green?

Wont I still be using the condenser then?
 
ann0yed said:
Don't want it to fail far from home!
Click to expand...

I've read there's an issue that arises if the bike isn't running but the ignition is left on. Probably the output device stays on and it overheats and destroys itself. Avoiding that is probably covered in the instructions, but take heed for real because people have reported it happening. Although it would seem to be rare enough to not warrant reving the circuit.
 
That seems to be an issue with several bikes, my other bike has the same thing going on.
 
All the stock coils I've seen have a brown and an orange wire. Brown is power from the harness, orange gets a wire from one of the points sets. Most of the wiring diagrams and my '78 have 2 R/Ws for power coming out of the harness, a gray and an orange running from the points sets to the coils (orange from bottom points set to left coil, gray from upper points set to right coil). The points end of each wire has a double female bullet so one of the condensers can be plugged into it along with one of the cloth covered wires that come from the points.

If you have 2 browns coming out of your harness and going to the browns on the coils, those are your POS or power feed wires. Connect one to your new coil and the other to the red Pamco wire. Take one of the wires that goes to an orange on your original coils and connect it to the other terminal on your new coil. Find the other end of that wire and connect the Pamco green to it. You won't use the other wire currently running to the orange on your other stock coil. Points will be removed. Condensers will be disconnected and not used anymore either. You can remove them from the bike or leave them in place as I did, the choice is yours.
 
Is a small bit of oil seepage from the camshaft oil seal worth worrying about? I ponder adding an aftermarket Boyer or pamco (I have a 1980 with the factory TCI) but I wonder if I should add new oil seals.
 
Fixing the seal is simple.
Before you install the new igntion parts, remove the housings from the engine. Three screws on each.
Drive out the old seal, drive in the new. Clean up the mating surfaces of the housings and engine, new gaskets and o-rings. Install the housings. All good.
Now install the new ignition.
 
Yes, #26 is the housing, held on by three screws. A hand impact tool will make getting the screws out without stripping out the heads easy.
On the 80 models the advancer rod and parts are not in there so the housings come off easy. If 79 and older the points and advancer need to come out first.
 

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