Coil testing? primary terminal?

Jawknee21

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What is the primary terminal on the coil? the ones with power? I must be retarded or something...




So Ive been riding my bike for like 3 weeks and NO problems. running perfectly. then today on what was supposed to be a quick trip home, i stopped at a light, idled fine, then when i went to take off it seemed fine and as soon as i shifted to 2nd it started to sputter for a second. I downshifted and it kept doing it and then it died. Nothing. It wont start. motor turns over electric and kick but doesnt run. pushed it home and looked through wiring and nothing seems wrong. Could it be my coil? i dont even know how to test it. i have a pamco ignition. i think the coil is stock. i took one wire off and tried to turn it over and i dont feel anything shocking me. i bought a test light but im not even sure what im checking. nothing with key off. light comes on with key on and switch on run, on the green wire from ignition and the orange/yellow wire going to bike. nothing in middle wires at all. and nothing changes even while trying to start it. i dont know what im doing. help?! i wanna ride again...
 
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I don't own a Pamco (yet) but others can surely help you with that.

Check that the nut that holds the rod through the cam didn't vibrate loose.
Remove covers on both Pamco- and ATU-side to check.
Happened to me once...

I guess you confirmed that it receives gas? Remove plugs after a couple kicks to verify that they are seeing some gasoline.

Good luck!
/Patrik
 
Jawk...,

Try these tests for the coil and PAMCO:

Testing the coil:

1. Using the lowest scale on the meter, measure the resistance between the primary terminals with the wires removed. Should read from 2.5 to 4.5 Ohms.
2. Using the highest scale on the meter, measure between one of the primary terminals and the center core of the coil. Should be infinite resistance. (open)
3. Measure between one of the primary terminals and one of the plug wire terminals. Should be infinite resistance. (open circuit)
4. Measure between one of the plug wire terminals and the core of the coil. Should be infinite resistance (open circuit)
5. Measure from one plug terminal to the other. Should be 15,000 to 20,000 Ohms

Testing the PAMCO

1. Use a voltmeter and check for battery voltage on each of the red/white wires with the key and kill switch are turned on.
2. The dual output coil has to have both spark plug wires connected to a spark plug at all times.
3. To test for spark, connect one of the spark plug wires to a spark plug that is grounded to the engine.

To test for spark without having to turn the engine over, do this procedure:
1. Remove the PAMCO rotor.
2. Remove the locating pin in the advance rod.
3. Reinstall the rotor, but without the pin.
4. Replace the nut holding the rotor on loosely. This will allow you to spin the rotor to produce a spark without having to turn the engine over.
5. Connect one of the spark plug wires to a spark plug that is grounded to the engine, but not installed in the engine.
6. Make sure that the other spark plug wire is connected to a spark plug in the engine.
7. Turn on the ignition switch and the kill switch.
8. Spin the rotor while looking at the gap in the spark plug for a spark.
9. Turn off the kill switch and the ignition switch.
 
Which are the primary terminals on the coil?

Also, my bike was idling weird a few weeks ago like it wanted to die. It would come and go on it's own and I couldn't get it to do it every time. Could this have been the coil dying?

And I've been using different headlights. The brighter blue/white h4 lights. Could this hurt anything?

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Jawknee21;

My guess is you are losing power along the path that supplies the ignition.

i.e.
-battery low voltage
-worn out fuse holder(s) causing high resistance
-defective igntion switch (intermittant or high resistance)
-defective kill switch (intermittant or high resistance)
-corroded bullet connectors

Don't use headlights with a low beam greater than 55 watts, as the alternator is not capable of powering H4 lights of high wattage.
 
So I should probably Check battery first? I have no idea how old it is. I charge it a little, every few weeks. Doesn't need that much. Could it be that? It just died while i was riding. I only have one fuse and checked that already. Gonna be a long day, or weekend, or week, or month...

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These bike only work well if the battery is kept fully charged at all times.

If you have been using a charger every few weeks, that means your onboard charging sysyem is not working properly. The charging system needs occasional maintenance, but most of these bikes never got any maintenance.:doh:

If you don't have a voltmeter, buy one and learn to use it.

Healthy battery with engine off= 12.5 volts
Engine idling at 1200 rpm = 13.5 volts (wait a few minutes after starting)
Engine at > 3000 rpm = 14.2 to 14.5 volts

Go to our "Tech" section and find "Curleys" charging trouble shooting guide
 
I bought a multimeter but I don't know how to use it. Haha. Ill try that too. And I'll try using a different battery...

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ok. i still dont know what is primary and what isnt. i pretty much know nothing. im looking everywhere and i cant find it. anyone?
:banghead:
 
This is what im working with. I'm learning about everything as it happens. Have only had this (my first) bike 6 months. Sorry for the dumb questions...

0b68e6f7.jpg


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Jawknee21;

My guess is you are losing power along the path that supplies the ignition.

i.e.
-battery low voltage
-worn out fuse holder(s) causing high resistance
-defective igntion switch (intermittant or high resistance)
-defective kill switch (intermittant or high resistance)
-corroded bullet connectors

Don't use headlights with a low beam greater than 55 watts, as the alternator is not capable of powering H4 lights of high wattage.

wouldnt the high beam be more watts than low beam? i almost always keep my high beam on...
 
The primaries are either of the terminals on the coil. The ones with the red wire and green wire.

You can flip those wires around so there technically isn't one that's primary and one that's secondary. Set your meter to read ohms and touch one on the connection for the green wire and the other on the red wire. Be sure tha all of the wires are unhooked including the plug wires.
 
Also you should never turn the key on or attempt to start the bike with the plug wire unhooked from the plug. ALWAYS have the plug attached to a plug wire and the plug grounded to the motor before you try to kick over the motor. It sounds like you held the wire in your hand with no plug. This will burn out your coil.
 
Also you should never turn the key on or attempt to start the bike with the plug wire unhooked from the plug. ALWAYS have the plug attached to a plug wire and the plug grounded to the motor before you try to kick over the motor. It sounds like you held the wire in your hand with no plug. This will burn out your coil.

Yes, im pretty stupid. i should just buy a new coil anyway when i buy my new pamco. As soon as i fix one problem i get(or make) another...
 
What is the primary terminal on the coil? the ones with power? I must be retarded or something...




So Ive been riding my bike for like 3 weeks and NO problems. running perfectly. then today on what was supposed to be a quick trip home, i stopped at a light, idled fine, then when i went to take off it seemed fine and as soon as i shifted to 2nd it started to sputter for a second. I downshifted and it kept doing it and then it died. Nothing. It wont start. motor turns over electric and kick but doesnt run. pushed it home and looked through wiring and nothing seems wrong. Could it be my coil? i dont even know how to test it. i have a pamco ignition. i think the coil is stock. i took one wire off and tried to turn it over and i dont feel anything shocking me. i bought a test light but im not even sure what im checking. nothing with key off. light comes on with key on and switch on run, on the green wire from ignition and the orange/yellow wire going to bike. nothing in middle wires at all. and nothing changes even while trying to start it. i dont know what im doing. help?! i wanna ride again...
Jawknee21,

I'm currently having the same problem. Same slight idle problem that turned into it dying on me randomly and now it will start for a second then die. Did the new coil or ignition fix the problem?

Thanks for any knowledge you can pass my way!
 
Jawknee21,

I'm currently having the same problem. Same slight idle problem that turned into it dying on me randomly and now it will start for a second then die. Did the new coil or ignition fix the problem?

Thanks for any knowledge you can pass my way!
I put the new pamco in it and it ran fine again. I found out the old pamco burned up somehow. Do you have the same ignition?
 
Just for information purposes. The primary refers to the terminals which you connect your red and green wire.
The secondary refers to the terminal that your spark plug wire goes into.
 
My setup seems to be slightly different? An orange and a brown wire from each coil. Tests results are below, all tested unplugged at all four wires and both secondary terminals.

Brown to Brown = Open Loop
Orange to orange = 8.7 ohms (????? What the hell)
Secondary terminal to secondary terminal = 19,400 ohms

I'll eventually update these coils to something that will generate a better spark, but what's that mean for now?
 

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Hey all, I know I'm chiming in late here, my bike is a former 1980 TCI bike (in the process of PAMCOPETE/HHB PMA upgrade) and has just the one dual output coil with one red wire and one orange wire for primary wires. To test my primary circuit do I put the multimeter leads as follows: red to red and black to orange and/or reverse? When I do so I get 2.6 ohms. When I check the secondary circuit (two high tension spark plug wires that are permanently attached to my stock coil), I get 13.66K ohms. Is that within specs? Should I still use the 5K plug caps that came on the bike and that came with my PAMCO kit from Mike's? By the way, with the caps screwed on, the secondary reading increased almost 10K ohms to 23.6K ohms. I'm stoked to be learning all this stuff about my ride, it is really empowering...
 
Thumps, yes, that coil has a 2.5 ohms, +or- 10% primary side. Checking your secondary, the 13.66k ohms is good. The two 5 k caps add 10k to your reading, so that coil is fine. You should also test from the primary side to the secondary side. Should be infinite. Don't want a short from side to side. Also check from both primary and secondary to ground, again infinite, no shorts to ground.
Leo
 
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