Fried Pamco

[Stoop22kid]

Does anyone know how to tell if a Pamco is fried? I'm not getting any spark at all. I've tested everything and even turned the rotor manually per Pete. I'm gonna go though all the tests again tomorrow and try to take some pictures to post. I'm sure it's something that I did while hooking everything up since I'm absolutely terrible with wiring. This is for a 277 rephase also. Any help is appreciated...

Justin

 

[Stoop22kid]

Pete? Anyone?

 

[pamcopete]

Stoop...,

Can you be more specific with the wiring? Do you have a diagram you can post so we can see if the wiring is correct? Did you review the installation instructions on www.yamahaxs650.com for the 277 system? Did you review the very good installation instructions that Hughes Handbuilt has on his web site www.hugheshandbuilt.com? How did you test for a spark? Did you use your timing light?

 

[Stoop22kid]

Used this diagram but obviously used 2 coils for the other 3 wires coming out of the Pamco. I followed Hugh's instructions in his write up. It turned over a few weeks ago for a few seconds but that was when I had an incorrectly machined Pamco rotor. Hugh sent me one of his spare rotors that is correctly machined. I'm using an inline spark plug tester.

 

[pamcopete]

Stoop...,

OK. If you are using a capacitor as shown, then my standard recommendation is to substitute a fully charged battery to power the PAMCO and the coils and disconnect the PMA. The purpose of this test is to determine if the problem is the PMA, the capacitor, the regulator , or the PAMCO. If you can get the engine to start with this test setup, then you have an issue with the PMA.

Having a PMA with a capacitor would also explain why the "spin the rotor" test did not work because there is no power available for the PAMCO until the engine is running. If you already did this test with a battery, then it would have saved a lot of time if you had said that first.

 

[Stoop22kid]

I'm gonna double and triple check everything again and if I still can't get a spark then I'll send you a pm.

 

[pamcopete]

I'm gonna double and triple check everything again and if I still can't get a spark then I'll send you a pm.

OK. Did you try the separate battery test?

 

[Stoop22kid]

Well Pete.....I'm an absolute and complete idiot. I figured it out. Don't ask how because I'm way too embarrassed to tell. Sorry for bothering you haha

 

[pamcopete]

Well Pete.....I'm an absolute and complete idiot. I figured it out. Don't ask how because I'm way too embarrassed to tell. Sorry for bothering you haha

Everybody makes mistakes. Whatever the problem was, others can learn from your mistake, so please share it with us. Some may laugh but others will learn. Be brave!

 

[angus67]

Kill switch

 

[figure8]

Say what it was, shit happens...

 

[Stoop22kid]

Hahaha ground wire goes to a ground and and power goes to the coil....not the opposite. I've been stuck on this for a week and all it was is 2 wires

 

[angus67]

easy to overlook.
When I rebuilt my carbs and got them back together, I did the drop test. Plugged the oval hole with a wet thumb, and the slides dropped like rock. wtf? after spending way too much time looking for pin holes in the diaphragm, I realized the choke was on.
Forgetting to put the kick stand down is another one ide like to forget.

 

[pamcopete]

Stoop22kid,

I spent the better part of a day screwing with the carbs because the engine was hard to start but when it did start, it had the symptoms of a lean mixture. I then shifted over to the ignition, a PAMCO, of course and changed it too, along with the spark plugs. Then I checked the gas tank..... I had run the tank near empty with the work I had been doing with the carbs, so the remaining gas was feeding the carbs sporadically.....

So, stoop...you're not alone.

 

[Punkskalar]

Stoop22kid,

I spent the better part of a day screwing with the carbs because the engine was hard to start but when it did start, it had the symptoms of a lean mixture. I then shifted over to the ignition, a PAMCO, of course and changed it too, along with the spark plugs. Then I checked the gas tank..... I had run the tank near empty with the work I had been doing with the carbs, so the remaining gas was feeding the carbs sporadically.....

So, stoop...you're not alone.

Been there myself - that "lean burn" is hell

 

[theDQG]

Hahaha ground wire goes to a ground and and power goes to the coil....not the opposite. I've been stuck on this for a week and all it was is 2 wires

What's more important: feeling embarrassed/dumb for a day, or years of joy from riding a motorcycle you put together?

 

[Stoop22kid]

What's more important: feeling embarrassed/dumb for a day, or years of joy from riding a motorcycle you put together?

Gotta say I greatly enjoy learning about and working on these bikes

 

[Sucko Gomez]

I hope my issue is that simple. I substituted a battery for the PMA and everything works, except when I spin the rotor the timing light shows a reverse of what should be. It lights up showing static and shuts off when the magnet goes over the sensor. It's firing when it shouldn't and not when it should. Any ideas?

 

[pamcopete]

Are you using a strobe type timing light or just a test lamp as used for static timing? If the latter, the you can get the results you describe depending on how you have hooked up the light.

 

[Sucko Gomez]

It's a strobe, afterwards I was checking the light wiring and the blinkers were wrong, bad information. I unplugged them and now the ignition is giving me the correct signal. I don't know if it will start yet because it started to rain hard. I'll look for blinker relay wiring.