Wanted - looking for pickup coils for 83 special

[crankel85]

So i guess my pickup coil wasn't your fix?

 

[deshi]

well it did fix something cause now it idles at least before it wouldnt even really idle just start and instantly die. the old coil tested at like 1800 ohms yours is at 798. so it is of a great use. i am wondering what the hell i can try if the rotor magnets are off a bit for a quick fix so i can get to work easier than relying on rides from neighbors.

 

[wiggins]

sounds fuel/carb related to me now.

 

[deshi]

you would think so but both cylinder die exact same time. float bowls fine getting plenty of fuel, carb been torn apart many times and all jets checked and they are pristine. mixture screw is 2.5 turns out. tested petcock and that is good as well. would it help if i made a small video and posted to youtube of the bike doing it's thing?

 

[deshi]

one test i finally did was on the keyswitch i get 12.5v from the battery to the switch fine from the switch i am getting 11.8v which is too much of a drop indicating a bad switch wondering if a bypass of this will solve it till i can get a new keyswitch. could this be causing all the chaos? I should add that the slap test does seem to work but the battery is not getting the 13.8v when idle it just gets the regular 12.5 right now.

 

[wiggins]

Stock wiring or rewired?

 

[deshi]

stock wiring, though last night i sanded the contacts for the keyswitch, and then also sanded behind where the ground strap goes and it seems to be doing better just got home from work so about to go test ride it.

 

[deshi]

i guess my father in law test rode it today said problem is still happening he thinks it may be the side stand relay or some other safety relay i am unsure.

 

[member3480]

OK I been reading your thread and first you are jumping all over and not going threw the steps that guys are telling you.
1. Forget the electric start do that last has nothing to do with bike charging or shutting off
2 Bike will be around 12.5 at idle and when you rev past 2000 rpm should go up to 13 + volts if not you are not charging
3 If motor starts and idles fine and you twist throttle and it dies ITS FUEL
4 Running stock exhaust and stock air box if not carbs need jets
5 pull both plug out of bike check for week spark TCI could be bad
6 What is your plug setup for charging 6 pin Plugs if so you could plug your REG/REC right into the output of alt. and bypass the harness to see if it then charges so you will know if harness is problem.
When I get a bike in like this I use a cheater setup which is a old harness that is only the wires that charge and fire the bike up. This will show if everything works before it goes into the harness. I have had bad grounds on harness that drove me nuts.
Picture shows setup all you need to charge and have spark.
If you want to talk email me at DADDYGCYCLES@YAHOO.COM and send me your number I will call you to help.

 

[wiggins]

OK I been reading your thread and first you are jumping all over and not going threw the steps that guys are telling you.
1. Forget the electric start do that last has nothing to do with bike charging or shutting off
2 Bike will be around 12.5 at idle and when you rev past 2000 rpm should go up to 13 + volts if not you are not charging
3 If motor starts and idles fine and you twist throttle and it dies ITS FUEL
4 Running stock exhaust and stock air box if not carbs need jets
5 pull both plug out of bike check for week spark TCI could be bad
6 What is your plug setup for charging 6 pin Plugs if so you could plug your REG/REC right into the output of alt. and bypass the harness to see if it then charges so you will know if harness is problem.
When I get a bike in like this I use a cheater setup which is a old harness that is only the wires that charge and fire the bike up. This will show if everything works before it goes into the harness. I have had bad grounds on harness that drove me nuts.
Picture shows setup all you need to charge and have spark.
If you want to talk email me at DADDYGCYCLES@YAHOO.COM and send me your number I will call you to help.

I agree and this seems the best plan of attack. If it starts and idles, sounds like fuel. The starter was notoriously bad on the xs's, I never used mine. I had a pamco on mine and got it to were I could literally just press the kicker down with my foot and start it.

I'd agree with DADDYGCYCLES... double make sure your fuel is good. Check your plugs. I'd worry about getting it running before I worried about getting it charging...

Here's a simple wiring diagram I made yearssss ago. I have no expierence with the TCI boxes on xs's, so no diagram for that, but I'm sure a quick search could find one, the to IGN would go to the TCI box. (Just ignore the light wiring for now. get it running right first)

I'd make a test wiring kit and go from there like DADDYGCYCLES said. I have a tendency not to trust 30yo wiring that who knows what previous owners have done to.

 

[wiggins]

the to ignition would continue to this part.

 

[deshi]

thanks guysjumping all over cause im not the one doing anything to the bike right now it is my father in law. the bike does charge now 13.5 at idle and 14.2 at rev. The bike doesnt die when you give it throttle it just up and dies after a bit, so when it is warm i guess you could say it just shuts off like someone hit a kill switch. I will print out the pictures and simplified wiring for him to take a look at while I am gone at work. I only ever kick start this bike I just mentioned the electric start thing to see if maybe that would help someone narrow down things as I been running out of stuff to try.

 

[wiggins]

wonder if the ignition coil is over-heating?
do you have to wait for it to start again or will it start right back up?

 

[deshi]

the last he told me yesterday was it will kill then if he wiggles the key it will start right back up. so he is going to bypass the ignition switch to test and see if that will solve it.

 

[member3480]

AGAIN JUMPING???????????
If bike starts and runs then cuts off
FIRST THING to do is pull plugs and kick to see if you got spark. If you got spark then turn off key and turn key back on if you got spark again THEN YOU GOT ANOTHER PROBLEM. By take things apart you are just adding to your problem NOT FIXING.
I had a motor come in that bike ran for half hour then cut clean would not start back up!!!!!
WAS NOT CARBS WAS NOT IGNITION
MOTOR was bad and was locking up after it heated up
I know you say you are not doing the work but everyone here is giving you good info and you are still JUMPING ALL OVER.

 

[deshi]

i have a hard time talking to my father in law as I do not know him all that well and he doesnt listen to things i relay to him very well, he was a mechanic for 40 years and retired and runs a small shop out of the back 40. he rebuilt the engine and the carbs didn't have them sent out i trust his judgement on that job after seeing him rebuild a dozen engines with no issues. i have been printing out the responses on this forum and giving them to him i have just been working a lot of hours this first week of my job and have not been at the shop to watch and see exactly every step he is following. however i have the next several days off work and am hoping to be able to be there with him to see what all he has been trying. since he doesnt talk much and i get so nervous around him since he is a combat wounded nam vet i am a bit intimidated. I do not mean my replys on this forum to sound like I am disregarding anyone's advice. if it were not for this forum I would never of gotten the charging system to work again. now daddygcycles when you say your motor was bad and locking up after it heated up do you know the exact cause inside the motor? was it the piston or rings or cylinders? I have new pistons and new rings in there. The bike will idle longer than you can ride it. we let it idle 2 days ago for about 30 minutes and it never had a problem it is once you get up there in speed which is what he said led him to believe it was the ignition switch which he did test and said there is almost a 2 volt drop at the switch itself, the PO also a mechanic (his brother) had a parts list of things that were bad on the bike and i just found that list this morning in the box of spare parts and it had a keyswitch listed. all the other stuff on that list i replaced through this insane process of elimination. also had discovered the sidestand switch was faulty, as well as the neutral switch so replaced those. again thanks for all the advice it has been a big help.

 

[deshi]

ok now he ran through all the suggestions you have all posted and they all come back as being ok. the conditions are not present in the shop environment it only happens when out on a test ride. when you really give it throttle it will backfire eventually and crap out. then you wait a couple minutes and it starts back up that will work for a short time then it just wont start at all till it has sat for about an hour. he thinks something is getting hot and then failing. the internals of the motor itself are pristine and done with precision and all the proper tools. i guess i do not have new plug wires on there i thought he had brand new ones and they are just some older solid core steel ones he had lying around he ordered new ones today. the ignition coils test perfect as well. and the bike does charge now after we eliminated some of the bad electrical stuff. get 13.5 on idle and 14.2 on 2k rpm's.

 

[member3480]

Here is the only advise I can give you and I have been building motors over 35 yrs.
When you idle a motor there is no stress on it and yes it may run for a hour before it shuts off.
If the bore is bad the motor will run until it heats up and then it will shut off and not start again until it cools down.
If you can idle the motor standing still and rev it up and down for 30 mins you still never put a load on it. WHAT the compression reading both CYL
I had a brand new kit come in had the cyl bored bike ran great for 40 mins then shut off after it cooled down it started right up again. ALL NEW PARTS BORE WAS TOO TIGHT and when heated up shut right off.
You got to do things in steps and cross off what you think is OK
If carbs start bike and rev and you take it out and it runs great for the first 1/2 hour RULE OUT THE CARBS and so on. I have had coils work for a hour and cut the motor clean wait 10 mins and bike starts again. You get what I am saying help him out with a punch list of what works and what doesn't Your problem could be COMPRESSION-IGNITION but your jumping all over the place.

 

[deshi]

after looking at things and aother thread i noticed the ignition coil caps are loose all the time and not seated very well the cap is cracked on one cable. ordered new caps n cables had another guy tell me he had the same symptoms and it was the coil caps. the compression is roughly 170 on both cylinders. he was the one jumping around before i started this new job i was the one working on it and i do things very organized and in steps.

 

[crankel85]

Well I am happy to hear that you got it all work out.