pamco ignition no spark

[ductglue]

Well Ive been a long time lurker with no posting so i guess Ill go ahead and get my intro out of the way. I ride a 79 650 and a 90 harley softail. My softail bit the dust so I decided to go ahead and get the 79 up and running again. Ive been riding for about 15 years and have never had both bikes down at one time. These bikes are my main mode of transport so when one goes down i have the next one to ride while fixing on the other. Im from fayetteville nc.

Well here we go got the pamco ignition kit from mikes xs. It came witht he black coil. Well I went through and and followed the installation directions to the t. got the red wire from pamco on a ignition switch with a 7a bus fuse also the coil is tied into that with the black and white wire. green wire goes to the blue wire and black to a good frame ground. I just put it in the bike and to my avail no spark at all. Battery has 12.7 volts can anyone help. Thanks. If you need more info let me know.

 

[ductglue]

oh yeah i also have the pma kit on the bike. green to ground red to battery i have both power wires coming directly off the battery with the fuseable links connected. I did the ohm test from plug to plug on 200k and got a reading of 27.6ohms so im guessing the coil is no good. can someone confirm this? Did I mention this kit is brand new out the box. Im thinking the coil is bad out the box. If i fried How did I manage to do that? Id hate to get another one and the same thing happen. How do I test the ignition to see if it is getting the correct amount of power? I tested it at the connections on the board green and red and got 12.7 volts anywhere else to test it? Thanks

 

[pamcopete]

Try temporarily wiring the PAMCO to a separate battery sitting on the floor to see if your problem is the PAMCO or the PMA.

 

[ductglue]

like 2 batterys at the same time one to the pma and one to the pamco? Tried that and didnt get anything.


Alright went out and tried it again. checked the 2nd battery and it was dead. so i disconnected the pma from the bat. Ok its kind of wierd i was kicking the bike then all of the sudden when I shut the ignition switch off it must have sent some spark out cause it shocked the shit out of me. when i kicked it the next few times i got nothing. Then it seems when i barely depress the kicker i mean like 1/4 of an inch it would throw out a tiny spark like every 5 kicks or so but when i do a full stroke i get nothing. then nothing again it seems when i get the kicker to the top of its stroke it throw a little spark out. I have the plug on a alliator clip to a unfinished bolt head on the motor.
I need this guy running by tommorow so i can get to work ill be up all night any suggestions are greatly appreciated


Still no luck. I have been having the worst luck with bikes lately. Took the harley in for service and when i got it out i rode it for 20 miles before it broke down i spent 400 bucks by the way they adjusted the pushrods. Took it back to the shop and they told me my ignition system was out. bought a new ignition kit for 375 bucks. put it in still not start. took it back to the shop and they told me they dont know what the deal is. So i started working on it come to find out I had a bent pushrod. long story short shop screwed me out of 775 bucks plus tax and I have nothing to show for it. I took a huge beating on the harley I could have almost had the motor rebuilt with all the money I spent on it and I still aint riding it.

Im kind of feeling the same thing might go on with this ignition system. By it brand new and out the box it doesnt work. 140bucks hopefully not down the drain been working on this crap since 2pm and now it is 120am. I feel like setting this shit on fire and taking both bikes to the scrapyard to watch them get crushed. I got a sparatic spark that will only fire for a millisecond and that is when i am getting the piston to the top of the stroke. I would like to think it is impossible to wire this wrong it is pretty straight forward and the whole bike only has a total of 5 wires. Can nobody give me any suggestions as to why this unit does not work or how to make it work? I guess what I am trying to say is it takes me months to save up for these parts. I cant just go out and throw money away on items that get me no where. Ive searched the net for hours for a fix still havent found anything. sombody has had to have had a similiar problem.please chime in and help a brotha out.

 

[pamcopete]

ductglue,

Well, all is not lost. The PAMCO has a 2 year warranty. Try these tests:

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.

 

[ductglue]

coil
1. 4.4
2. infinite? not sure just took the boot of and measured from the plug wire
3. infinite
4. ?
5. 27.500k

I also measure the resistance in the caps. one was 5.7 the next 5.2 is that to high?

From what i have gathered here it is saying the coil is bad. Is this true due to number 5?

If the coil is no good then there is no reason to proceed to the next steps correct?
How is this even possible with a new coil?
Ive tried contacting mikexs and have had no response since yesterday.
I also went to your site pete and did these checks as you can see in my second post.

Thanks

 

[pamcopete]

ductglue,

No, not necessarily. 27,500 is probably OK. Not sure if you included the cap resistance or not.

#4. The core of the coil is the center metal part with the mounting holes. Check that out as well, and if OK, then proceed with the PAMCO part of the tests.

 

[ductglue]

I also measure the resistance in the caps. one was 5.7 the next 5.2 is that to high?

4. infinite

removed pin on pamco side tested both plugs and have spark on both. what do these end test results mean?
that is strange why it wont spark with the pin in and me kicking it.
Now im really lost.

 

[ductglue]

Problem has been resolved ended up being the locating pin in the cam fell out causing the unit not to spin. started on the first kick

I was sitting at work racking my brain as to why it would spark while i spun the rotor. then I figured i probably installed something wrong. took the advance mechanism of and there is was, no locating pin. I dont claim to be the brightest peanut in the turd but i did get a little shinier.

Thanks pete for your assistance and keeping my spirits high

 

[pamcopete]

ductglue,

Ride. Enjoy. Life is simple.

 

[trappedgas]

I'm having the same issue. Testing 13k at plug terminals. Is it safe to say my coil kicked the bucket?