Pamco ignition quit.

bassgoat1979

bassgoat1979

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I got the pamco ignition with the green high output coil a week ago as a kit from mikesxs and it was working fine for a about 50 miles.When I pulled in the drive yesterday and quit like I shut the key off. Luckily I was home or it would have really sucked. I check the ignition with a inline tester and the spark was really weak from both sides. I used my clamps with a new plug that clamps it to a ground to check the spark, and on the spark plug there is no visable spark either side. I have it all grounded correctly to the frame. All connections are soldered. I never had the wire unhooked when starting or running either. I know mike's won't take care of it, I've had trouble in the past and he just get's pissed at me. I have no idea why I bought from him again.

I see a lot of people are having trouble with them, did I make a mistake getting this setup? I really don't want to be 100 miles from home and have the bike's ignition take a shit. I hope it's the coil, I did read they are made so cheap that if a wire come loose it destroys itself.

I checked the wires to make sure boots and terminal for the coil were good. And they are.
 
Last edited:
bassgoat1979,

1. Measure the resistance of the primary. Should be 3.5 Ohms.
2. Measure the resistance from plug cap to plug cap. With 5K caps, should be 23K Ohms.
3. Measure the resistance from the primary to the secondary and from both primary and secondary to the center frame of the coil. Should be infinity.
4 Do this procedure to test the PAMCO without having to run the engine:

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.
 
The pamco seems fine, if I spin it you can't see a spark on the plug, but the spark checker shows a weak spark at evey pass. The coil primary (controle terminal to the 12 volt fused feed) show risitance but drop quicly to zero ohms quick. The wires check from the coil end to the boots 4.99 ohms. (I thought that is how they were suppose to be.) They are new xs performance wires with new 5 ohm boots. So it does look to be a coil issue. This thing is brand new! There is no warrenty on these is there? If I get a new one I will be going with a stock 80's and up coil instead.

I am running batteryless, but for the testing I did have a battery hooked up. Even without it at kick batteryless is producing over 11 volt with the ignition on.
 
bassgoat...,

Well, your readings have me confused. In order to measure the primary resistance, you have to unhook at least one of the wires to the coil. The green coil has a primary resistance of 3.5 Ohms. You will need to use the lowest range on the meter, probably 200 Ohms.

For the secondary, the resistance should be about 23 K ohms. That's 23,000 Ohms from one plug cap to the other.

The PAMCO will work with any dual output coil with a primary resistance of 2.5 to 4.5 Ohms. It will not work with a CDI ignition coil which has a much lower primary resistance like less than an Ohm. A CDI coil with a low primary resistance will instantly fry the PAMCO, so be sure to measure the primary resistance of the coil before wiring it into the circuit.

A lot of meters have trouble measuring a low resistance. I would suggest that you go to Radio Shack and buy a couple of 10 Ohm resistors, twist them in parallel and measure the resistance. It should be 5 Ohms. This will serve to test your meter for low ohms and also verify that you have selected the correct range, etc.
 
Okay, got it 200 and tested the boots toghether and it is 25 ohms.

What is green coil?

I got two screws and it said nothing which wire to witch posts. I tested the red to the green, isn't that the primary test? If so it is 3.5 ohms on the 200 setting.

Either one of terminals to ground just keeps climbing in ohms.

My lowest setting on the meter is 20k
 
bassgoat,

Well, those numbers sound OK. What voltage are you getting at the coil with the ignition turned on? Remember that the coil only conducts for 60 degrees at a time, so you may have to rotate the rotor until the coil is on to get an accurate reading.

Rotate the rotor with the meter connected to the red wire and see if the voltage drops just before the plug fires.
 
When I was kicking like I said it would go down to about 10 or 11 volt. With a 1.5 amp charging hooked up it goes from 13.5 volt to about 9.5 volt when the plug is suppose to fire. I also tried to kick it too with the charger, no help, just hight voltage when the coil goes.

I kick started it like 20 times or more fine at first. Also when I kick with headlight on it comes on, so there power being produced.
 
Sundie said:
Also measure your leads and remember to subtract that. Your leads are probably 3 to 5 ohms by themselves.
Click to expand...

Well, I think that the compensation for the meter leads is more like 0.3 to 0.5 Ohms. I have several meters and that is the reading that I get when I touch the leads together.
 
Can these pamco's be used as just a pickup coil for a CDI ignition box, like off a yamaha banshee? I'm about to just get the points back on it and fight them and get it running right. At least they never went bad. I just can't believe there is already a problem with the ignition.
 
So it looks like it's the Pamco since the coil tests good? If so how does the 1 year warrenty work. If I have to deal with mikesxs I'm sure I won;t even get a reply, and the won't give out the phone number.
 
bassgoat....,

Well, it could be the PAMCO but it could also be just a case of bad plugs. Have you tried new plugs?

If so, then PM me your address and I will send a new unit to you. Your Ohm readings for the coil seem OK, and the PAMCO is covered by warranty.
 
Last edited:
marv..........,

1. Measure the resistance of the primary. Should be 3.5 Ohms.
2. Measure the resistance from plug cap to plug cap. With 5K caps, should be 23K Ohms.
3. Measure the resistance from the primary to the secondary and from both primary and secondary to the center frame of the coil. Should be infinity.
4 Do this procedure to test the PAMCO without having to run the engine:

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.
 

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