Pamco / Mikes Fail.

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radke

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So last month bought a Pamco w/ E-Advancer/Ignition Coil from Mikes (14-0907) for my 81. Install went perfectly, no problems. Took it on a 1600 mile ride and it performed flawlessly for the first 1590 miles. It started misfiring and crapped-out soon there after, no spark. I tried everything that's suggested here. Tested and even tried a replacement coil, checked my voltage on the terminals, new plugs/wires, redid all my connections and tested them for continuity, checked my ground, checked for shorts... still no spark.

...so I emailed Mikes customer service and got a one line reply a few days later, "Sorry, there is no warranty on electrical parts."I also emailed and messaged Pete but he never responded... :wtf:

Pete's site says that his systems comes with a two year warranty but I'm guessing that's only if you buy though his site (yamahaxs650.com) and not Mike's.

If that's the case I thought it was worth posting about it here. Hopefully this might help someone save $95.95 on a replacement advancer... If you're thinking about buying anything electrical avoid buying it from MikesXS if you can.
 
Mikes is a distributor for Pamco, and Pete is a busy guy. He will respond in time. Just don't bombard him from 5 different directions. Stick to just and /e-mail, or just a PM through this site.
 
Pete's warranty is two years no matter where you buy it. When did you message Pete? He's a One person operation. It may take a few days for him to reply.
Ok can you list the voltages on the red wire to the e-advancer? Red wire between the E-advancer and sensor plate?
Leo
 
Awesome, thanks for the info Jd & Leo! I emailed Pete over a week ago and messaged him here the other day. You would think Mikes customer service would have mentioned that warranty... When I pressed them they just responded back with:

"Unfortunately we specifically have a check off box when ordering about electrical parts and the understanding that they are not replaceable as many installation error and or shorting out the products cannot be covered by warrantee, that is why there is that box. While we do appreciate your business, it's a policy we have to follow."

Leo, I get
between e-advansor / plate: 5.04 red and 0 green
between coil / e-advansor: 11.6 red and 11.6 green

Thanks for your help!
 
I agree radke. Mikes could have mentioned it was warrantied through the manufacturer.
As long as Pete and Mike have had a business relationship I'm sure they are aware of it.
Total lack of concern on Mikes part.
 
The green wire voltage doesn't really mean much. The green wire is the ground for the coil. It only has voltage when the transistor is off. When on the green wire is at ground.
The 5 volts between the e-advancer and sensor plate is right. There is a 5 volt regulator on the e-advancer. the sensor plate doesn't need much voltage. The 5 volts is sent to the hall effect transistor on the sensor plate. As the magnets in the rotor pass the transistor they turn the transistor on or off. When on the 5 volts travels back to the e-advancer to tell the e-advancer when to fire.
Pete had a few bad regulators. Yours is ok.
The 11.6 on the red wire, is that the same as your battery voltage?
With the key on check the battery voltage at the battery and red wire. If more than .2 or .3 volts lower at the red wire you have a weak connection somewhere between the battery and Pamco.
I'll try to contact Pete with these readings also.
Leo
 
radke and XSLeo,

Sorry I wasn't here but XSLeo has a good handle on the problem. If you have the original copper cap advancer substitute then check to see if it has rotated. There is an improved aluminium version available.

Your voltages look OK as XSLeo has said. The later versions of the product now feed 12 Volts to the sensor plate to avoid exposure of the 5 Volt regulator to outside influences, such as a miswire or short, but yours is the original so 5 Volts on the red wire to the sensor plate is correct.

The product does have a 2 year warranty and we are fairly liberal with that as well. I can understand MIkesXS policy as well because it is so easy to damage an electrical part but also so difficult to see the damage. Our warranty is limited to the PAMCO itself and does not cover the coil, caps, wires etc.

So, just hang in there and we will get you back on the road.
 
xsleo and pamco pete do it again! i just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to do this sort of stuff. I'm glad you guys are around!
 
Awesome, thanks for the help guys. The difference between the battery / pamco is .3 volts. I have one of the newer aluminum advancers, checked it and it looks good (not rotated).

I also opened her up and everything looked fine at first glance but when I looked closer I noticed that one of the components has a tiny stress fracture. Photo attached. I tested across the fracture with my meter and didn't get and resistance so this might not be the issue. maybe?

pamco2.jpg
 
It would be best to have PamcoPete and XSleo comment on this.

If it were me, and there was no warranty coverage, I would resolder the 'open' holes on the components found between that large transistor and the socketed IC, especially that leg on the smaller TO-92 transistor. Then would carefully nudge the socketed IC up about 0.050"-0.100", then reseat it, freshening the socket connections...
 
Sorry, poorly phrased, zero resistance from the base of the gb14c40l to the board. It seems that even though it's cracked the ends are pressed tight enough together the connection is working. The crack is right at the tip of the red arrow, just at the bend.
 
Yep, I'm going to give that a try tomorrow but I don't think it's the problem since I have no resistance. I think it might be a symptom of that component overheating, I've seen cracks like this at stress points when components get too hot. Thinking that maybe that gb14c40l is cooked? Really though, that's just my best guess.
 

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