How old is the battery and where did you buy it?
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Stuck on the side of the highway.
- Thread starter Kathos
- Start date
You should bench charge the battery per the instructions that came with the battery when you bought it. Then take it to the store where you bought it, and have them load test it. The load test will tell if the battery is toast.
The store may have a warranty on the battery. AGM batteries can fail early, and I had a friend that had an AGM battery fail at less than 1 year.
When you get the battery sorted out, you will want to take some voltage measurements, to see if your charging sytem is working correctly.
The store may have a warranty on the battery. AGM batteries can fail early, and I had a friend that had an AGM battery fail at less than 1 year.
When you get the battery sorted out, you will want to take some voltage measurements, to see if your charging sytem is working correctly.
Ghaniba
XS650 Enthusiast
You have a battery problem. If it read 12.11 -- it was near to dead. A good battery should read 12.5 minimum, up to 12.80 -- I bet if this is put on a load tester it dies right out.
For what it's worth, I too suffered with a weak battery from autozone, an AGM as well. Hell, probably the exact same experience I had. You'll bring it in, they'll tell you it's "within spec" and it'll continue to be garbage. With all that said, - Check your charging voltage too. Reving should bring it closer to 14v.
Give your battery a good slow charge - Then LEAVE it alone for a day, then check it's voltage again. When you give a battery a charge -- when you just took it off the charger they'll read higher and settle down. Some... will settle waaay down.... to their demise.
Dave
For what it's worth, I too suffered with a weak battery from autozone, an AGM as well. Hell, probably the exact same experience I had. You'll bring it in, they'll tell you it's "within spec" and it'll continue to be garbage. With all that said, - Check your charging voltage too. Reving should bring it closer to 14v.
Give your battery a good slow charge - Then LEAVE it alone for a day, then check it's voltage again. When you give a battery a charge -- when you just took it off the charger they'll read higher and settle down. Some... will settle waaay down.... to their demise.
Dave
westonboege
XS650 Addict
+1 on what others said.
I bought a battery from mikes... the sealed battery they used to sell. I dont see it listed anymore on the site. Probably because they were junk. hahah...
I ran it for two weeks and then the bike would just lose power... all together the bike would just die for no reason. After a while it would start back up... sometimes dying just for a revolution or so...
Found that the terminals had corroded... in the two weeks i was running it... to the point where i had to file down the terminals to get new metal... Bike ran fine for about 200 more miles and got the same symptoms...
New battery (name brand) fixed it... bike runs better than ever now.. .
Ive always been skeptical about problems caused by the battery until then.. weird shit can happen with anything i suppose...
I bought a battery from mikes... the sealed battery they used to sell. I dont see it listed anymore on the site. Probably because they were junk. hahah...
I ran it for two weeks and then the bike would just lose power... all together the bike would just die for no reason. After a while it would start back up... sometimes dying just for a revolution or so...
Found that the terminals had corroded... in the two weeks i was running it... to the point where i had to file down the terminals to get new metal... Bike ran fine for about 200 more miles and got the same symptoms...
New battery (name brand) fixed it... bike runs better than ever now.. .
Ive always been skeptical about problems caused by the battery until then.. weird shit can happen with anything i suppose...
westonboege
XS650 Addict
Sorry double post...
Okay. Now I'm just not sure. I dumped all the gas out to make sure that wasn't the issue. So it had all new gas.
I charged the battery. Now it reads over 12.3v even with the headlight on. I think the battery was just low yesterday from trying to kick start it for an hour with the headlight on waiting for a tow truck
I checked the pamco per Pete's list and everything checked out except number 3. When I measured between the plug wire terminal and one of the primary terminals. With the gauge set on 200k, 146 came up. So that's like 146,000 ohms but its still not open like the center core was. Does this mean its fried?
The only thing I can still do is go get the battery tested. After that I'm out of ideas
I charged the battery. Now it reads over 12.3v even with the headlight on. I think the battery was just low yesterday from trying to kick start it for an hour with the headlight on waiting for a tow truck
I checked the pamco per Pete's list and everything checked out except number 3. When I measured between the plug wire terminal and one of the primary terminals. With the gauge set on 200k, 146 came up. So that's like 146,000 ohms but its still not open like the center core was. Does this mean its fried?
The only thing I can still do is go get the battery tested. After that I'm out of ideas
pamcopete
Ride.Enjoy.Life is Simple
Kathos,
That 146,000 Ohms is not a good sign. With the very high voltage in the coil secondary, it will burn through that resistance to the primary and then to ground, and / or it may fry the PAMCO along the way. Try again with everything disconnected from the coil so it is "floating". It sounds like you know how to use a meter, but just remember that if your fingers were touching the probes of the meter, that 146,000 is about right for body resistance as well.
Is this a "Green Monster" coil?
That 146,000 Ohms is not a good sign. With the very high voltage in the coil secondary, it will burn through that resistance to the primary and then to ground, and / or it may fry the PAMCO along the way. Try again with everything disconnected from the coil so it is "floating". It sounds like you know how to use a meter, but just remember that if your fingers were touching the probes of the meter, that 146,000 is about right for body resistance as well.
Is this a "Green Monster" coil?
It is a green monster. I did notice that my body was giving me false reading at first. I made sure I double checked and triple checked. The green monster was completely disconnected while testing. That 146 was a floating real reading. Like I said though. All the other measurements were spot on. What do you recommend?
pamcopete
Ride.Enjoy.Life is Simple
Replace the coil with a 17-6903 from MikesXS or other dual output coil with 2.5 to 5 Ohms primary resistance, but not another "Green Monster".
Okay just a couple questions
1 would the resistance that is present between the primary and plug terminal cause my issue?
2 how do I know if the pamco fried?
3 why do you not recommend the green monster? I thought that was the top of the line coil that mike offered.
1 would the resistance that is present between the primary and plug terminal cause my issue?
2 how do I know if the pamco fried?
3 why do you not recommend the green monster? I thought that was the top of the line coil that mike offered.
pamcopete
Ride.Enjoy.Life is Simple
kathos,
1. Yes, it could.
2. When you install the new coil.
3. It was the top of the line until the 17-6903 "Ultimate" coil came along.
1. Yes, it could.
2. When you install the new coil.
3. It was the top of the line until the 17-6903 "Ultimate" coil came along.
So this is getting frustrating. Just to make sure that my ignition was the issue. I pulled the green monster again. The first picture is from yesterday showing 146kohms. Today, I retested the green monster and I could not get anything but correct values!!! Why/how would this happen? I dont know the coil enough to figure out how that possible.
This was from yesterday.
These are from today. These are the correct values that you should see while testing the green monster coil. Note the setting the meter is on in each picture(you may reuse these pictures in the future if needed)
This was from yesterday.
These are from today. These are the correct values that you should see while testing the green monster coil. Note the setting the meter is on in each picture(you may reuse these pictures in the future if needed)
pamcopete
Ride.Enjoy.Life is Simple
Kathos,
The resistance you read before (146,000) was made by a carbon track of fried coil between the secondary and primary of the coil. It's possible for that carbon track to "heal" itself, hence your current reading. I would still recommend that you replace the coil.
The resistance you read before (146,000) was made by a carbon track of fried coil between the secondary and primary of the coil. It's possible for that carbon track to "heal" itself, hence your current reading. I would still recommend that you replace the coil.
So I went ahead and installed my replacement battery and I confirmed that I have spark. I still plan on ordering a new ignition because of that resistance between the terminals but it has to be a different issue if its still not kicking over. I do still have a pretty severe kickback sometimes. And I hear air shoot back out the carbs everyone in a while. I'm starting to lean towards a clogged carb. Any other ideas?
So I jumped back into my bike today. I took apart the carbs and noticed that my pilot jet was completely plugged by that bad gas. The carbs are fairly new so the rest of the carb was spotless. The pilot jets are sitting in carb cleaner for now. If they dont come clean, Im going to buy some new ones. Im going to be installing some inline fuel filters before I start riding it again.
I also retested my high output coil AGAIN. The resistance came back, so Im definitely buying a new coil. Cross my fingers my pamco survived.
I notice I still have spark so Im wondering if my spark just isnt hot enough to ignite my fuel. I guess a new coil will tell.
I also retested my high output coil AGAIN. The resistance came back, so Im definitely buying a new coil. Cross my fingers my pamco survived.
I notice I still have spark so Im wondering if my spark just isnt hot enough to ignite my fuel. I guess a new coil will tell.
pamcopete
Ride.Enjoy.Life is Simple
Kathos,
If you keep on testing with that coil you will eventually fry the PAMCO.
If you keep on testing with that coil you will eventually fry the PAMCO.
So an update. I received my new high output ignition and I made sure the carbs were cleaned. I tried my bike again, I get some pretty good kickback and some firing but it still doesn't want to start up. With the high output ignition, it doesn't matter what wire goes to which terminal and it doesn't matter which plug goes to which wire. I can't seem to get this thing going.
I don't really know what info to give. The battery was replaced.
Sometimes when I kick, smoke comes out the air filter.
When I turned off the ignition, I heard the slight exhaust pop.
I don't really know what info to give. The battery was replaced.
Sometimes when I kick, smoke comes out the air filter.
When I turned off the ignition, I heard the slight exhaust pop.
Last edited:
Another update. I gapped the plugs to see if .035 would help, it did not. I had my dad come down and help me check spark. We noticed that the spark seemed pretty weak. It was a mix between yellow sometimes and blue others. I noticed that when I took the timing cover off, the plugs sparked at the completely wrong time. The timing mark was pretty much vertical! ( pic below)
I then went on to look at the pamco rotor. I noticed the the rotor spun freely. It no long snapped back into place like its supposed to.
So then I looked at the advance unit on the other side (pic below). I immediately found two pieces sitting in the bottom of the chamber (pic below).
One is obviously the retainer that holds on of the arms on. The small pin must be responsible for holding something? I cant tell if it needs re-assembled or if the pin needs replaced. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can chime in. In the mean time, Im gonna search around!
I then went on to look at the pamco rotor. I noticed the the rotor spun freely. It no long snapped back into place like its supposed to.
So then I looked at the advance unit on the other side (pic below). I immediately found two pieces sitting in the bottom of the chamber (pic below).
One is obviously the retainer that holds on of the arms on. The small pin must be responsible for holding something? I cant tell if it needs re-assembled or if the pin needs replaced. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can chime in. In the mean time, Im gonna search around!
