XS CHARGE ignition timing issue

[Caleb Hurst]

Hey everyone! I have been reading forums for a while today and yesterday and it doesn’t seem that my issue has come up on the forums. So here it is.

1981 XS650 I that I just converted to the xscharge PMA and ignition. Bike ran before I did the switch but after months of troubleshooting the charging system it was time to upgrade.

anyway, whenever I went to time my ignition the plate doesn’t turn far enough to align my my mark. It sits roughly a 1/4 to 1/2 an inch to the left of it.

bike will start and run for a few seconds then die. Especially if you try and hit the gas.

I went through the carbs yesterday to make sure that wasn’t contributing to the issue. They seem fine.

thanks everyone!!

- caleb

 

[Caleb Hurst]

I would also like to add that both spark plugs are working i tested them as well

 

[5twins]

How many miles on the bike or more importantly, on the cam chain? If the chain is old and all stretched out, one of the signs is running out of timing plate adjustment.

 

[Caleb Hurst]

When I bought the bike the previous owner destroyed the odometer rig and claimed it had 15000 miles on it. That was a lie it has more I’m just not sure.

I had the engine apart recently and the cam chain was in good condition. I’m not saying it’s not the problem but it ran fine before I put the new ignition on.

thanks 5twins!

 

[Jim]

bike will start and run for a few seconds then die. Especially if you try and hit the gas.

Well that tells us that the timing is close enough for it to run, so timing is probably not your issue... it might need tweaking once it's running right, but close enough for now. I'd suspect a fuel issue.

 

[Caleb Hurst]

I’ll go back through my carbs again and double check everything! See if I can find any issues there

 

[Jim]

Any chance you can give us a video of it starting?

 

[Caleb Hurst]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dnlz4w4g0e820zw/IMG_6004.MOV?dl=0

I couldn't get the video to upload to this site for some reason but if you use that link the video is there.

 

[Caleb Hurst]

This is what my left side cover looks like. where the xscharge plate is.

Also i would like to add that as soon as you take off the choke it dies.

Really does sound like a fuel problem the more i think about it. Which would be much easier to deal with.

 

[5twins]

Kinda sounds like it's only running on one cylinder. When you hit the gas, feed it in very gently. You may need to fool with the choke position and feeding it a little throttle to get it warmed up and running on both cylinders.

 

[Caleb Hurst]

I’ll give that a shot. Any idea on the timing portion. I have it as far as it will go to advance to the right and it’s still not on the mark

 

[5twins]

Like I said, that can indicate a stretched out timing chain. But, what mark are you trying to align with? You said you have a PMA. If you only made one mark and it's for TDC, that's not the right mark for timing. Idle timing is 15° BTDC, so it would be to the left of your mark by about 1/4" to 1/2".

 

[Caleb Hurst]

Oh okay well then that’s great. So I don’t know if you could see it in the video where it was but if I understand you correctly than my idle timing is correct?

 

[Jim]

but if I understand you correctly than my idle timing is correct?

It's correct enough for now, you can fine tune it later. Sounds like only one cylinder to me too. Start it cold and see which header starts gettin' hot. That'll tell you which cylinder isn't running. Like 5t says, feed the throttle in slow and see if you can warm it up. Maybe the dead cyl. will come alive.

 

[2XSive]

On xscharge, for the limited time I ran it, I could not move it far enough either to get the timing accurate. Had to dremmel the screw slot further in order to get it right. This was on a freshly rebuilt motor. I think there are others on this forum posting the same issue if memory serves.

 

[Caleb Hurst]

That’s great to hear. I searched for an hour or so this morning on that topic let me know if you find anything 2XSive

 

[Caleb Hurst]

Also my float was stuck in place. Free’d it up and gas flows smooth. However my T is leaking now. Gonna try Pete’s fix and see how that goes. Other than that all seems to be in order

 

[stinky78]

I bought an ignition from Mikes thinking it would be a Pamco, it was an XScharge, I had the same problem, Did mine on the side of the road in Grand Forks North Dakota, had to walk to auto parts store and buy a file to take half an inch off it, next time I want an ignition I won’t be shopping at Mikes, I’m actually thinking of swapping it out for something else cause I don’t trust it.

 

[2XSive]

What ever you do if running XScharge, don't leave the iggy switch on for long without running the motor. Didn't take long for mine to fry when I accidentally left it on. Had no lights hooked up at the time so I completely messed up. Yeah, I don't have much trust in XScharge even though it was my fault.

 

[Caleb Hurst]

Got the bike idle smooth again! Carb issues haha!! Now back to the timing issue. If you check the link a few posts up you can see where my timing mark is. From what I understand it needs to be 15 degrees to the left of TDC at idle and on the left most mark at 3000 rpm. So my timing is correct on the video? Or at least close? Thanks for the help everyone!