Timing Mark Way Too Far Counterclockwise

[Angry Rabbit]

Hey guys (and gals)-I just installed a Pamco unit and the bike fires up, although the idle is kind of high. It's got pod filters and straight pipes, so I know I need some tuning. Strange thing is, when I use the timing light the reference point is way too far counterclockwise. I've rotated the Pamco plate left and right, and I can't seem to get the timing mark down around the 5PM position. If I rev the engine, the timing mark turns clockwise with the strobe, but it never goes far enough.

Any clues? It's my first time with a timing light, so obviously I don't know what I'm doing....Thanks, Cranky Bunny (Portland, Oregon)

 

[pamcopete]

Cranky,

1. What year / model is your bike?
2. Are you using a timing light with built in preset degrees?
3. Have you tried connecting the timing light to the other plug?
4. If you have a 80's bike, did you install all three of the locating pins?
5. Have you seen this video to check that your advance rod is not binding?

 

[Angry Rabbit]

Cranky,

1. What year / model is your bike?
2. Are you using a timing light with built in preset degrees?
3. Have you tried connecting the timing light to the other plug?
4. If you have a 80's bike, did you install all three of the locating pins?
5. Have you seen this video to check that your advance rod is not binding?

Thanks for getting back to me so quick. My bike is an 83 and my TCI unit had failed. I had gotten my pamco kit from MikesXS, with the high output coil. I didn't need to install the locating pins since they came already installed. I knew I had the right plug with my timing light because it went nuts when I hooked it up to the other wire. I finally managed to get the timing right by sanding down the advance rod so it turned a bit easier. I thought I had already gotten it to "snap" as the video shows, but I guess I didn't get it enough.
Have you ever thought of trying to come up with something a little easier to test on the advance rod? The snap test didn't quite work for me.

thanks again, CB

 

[pamcopete]

Cranky Bunny,

There are THREE locating pins. Two of them come on the advance rod, the third one has to be installed when you install the advance mechanism. Here is a picture from the installation instructions on www.yamahaxs650.com

 

[hotdog]

Time the engine on the no#1 cylinder, that's the l.h. side as you sit on the bike.

 

[pamcopete]

Time the engine on the no#1 cylinder, that's the l.h. side as you sit on the bike.

The dual output coil produces a positive voltage on one of the plug wires and a negative on the other. The timing light works best on the negative wire, but there is no easy way to tell which is the negative wire, so you could have an erratic timing light on either cylinder.

If you find that the left side is erratic and the timing light works best on the right side, then you can swap the plug wires to put the good, negative wire on the left side for convenience, but in fact you can use whichever cylinder works best for you because both cylinders spark at the same time.

 

[Angry Rabbit]

I went back and checked again for the locations of the 3 pins. As I remembered, the 2 on the advance rod were already installed before they came from MikesXS. In addition, the pin on the camshaft was already installed; the advance unit aligns with it perfectly.

Do you think it's possible the camshaft on my 83 came from the factory set up for an advance unit? It's the only thing I can think of at this time. As I mentioned before, the timing if fine right now. I can only assume the advance rod was just a bit too tight when I was having the problems earlier. thanks for all the help, CB