Coil pack help

[Partscaster62]

I have a '79 XS1100SF. I followed the instructions on the "new wires in old coil" post and rewired the pack for the 1&4 cylinders. It all looks good, but when I test the ohms on the secondary resistance I still get 1. (Primary resistance - I'm getting 1.7K; secondary should be around 15K +or- 10%). I'm stuck. These coils are almost non-existent anymore. Any ideas? Thanks

[motoman]

I have a '79 XS1100SF. I followed the instructions on the "new wires in old coil" post and rewired the pack for the 1&4 cylinders. It all looks good, but when I test the ohms on the secondary resistance I still get 1. (Primary resistance - I'm getting 1.7K; secondary should be around 15K +or- 10%). I'm stuck. These coils are almost non-existent anymore. Any ideas? Thanks

Internally, having epoxy, they are likely getting fractures in the epoxy from heating/cooling cycles over the years causing resistance loss. Either new Accell or other aftermarket coils are needed. In my case several yrs. back, my Venturer 3ohm coils were failing to a point of 1.4ohms. I replaced them with a set of Honda VFR coils. This also gave me my choice of spark plug wires as they are attached separately. I opted for 5ft. of 7mm high temp steel braided wire core plug wire cut to 4 specific lengths. Also, the VFR coils ohms are not marked as such externally, so having my meter with me to check different ones was necessary. I might add that Honda coils, even being older ones are NOT notorious for any type of failure...JAT. They also bolt to frame in identical position and use identical bolt mount positions. In order to keep the same harness plug-in assembly, I unsoldered the plug-ins from original coils and resoldered them to the VFR coils and used a piece of small shrink tubing covering the connections at the coils. Secondary ignition has worked perfectly since. Some Honda VFR coils are also 1.5ohm, which is what is needed in your bikes case if it's the one you have listed(78-80 uses 1.5ohm coils)

[TopCatGr58]

You don't have to use the 1.5 ohms coils! Just bypass the ballast resistor so it sends 12V to the coils all the time, and the TCI will still see a total of 3 ohms vs. the 1.5 ohm ballast resistor and the 1.5 ohm coil.

T.C.