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  • ignitor unit

    Hey all, I have recently purchased a 1978 xs1100 standard. The PO said everything worked well went it stopped running. PO says he and his buddy traced the problem to the ignitor unit. I was wondering if the ignitor unit from a 1980 and the 1978 are interchangeable.I have found a 1980 for cheap. I am having trouble finding a 1978 cheap though. Any thoughts. Thanks
    "Beware of any man that owns a pig farm"
    "Hence the meaning of the Saying,.. As greedy as a pig"
    79 XS1100 modified standard
    Chain Drive, Monoshock,extendend hand built swingarm, 200 rear
    pod filters,150 mains,45 pilots
    straight pipe 4-2 exhaust
    new to me 05 Kawasaki zxr12r man does she fly
    Owned 83 Honda V65 Magna
    Owned 02 Vstar 650 classic
    owned 85 Honda Shadow VT 700C

  • #2
    TCI boxes are very reliable. I would do some troubleshooting first. Might find out you don't need one.
    When a 10 isn't enough, get a 11. 80g Hardbagger

    Comment


    • #3
      Check out

      http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...ght=TCI+repair

      or go to the search feature and type in "TCI repair"
      if above link does not work

      May find that there are other problems. Would not have a lota faith in others diagnostics, well maybe proms or randys or kens or tcs or.........., but would still check myself.



      mro

      Comment


      • #4
        btw

        welcome to Xsive Land



        mro

        Comment


        • #5
          Thanks for all the replies fellas, and thank you mro for the welcome.
          "Beware of any man that owns a pig farm"
          "Hence the meaning of the Saying,.. As greedy as a pig"
          79 XS1100 modified standard
          Chain Drive, Monoshock,extendend hand built swingarm, 200 rear
          pod filters,150 mains,45 pilots
          straight pipe 4-2 exhaust
          new to me 05 Kawasaki zxr12r man does she fly
          Owned 83 Honda V65 Magna
          Owned 02 Vstar 650 classic
          owned 85 Honda Shadow VT 700C

          Comment


          • #6
            two HEI modules should work as well. I'm doing that right now - I'll have the instructions of what wire goes where when I'm done.

            Dan
            Home of ENIAC

            Kinda like a MANIAC with 2 letters difference & a computer on board

            Comment


            • #7
              Mainlylinux

              Pardon my ignorance, what's a HEI unit? and what's it off?
              It's not a term I've come across before.

              Also

              Would there be any chance of a copy of your megasquirt fuelling map at some time, my collection of FI bits is growing

              TIA

              Neil
              Triking - it's a way of life!

              www.trikenest.co.uk

              Comment


              • #8
                audijunky,

                '78's through '80's will interchange. If you'd like help troubleshooting your TCI, go here:

                Randy's XS page

                Comment


                • #9
                  Hi Trikerneil, HEI stands for High Energy Ignition. It was used extensively by General Motors in the 70's and 80's. Frequently the HEI "Module" is found mounted inside the distributor, easy to remove by unscrewing two bolts. Some other cars had different model HEI's, in different configurations. There is a model of HEI "Module" that allowed a computer to control the timing, and that might allow us to build a cheap and easy replacement for the XJ TCI.

                  Basically the component of HEI that is applicable to us is the "ignition module", which is the part that reads the signal from the pickup coil in the distributor (or from our bike) and it also controls the coil, discharging it and making sure that it doesn't overheat by controlling the dwell current.

                  These modules are cheap ($15.00 in the US) and very easy to obtain. They are also quite sturdy, small, and very easy to hook up. There are 5 actual connections to it (although one of the connections is bascially its chassis), including the ground. On a motorcycle like ours, it would only have to fire 1/4 as often per rpm as it would on a typical V8 engine (once per crank revolution vs four times)

                  Connections:

                  1. Ground
                  2. Power
                  3. To Coil (and tach)
                  4. & 5. connect to the pickup coil.

                  That's it!

                  Since our bikes have 2 pickup coils we need to use 2 modules. They can even be bought at the junkyard (wreckers) cheaply sometimes.

                  Running them on a XS allows you to eliminate the TCI completely, and opens the door to replacing the TCI on the XJ. That's something I'm looking into now.

                  If you have a TCI that works good now and you are happy with it, then stick with that. If you like to experiment, don't have a working TCI, or want a potentially hotter spark then check into something like the HEI.

                  I wanted to replace my coils and I felt I might as well "upgrade" the TCI while I was at it.

                  Dan
                  Home of ENIAC

                  Kinda like a MANIAC with 2 letters difference & a computer on board

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Here is a picture of several types of HEI modules, courtesy of www.megasquirt.info.

                    The one in the top left is the 4 pin model which I am using. The one on the top right is the 7 pin, which might work in conjunction with some other circuits to replace the XJ TCI.

                    Home of ENIAC

                    Kinda like a MANIAC with 2 letters difference & a computer on board

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Hey Dan the TCI replacement man

                      You need to get w/TC and post a Tech Tip on this.
                      The FI would be cool too.



                      mro

                      Comment

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