pickup coil wires

[oldnortonrider]

(?) Has anybody ever spliced in new wires to replace the pickup coil flex wires?

[natemoen]

(?) Has anybody ever spliced in new wires to replace the pickup coil flex wires?

Yup, most people use electrical meter leads because they are very flexible. It would be nice if there was a way to get INTO the pickup coil itself to eliminate an actual splice though. Also there is a factory connection about 5 or 6 inches down the line inside the wire loom outside the timing cover where you can just unsolder the original wires and solder in the new ones.

[oldnortonrider]

....ok.......I've spent quite a bit of time, last few days, eyeballin' that loom that goes from the back of the engine timing housing, with lights and mirrors, and whatever else I've access to~~I'm not having any luck spotting that connector that you speak of. I fear that it's gonna be tucked away in a "dang-hard-to-get-to" spot. A good bit of that area is kinda blocked by the headers and the cross-over spot between 1 & 2 cylinders.

I did dis-assemble the connector, and cleaned it up, that's located behind the fuse block, that carries the power from those four wires to the TCI. But knew that somewhere between that connector and timing housing, had to be another type connector (that I absolutely couldn't find), cuz the wires were different at both end locations.

[natemoen]

....ok.......I\'ve spent quite a bit of time, last few days, eyeballin\' that loom that goes from the back of the engine timing housing, with lights and mirrors, and whatever else I\'ve access to~~I\'m not having any luck spotting that connector that you speak of. I fear that it\'s gonna be tucked away in a \"dang-hard-to-get-to\" spot. A good bit of that area is kinda blocked by the headers and the cross-over spot between 1 & 2 cylinders.

I did dis-assemble the connector, and cleaned it up, that\'s located behind the fuse block, that carries the power from those four wires to the TCI. But knew that somewhere between that connector and timing housing, had to be another type connector (that I absolutely couldn\'t find), cuz the wires were different at both end locations.

If you pull off the timing cover you can see the end of the loom down there all you would have to do is just pull the little rubber seal off the loom (once you fut the wires of course) and then you can just push the loom down the wires. The solder joint is all inside the loom you cant see it from the outside. The joint is not that far into the loom from that end.

[XS1100 Newbie]

I am still in the progress of rewinding the pickup coils. I have burnt 1 down, and have the wire size, and the turns required. I am working on the winding machine, and a good way to encapsulate them. I plan on using noodle wire from the rc store for the leads. They also have some better wire i have seen on line. May be next season before i get them made for testing.

[oldnortonrider]

Located the pickup wire solder joint connects

Question: does that neutral indicator wire snake out of that pickup wire loom-housing under the engine? Cuz when I'm without fire, it's to all four cyl, and thinking somehow I've got an off-and-on short between the pickup coil feed to TCI, and the neutral indicator wire??!!? Also, couple days ago, when I did cut and repair a pickup wire (that didn't end up needing repaired), it had a light film of oil between the "flexy" insulation and the multi-strand wire. Was "hour-glassing" when I would do the "pull", because of the oil film (Amsoil synthetic). The wire loom and all contents have gotten very much saturated over the years, from base gasket leak, and recently from a fairly bad leak, from spin-on oil filter adaptor that I installed. Fixed the adaptor leak, finally, after MUCH work to get it leak proof. Final question: (!?) Can that oil, if it had enough black (carbon) in it, cause a "ground" that's giving me my off-and-on short? My short is almost always there, when everything is buttoned up, timing cover on. No short, and have fire (to the plugs, all four) when cover is off, and everything is kinda hangin' loose (most of the time). I'm really not seeming to isolate a break in the pickup wires, at least not close the the timing cover area (or inside). The connects from "flexy" pickup wires to the "other-type" wires, few inches behind timing housing, appear to be in good shape...........................after I got all the oil off of 'em, and did a strong visual analysis..........................

[natemoen]

Yes the neutral indicator does go into that same wire loom.

If it is not working when you have the timing cover tightened down and then it works when its loose I would think that maybe there is a pinched wire at the rubber grommet where the wires leave the timing cover. The oil could certainly help the current arc if there are exposed wires.

Where was your filter adapter leaking from and what did you do to stop the leak? I am fighting a leak from my adapter right now and cant get it figured out. I am thinking mine is just cause I dont have enough room between the nut holding the adapter on and thing filter and its just not possible to tighten the filter enough, but I am not sure.

[natemoen]

If you really wanted to check it good I guess you could pull the whole loom off the bike and make it easier to work with and look at. Its not hard, there is a plug behind the fuse panel and then there are just a 5 or 6 or so little metal tabs that hole the loom to the motor and it loops around the bottom rear of the motor to the left side. I am not sure how the neutral indicator is connected though cause I did not pull that off so that could make it more difficult I guess, but not sure.

[oldnortonrider]

Nate, you've got the SOFA with the oil cooler setup; I've got the one that spins up on the threaded pipe to make it tighter. Each tightens a different way, but I can still probably give you some info that will make it leak-proof.
First; (?)are you using a washer between the nut and adaptor, or no? Sounds like you're not able to reach up with the socket you're using and get enough bite on the nut. You need to get a deep well, thin walled socket, preferably 6 point. You've got to really torque it extremely tight to properly compress that big fat O-ring. This O-ring setup is much nicer than the wimpy O-ring used on the original filter cannister that you're replacing, and this O-ring fits the groove. If you can't get it to stop leaking, I'll give you some more info, as to what I did, but you'll have to remove the adaptor and get a fresh O-ring. I went to a deisel tractor (18 wheeler) hydraulic shop and got several. The current O-ring won't give as good of a seal on re-use because the use of the sealant. Re-install with well lubed new O-ring, just like we used to do with the cannister (no sealant required).

[oldnortonrider]

.....more input on my pulsar wire dilemma?.....

BELOW, is an answer for a member on the UK XS11 site, that I posted.................>>

>>No; it's not an '81 Midnite Special (MNS)~~it's a straight '81 Special~~both 4R0, tho (originally). As told in my above post, ALL that's pertinent to my dilemma was converted to 2H7 by previous owner, prior to my acquiring this machine circa 1994. "2H7...." actually stamped into the pickup coil plate; and also "2H7-10" on the TCI box. Not had any trouble with the conversion, during all this time, that I'm aware of (16 years, thereabouts). Have had to take apart a pickup coil wire (break) and fix, two different times (different wire), about 5 years back. Currently considering splicing new wires (all 4) from close to pickup coils, and running all way, direct
to the TCI, splicing to that 4-way connector at TCI box. (I'm assuming that this will work~?!........unless I'm "missing" something.) And not even have the neutral indicator wire included in the the new sheathing that would house the 4 pickup wires; just allowing the neutral indicator wire to be on its own all way to switch.
..............somebody help me on this; am I missing something?

[natemoen]

I will have to just play around with my adapter and see what I can do. I dont have a socket that fits in the hole for the nut so I do have to use the washer. I have taken about a millimeter off the thickness of the nut and can't go any more.

You should not have to Chang the whole wire to the tci. The super flexible (fragile) wire only goes a few inches outside the timing cover, it the switches to the standard more durable wire.

[3Phase]

The wires that run along the back of the engine and under the shift cover next to the oil pan get hot and the insulation gets brittle, then cracks. It's no problem until they get wet and they all turn into one big happy wire for a while until they dry out.