CDI Help

[fedexguy]

May be a silly question but can someone tell me if the CDI is the coils ? and if not could you tell me where it is located on a 79' XS1100 ! Unfortunetly I do not have my Clymers manual with me at the moment and a mechanic who just returned the bike said he believes the CDI is blown

[andreashweiss]

CDI or as we refer to it TCI is located under seat.Black box either back near fender or under middle of seat. two plugs 2 bolts hold it to bike. approx 1inch by 4inch by 3inch.

[fedexguy]

sorry next question is can these be replaced and where if anywhere can i find 1 ? I've looked on a bunch of sites and they seem to be discontinued any help would be greatly appreciated

Also this may help this is my situation the bike starts and runs great ( Finally ) that is until it I shut it off then it may or may not decide to start again it seems if I let it sit for a few minutes after it is turned off it wont start again but if i turn it off then try and restart it it will fire !! But I have not ridden it very far or for a long period of time anyone have any ideas ? like i stated before the mechanic we took it too believes the CDi or TCI is the culprit !

[PJSALERNO]

Go to Classified Ads on this site, Parts for Sale 1979

Home | Parts for Sale | 79 XS1100F Standard parts (US &Cdn) Select A Category Bike Wanted Bikes for Sale General Merchandise Parts Wanted Parts for Sale XS-XJ Miscellaneous Stuff
Num Date Posted Ad Subject Country Price Location Photo
1 18-May-2005 XS1100 e,f,g standard parts for sale USA Prices listed with each item Osoyoos Canada - British Columbia ---


TCI 78-80 $45.00.

[randy]

fedexguy,

I've seen this symptom before and it was the TCI. Cold solder joints can do that. If I were you, I'd also clean all of the connections in the ignition circuits.

If you want the TCI checked out / fixed you can send it to me. It's a 2-week process there and back within the US.

Randy Rago
15-03 132nd Street
College Point, NY 11356

[TopCatGr58]

Hey FedexGuy,

Watch Ebay, there are usually a TCI on there once a week, just be sure to get the correct year style, 2H7 vs. 4RO(81), and 10M(82XJ).

If you're not good with solder and stuff, then send it to RANDY, he's the resident electronics GURU and has repaired many TCI's for users!! He knows his stuff!
T.C.

[andreashweiss]

You should try and swap TCI unit with another xs1100 if you know of one near by. It may not be the problem. Better to buy the part you need. If you have the same problem by switching to a known good box its the box. If not you can keep at it until you find the cause. Be patient and try not to get frustrated nothing will feel better when you finally get it to run right.

[Buckb]

Hello, where are you located? I have three spares in my shop if you are closer byand want to verfiy that the CDI is working or not.

[PJSALERNO]

Currently on Ebay for $5.51

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=35594

[fedexguy]

Thanks everyone for all your helpful advice !! I got a TCI off Ebay last night hopefully it will arrive soon as I'm hoping this will be the fix !! We've put a lot of time and effort into getting it running right and when it runs it runs great !! Problem is it will only run for a short time before it starts backfiring then dies ! And once its dead it is dead for quite a few hours before itll restart ! Also the 2nd and 3rd exhaust pipes where cold to the touch after running it about tens minutes last time but when it refired they where hot !! Unfortunetly I'm no mechanic and lack the proper tools in most cases but you all have been a great help and it is much appreciated thanks once again for everything !!!

[TopCatGr58]

Hey FEDEXGUY,

Well, now you're talking and giving us more detail as to how it has misbehaved.....could be TCI, but could also be pickup coils wires, and could also be main ignition coils since cylinders #2-3 are affected, this is the electrically linked pair. Don't throw your old one away, send it to RANDY, let him diagnose it, and if it has a bad resistor or such, he can fix it and then you'll have a spare!!!
T.C.

[fedexguy]

Well this was only discovered today when my dad took it for a ride ( obviously making me, the person writing all this his son ) Neither of us are mechanics but I've had some experience with cars so he has forced me into a life of slavery fixing his bike !!

HaHa ok all kidding aside it misbehaves so much ( well ok not that much ) its hard to remember all it does but lemme try !

On occasion it has backfired so loud it'll make your ears ring, he told me today when he rode it it ran great for about 5-10 mins then started backfiring and then died that is when he noticed the 2 pipes where cold it wasnt too far from the house but i knew it wouldnt start again so we left it and i went and picked it up later and when i got home the 2 pipes where hot. I turned the bike off and just to check i refired it again and it started right back up,,, turned it off and went out 20 mins later and nothing just cranks and cranks but wont fire at all not even a sputter. It usually takes about 3 hours or so before itll refire but then it does the same thing !

Someone at one time or another re-wired the fuse box and put inline fusible links in with scotch tape ( yeah scotch tape LOL ) I fixed that but noticed today also that there are only 3 inline fuses and theres 1 red wire and 1 red&yellow wire that are wired together w/o a fuse between them !! I think if my father will allow me to which i'm sure he will I will rewire it as shown on Randys page with the blade fuses ( loks a lot nicer that way !! ) Think the two wires spliced together could be the culprit or a problem ?

As far as I can remember that is about all the problems where having right now !!

[Pat Kelly]

When I 1st got my 78 running it would run perfect for about a quarter mile then barely llimp home.
It was the tiny vent hole in the gas cap was rusted shut.
If when gas flowing to the carbs finally makes a vacuum in the tank and gas stops flowing, it may starve one petcock before the other (2 cold pipes).
Next time it dies open the gas cap and listen for a 'whoosh' of air and see if it restarts.

[fedexguy]

Sorry a little bit of mis-information the red wire i thought was spliced into the red&yellow wire is actually a tan wire with a small piece of red wire connected to the red&yellow wire but either way there is no fuse betwwen them just a solid connection

[TopCatGr58]

I'm surprised Randy hasn't chimed in again!?

With it cutting out after 10-15 minutes, sounds like a heat expansion problem of an electronic part, like a cracked resistor, runs when cool, but once enough electricity is run thru it, it heats up and expands to the point of no contact=dead circuit. There is only 1 ballast resistor, and it feeds both coils, so that's ruled out!

Pat, being cyl's 2-3, that sorta rules out fuel, cause the petcocks feed pairs 1-2 and 3-4!

Okay, check your coils primary resistance when cold, then run the bike until it dies, then retest, you may find an open circuit? Or.. you could switch the triggering wires to the coils from the TCI, and also switch the wires, cause you'll be making coil handling 1-4 now handling 2-3, and vice versa, and then IF the same cylinders are still cold, then you've eliminated the coils and have it most likely narrowed to the TCI. But if the cold cylinders are now 1-4, then it indicates a bad ig.coil! If you've got a low temp fine tip soldering iron, you could also try resoldering/resweating the joints where the TCI connects to the out pins!?

With it running great for 10-15 minutes kinda rules out the pickup coil wires, they would act up essentially from startup, and wouldn't necessarily keep you from starting it again.
T.C.