Pick up coil issue?

[Radioguylogs]

Yes. I never left.

Your post yesterday just stopped in the middle of a word in the middle of an incomplete sentence. Seemed like you had a heart attack or something. Glad to see you are OK and love the picture.

[shopteach]

Alright I have an update. Sorry it's been so long. I seem to get to work on this for a couple of days and then get busy for a week or so. I got a new pickup coil on eBay, was brand new in a Yamaha bag so seemed legit. I checked the resistance and it was within spec. I still do not have spark on cylinders 1 & 4. I am losing my mind here. In my mind it has to either be the black box (TCI) or a wiring feeding something wrong. Can you get the black box tested? I have been using this wiring diagram for a 1979 xs1100 special. Is this what I should be using?
Here is the wiring. I am going to clean this up when I get it running right, but I kind of need it to check stuff.
I have the resistor wires looped together. Is this the way to run it or is there a better way?
I am at a loss here guys. I need some help. Where do I go from here?

[shopteach]

Any experts in North Idaho Eastern Washington, Western Montana that can take a peek at it?

[DiverRay]

I'm in the Boise area, and am unable to travel due to family issues. What is the number on your igniter unit? I do have one or two here, for the older bikes. I could send one out to you and you can see if it works with a different unit.

[DEEBS11]

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[DEEBS11]

Another comment, those coils are mounted incorrectly. The high tension wires need to face down (when using a stock gas tank). This is how I mounted mine.

[DEEBS11]

https://xs11.club/forum/repairs/battery-electrical-aa/5036-dyna-coil-upgrade

[shopteach]

DiverRay, that would be awesome. My ignition unit says Type TID14-01 as well as 2H7-10. Does that sound right for a 1979 XS1100 special?

DEEBS11, I do not have a factory tank. It is a modified Harley tank. Do I still have to mount it like your description? Does that mounting way aid in its performance? Or is the way I have it fine for my tank?



I didn't have enough time to check the voltage where you suggested last night. I will try and get to that this week. Great pictures though. Thank you so much. I'll report back when I get a chance to test.

[DiverRay]

The mount change makes for a cleaner looking install. That is the way I've mounted my coils, with a small "L" bracket.
PM me your address and I'll try to get the box off today for you.

[shopteach]

DEEBS11- When you showed the picture of the wiring diagram, and you said to "check the orange wire to the igniter" do you mean to check for continuity? Or did you mean something else? Or what did you mean by that?

[DiverRay]

Yes, check the orange wire between the coil and the igniter. There should be no more than 1 or 2 Ohms resistance.
Box will be in the mail today for you.

[shopteach]

I got to check the wires tonight. the R/W wire had 11.47v with the battery at 12.47v. I have the orange wire hooked up to the lead closest to where the plug wires come out and the R/W wire on the opposite side. On the other coil I have the grey wire hooked up to the lead closest to where the plug wires come out and the R/W wire on the opposite side. Is this correct? I figured it didn't matter which side those wires were hooked up to.



I checked the orange wire for ohms. I'm not sure if I am doing it correctly or not. This is how I had it on my multimeter:

With it hooked up this way it went from OL jumped some numbers and then went to 0. I did this for all of the ohms positions and basically did the same thing. I turned it to the continuity "beep" position and it would beep showing continuity.

[DEEBS11]

Shopteach, you can't measure components while they are "In Circuit". This is why you are possibly getting unusual readings. You must first disconnect the orange wire from the coil. Then measure the resistance (meter set to the lowest scale "2K") between the two coil terminal screws. It should be around 3 ohms indicating a good coil. If it reads infinity ("OL") the coil is bad.

Next, put one meter lead on the disconnected orange wire near the coil and the other lead back at the igniter box orange wire at it's connector. That should also read just a few ohms. If it's infinity (which is "open" - no continuity) you have a orange wire connection problem.

[skids]

I heard that the wires that come from the pick-up coils run through a sheath to the black box, and within the sheath there is a splice that can short to another. I never had mine apart to check ir. I was having issues with mine when I rode through rain or washed the bike. There is a connector behind the fuse panel (mine is a 78) where low voltage wires are too close to higher voltage, causing shorting. There is a wiring mod to fix it and I haven't had issues since. If this is the issue, when wet it runs fine in neutral but only on two cyls when in gear. I can send you the copied threads if I get your email, but it is too lengthy to post here.