1982 GS550L lean

[tom203]

"But could the stock rectifier cause my weird ignition issues?"

doubtful, when you checked your charging system, was it between 13.5 and 14.5 volts or so?
Disconnect vacuum sync device and just put/leave it mixture screws out 3 turns, would it idle ok? Or does it still go erratic?

[mizz0313]

That's exactly where the voltage reading were. I will disconnect the gauges set the screws to 3 and give it a go. I started at 3 turns out the first start and the response wasn't the greatest, but thoughts did come up afterwards that's the vacuum sync attachments may no be sealed 100 percent. I guess best thing to try from here would be setting at 3 turns test ride and keep adjusting each in small increments each test ride?

[tom203]

Have some water on standby to throw on exhaust headers so you know they are all hot.

[mizz0313]

Removed vacuum sync and got bike going 3 turns out using choke to warm it up. Got to a point where I adjusted idle knob to get it down to 1000 rpm and it shut off. Exhaust headers temps where roughly (1)-70deg, (2)-100deg, (3)-100deg (4)-70deg, this was using thermo gun and about 15-20 minutes idle. Just to do it I checked for spark and it was still there. I turned in a half turn on mixture screws and started bike and got it to idle decent right around 1100 or so. The response from throttle was okay I just blipped it a few times and it came back down okay ( I do have this on video). As I was putting tank in place I got a backfire out the exhaust so I shut it off, checked plugs just to do it and 1/4 had some fuel sitting on the tips and exhaust was still about to same temps. Waited about 10 minutes before starting again and when I started it rpms sky rocketed. Didn't try to start it again but will tomorrow. wanted to know should I leave the throttle plates where they are after seeing rpms jump so high or should I let it run and see if it comes down considering how decent it ran at idle 2.5 turns out? Decent for maybe 1 minute so it would be hard to say but it didn't shut off on its own. The video shows it idle at 1500 I rev it and it hangs at 2000 and that's when I turn it down to 1000. (Video sound does get lower in the video so have your speaker up)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMLLsqUpGTc

[tom203]

"As I was putting tank in place I got a backfire out the exhaust so I shut it off, checked plugs just to do it and 1/4 had some fuel sitting on the tips and exhaust was still about to same temps. Waited about 10 minutes before starting again and when I started it rpms sky rocketed"

After some coffee, this sounds like ignition issue on 1 and 4... runs a bit, then cuts on for some reason messing up your idle stop setting.The backfire is likely raw fuel because 1 and 4 misfired.
sitting in driveway I would think all exhaust header temps would be real close after 20 minutes of idle.

[mizz0313]

My thoughts also that the backfire was from the raw fuel. Ignition coil wasn't the problem spark plugs were replaced but may need replaced again but idk if plugs would cause this. Should I be looking into the dyna and checking my timing?

[tom203]

The newish dyna shouldn't be an issue...timing starts off good,so that should be ok. This replacement ignition coil on 1 and 4... did it come with its own plug caps or did you reuse your old ones? The resistors in these things can corrode and not let the spark leap the two plug gaps that it has to.

[mizz0313]

It did have new caps but I put my old ones on. After bike shut off first time I checked for spark it was very faint so I put cap that came with it onto cylinder 1 leaving my old one on 4. I did check dyna trying to check my timing and my test light is staying lit at all times so I started checking voltage and wasn't getting a reading on dyna power wire. When I first looked over bike I tested wires at coil connectors and also dyna power and got about 11volts. But when I hooked test light up to dyna it stayed illuminated and when I would get light to go out and fully advance rotor and rotate plate light would come on and stay on and only go off with advance of rotor. When I first installed and directions say light should come on with full rotation of rotor not stay on and go off with full rotation. Once battery got low i stopped getting voltage at dyna and coils all together. Got a voltage reading at my coil mod but not at coils or dyna which is all wired together so I put battery on charge and once full I will load it up and check wires again and dig down to my solders if need be. I may reset dyna completely once I wrap my head around the install again, it's been a few months since I did it so I have to get my process correct again.

[mizz0313]

Battery has fresh charge and I could not get dyna install corrected. For some reason my test light is staying on when it shouldn't compared to first time I installed this it went smoothly. Dyna instructions says if light stays on there's a problem with wiring, im getting 12 volts to all wiring. Weird thing is that after putting battery in and having ignition on to install dyna again I noticed my battery getting low again. I did turn bike on and off a few times during the process but volts got as low 7 volts after reading 12.9 full charge and also completely losing power to ignition system. Battery read 7 volts all ignition wiring read 0 volts, not sure why this is all happening when bike was doing fine no charging issues and no ignition issues. Will go over my wiring again but not sure why ignition completely loses voltage

[tom203]

Maybe there's problem with the coil relay mod, so power is getting to dyna modules/ignition coils with ignition off - draining battery. This would give likely you test light issues too.

I assume you saw this Basscliff link....

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/cbsaunders/gs/upgrade_to_electronic_ignition.pdf

[mizz0313]

Yes I saw that when I first installed but will use it again to get it reinstalled. I do believe it maybe my coil relay mod but thinking it the actual relay. Not too sure but got down to my solders and they all look okay no melting or broken wires anywhere. I did notice that the battery was back up to 10 volts after sitting since yesterday and I did see voltage to coils and dyna but at one point after the key and kill switch was on for about 5 minutes and also checking relay the voltage seemed to go away to my coils and dyna but still had voltage on the power wire at relay but not to switch wire that should send power to the ignition parts. Going to charge battery again I hope it is still good at this point and possibly look into picking up another relay and trying to bench test the on I have for faults. Yea when trying to get the dyna back in place the test light will come on and stay on but it will be at TDC and not fire mark also can't get light out at full advance instead light stays on and only goes out with rotation of rotor when it should be reversed.

[mizz0313]

Hooked battery back up just to check for voltage with key off and it checked out as good. Checked relay voltage with key on killswitch on and voltage was dropping at a very fast rate down to 8 volts after checking battery and that being around 10 volts before hooking back up. Removed relay and battery voltage kept dropping fast with key on. Not sure what that means just yet

[tom203]

Pull the headlight fuse....it's using 5 amps with ignition "on"

[mizz0313]

Okay Tom I'm getting closer. Got the test light and dyna working with each other and time the bike again after screwing it up. One thing I noticed was a dim light on 1/4 side when timing but nice and bright on 2/3 so I started checking voltages at the wires and 2/3 had 12 volts from dyna while 1/4 is only 2.5 volts. Then noticed if I moved the coil wire light would get brighter also volts are at 12, so it lead me up the harness and at the coil connector I had a loose wire which is why 1/4 would only fire sometimes. Going to get that taken care off and get it all back together and give it another go. Hopefully at this time with carbs bench synced and vacuum close enough I can ride it without it bogging like crazy and also stalling.

[mizz0313]

Got it all back together and took it out this morning. it idled good right around 1100, once fully warm i had to turn it down again but from there it pulled nice and drove great. This is at about 2.5 turns out, went on a 10 minute ride getting up in the higher gears and enjoying it. Stopped at parts store it still idled nice did not rise or stall and throttle response was great and came back down fast. Decided to take it to work, got halfway and it stalled on me a few times I'm assuming it got a little hot sitting in traffic but was able to get it started by giving it throttle while holding starter button. After it shut off again I pulled over and checked over everything letting it cool about 5 minutes also turned mixture screws out a quarter of a turn. Bike shut off coming to the next stop but started again and got me to work which was about a mile away and pulled great the whole way but I kept throttle feathered when at a stop scared that it would shut off again. Could it be mixture screws need a little tweaking to keep it from getting hot? Overall I'm more happy with it than I have ever been normally it stalls a lot more and also has a much harder time getting restarted. I'm also still riding with vacuum nipple capped off and petcock in prime should I try reverting it back to stock setup and see what happens? Header temps seemed to be relatively close 2-3 being hotter than 1-4 but within 20 degrees or so.