One Cylinder from each Coil Shutting Down!?

[Phaseman]

Hey Gang,
At first glance I thought that 02BLknBLU's thread was gonna answer my question. I think that I have a different problem though.

My bike had been running very well with the exception of some charging issues. Some trouble shooting led me to installing one of duaneages combo R&R units. That solved my charging issues and the bike ran great for a couple of days.

Yesterday as I was cruising around town, my cyl's 2 and 3 shut down on me. After a short time they fired back up. This issue continued intermittently until I got the bike home.

I believe that cyl's 2 and 3 run on separate coils, so it seems unlikely that it is a coil problem to me.

Any ideas?

[sk843143]

actualy cyl 2 n 3 run on the same coil.....

[hampshirehog]

Yep, 2 & 3 share the same electrics. Points, capacitor and coil need looking at by the sound of things.

[Phaseman]

&%$#

Dang! I did NOT want to hear THAT! Put in a used Martek 440 last summer and it had been working fine...

[tkent02]

Check for good clean connections on both the power and grounds. Likely it's NOT a failed component.

[SqDancerLynn1]

Something is heating up and failing Could be the coil or the ign pickups, Check the wiring first..

[Phaseman]

Thanks Everyone,
looks like my rainy day Saturday project is all set now. That darn skunk tank cost me sooo much to get un-dented, painted and sealed, I hate to ever touch the thing.

I haven't looked yet but I presume that my shop manual has trouble shooting tips for the coils.

[Nessism]

First thing is check for voltage at both coils, should be somewhere near battery voltage. If less than say 10.5 volts, it's time for the relay coil mod (check basscliff's site if you don't know what that is).

[BassCliff]

I haven't looked yet but I presume that my shop manual has trouble shooting tips for the coils.

Hi,

In addition to your manual, I've collected some tips from the gurus here:

Ignitor/Signal Generator/Coil Test

Testing The Ignition System


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[hikermikem]

Could be the 2/3 coil gets hot & then shorts out until it cools down a bit, then works until it heats up again - that would explain the intermittent spark... Chasing down intermittent electrical issues can be a pain, so make sure all the basics are covered (clean grounds, solid connections, etec...)

Like the others have said, check all connections. Are these stock coils? How are the plug caps? Good idea to replace them with some NGK ones to preclude issues with them.

Good luck