1982 gs550l maybe a bad coil...

[Defore]

I installed a few months ago a dyna s ignition system. Well now my right coil is really worm so i checked the connection and the positive from the orange wire that powers the coil is running threw the coil and coming out the negative on my right side coil...but it still firs on all 4 cylinders. Its arching when I plug the ground from the coil into the ground black wire from the dyna s. My question is is my coil bad and will this harm my dyna s ignition? Also why should i run a relay with this system? I saw it on bikecliffs website.
thanks in advance.

[tom203]

Is this when bike ain't running, but ignition is on? If so, sounds normal to me. The relay modification is to ensure the coils and ignition get a nice strong 12 volts- the stock wiring takes a long path, so you get a voltage drop. Do a search, lots of info on this topic.

[Defore]

This is just when its turned on. So i should get 12v running threw both wires coming from one coil? That's not right. The white and black wires from the dyna s are grounded to the frame.

[tom203]

This is just when its turned on. So i should get 12v running threw both wires coming from one coil? That's not right. The white and black wires from the dyna s are grounded to the frame.

The coil is just a long run of wire-put 12 volts on one end, it will travel down this length of wire and if it can find a ground (in your case thru dyna) will heat up. Imagine if you had contact points instead - if one set of points was closed, then the coil connected to that point set would heat up. Remember, it's the breaking of this connection to ground that causes the secondary circuit of coil to fire plugs.

[Defore]

So is my coil bad?

[mike_of_bbg]

I don't think so. If the coil is not being grounded by the Dyna, then if you hook a voltmeter from the (-) coil lead to ground, you will complete the circuit. Almost all of the voltage drop will be across the meter, as it's impedance is much, much higher than the coil primary (think like 1,000,000 ohms to 3 ohms). So, no, I don't think your coil is bad. If you turn your crank about 1/2 turn that symptom will probably move to the other coil; you may need to do that twice.

The coils are designed to be energized about 1/2 the time. So it's not a good idea to leave the ignition on without the motor running, as you can burn out a coil if they get too hot (when the bike is running they get a "rest" after they fire).

Anyway, is there a problem you're trying to solve? Is the bike not firing correctly?

[Defore]

No its firing fine I just didn't want to burn up anything and or this dyna s!