A step away from Wit's End......

[Arie]

old plug wires can go bad. they can be checked for electrical resistance and if not normal should be replaced.

as for the electrocution part, um well, I don't recommend it. :-D

I venture to say its bad wires or connections or both

by now, with all my electrical problems, lets just say I'm speaking from a F&^$%% of a lot more experience than I want to admit to

[Rocketman]

Thanks again. Maybe tomorrow is a good day to pull the tank and see what is going on under there with rusted or loose connections, etc. As far as electrical resistence, I'm told the wires and caps are part of the coils and really can't be replaced separately, only as a complete set with new coils, so I'm not sure I'm ready for that just yet.

[jimcor]

You can replace the spark plug cap connector just by literally unscrewing it from the plug wire. New NGK caps of the proper resistance (5K ohms) are available from Dennis Kirk for about $3-4 bucks a piece. If yours are the original 1982 plug caps I'd change them, and trim maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch of wire so the new connectors have a 'fresh' area to screw into.

www.denniskirk.com

[snowbeard]

second on just pulling the hoses on the petcock and gingerly setting it down on a ledge so as not to ding the petcock on anything.

while you're pulling hoses, check the vacuum for gas!

so you said you've got dyna, is that the coils or the black box? I can dig up the voltmeter readings of stock coils if you can't find them in a search, billy ricks has posted them many times.

I had to replace the ignition box (black box, brain, etc) on my 850, it made a world of difference. it would just die intermittantly.

[Clone]

Ok, I am going to be the bad guy, maybe the mechanic didn't really do all that good a job of cleaning the carbs. If there is spark on all the cylinders, and I am talking pull a plug while it is running and getting an AW FRICKME:shock: , zap, not just a zip-yes there is some electricity there. (this would suggest coils or wires, even old plugs have intermittent problems). But if there is ELECTRICITY there, then the other target is the idle circuit. Maybe the idle circuit is not clean and shuts off two of the carbs at idle. But when you open the throttle the mains cut in and you get your power. This would also lend to your lean condition.

[Rocketman]

Great advice from all, and here's the plan. Today I'm pulling off the tank. Tomorrow I'm ordering brand new stock coils with plug caps & wires. I'm gonna spray the intake boots up today to make 10000% sure I have no intake leaks. As for the carbs, I can't rebuild the whole thing, but I'm going to pull off the bowls off carb #1 & #2, and spray the hell out of the inside with carb cleaner, and hopefully if there is some microscopic crap plugging up a jet I can get to it this way. Hopefully the idle circuit is down there too. As far as the Dyna S goes, the mechanic left inside the side cover the little black box that has 7 wires coming out of it which junctions with a white plastic plug, plus one black wire separate from that bunch, which joins with a male/female adapter in a clear plastic cover. He said the new Dyna replaces this black box, although 4 new Dyna wires replacing 7 old black box concerns me, and why was the old box left inside still connected..another mystery. ANyway that's the plan. And I'll let you all know what I find.

[ikazuki]

rocket, read your sparkplugs before the 20 minutes and after. they should give you an indication as to what is happening in your combustion chamber both electrically and fuel wise.

do you have a clymer manual? it gives you proper voltages and ohm readings for your electrical gear. also a wiring diagram for your bike.ikazuki

[Rocketman]

Got the book, but archived notes on this site are much better than any book. Tank is now off; as is air box, carbs & coils. Will be ordering new OEM coils, plug wires, boots & caps tomorrow to eliminate all doubt. Already have new Dyna S installed. Will update when new coils are installed. How the hell I can clean out a potentially clogged jet in either carb #1 or 2 is yet to be determined. Easy to get four screws holding bowl on bottom of carb. Top four screws ain't coming off without dynomite. Do you know if I can get to the idle jet from the bottom near the bowl or not??

[chef1366]

Blow carb cleaner into your main jet with the pilot jet rubber cap on and then with it off. Also use air if you have it. Check float adjustment while the carbs are out. If you have the carbs off and some time on your hands, buy a berrymans carb dip and some o-rings from Robert Barr and do the carbs yourself and you'll have no questions about the carbs being clean or not.

[Joe Nardy]

Rocketman,

If the symptoms change significantly between cold and hot running the most likely culprits are electrical connections, coils, plug wires and/or caps, intake leak, or a lean condition. While you're waiting for coils, wires, boots and caps you can try spraying the wires and caps with silicone spray. If the symptoms improve you're on the right track. Since you have the tank off, get some electrical contact cleaner and dielectric grease and clean and grease EVERY connector you can find. Take the headlight off and do the same to all the connectors in there too. Take a close look at each connector for corrosion or signs of heat. Even if this doesn't fix your problem it will give you some peace of mind and possibly save you from another problem somewhere down the line. Also, spraying the intake boots is a very good idea. A small intake leak will cause problems at low rpm where the intake vacuum is low but not at higher rpms where the intake vacuum is much higher.

Good luck,
Joe

[Rocketman]

Thanks for the thoughts Joe. Can' t really test for leaks right now, as the bike is mostly disassembled and in piles on my garage floor. To totally eliminate some things, I'm ordering new OEM coils, plug wires, plug boots & caps first thing tomorrow. These added to the new Dyna S installed last week should eliminate most if not all ignition issues.
Intake leaks I will check once re-assembled by spraying boots, but the originals are fairly pliable and show no visible signs of cracks, etc., either on the air box side or the cylinder side.
Carbs were just stripped apart and rebuilt less than a month ago. Bringing them back to mechanic tomorrow to see if main jet might be clogged with some crap in either carb 1 or 2, which are the two shutting down at idle. I sprayed carb cleaner and air through the bottom after removing the float bowls, but I'm not confident enough to remove jets, and can't physically remove the carb top, although I don't think there are any jets up top anyway.
I will pick up contact cleaner & grease tomorrow, and will sand off any rusted contacts, and just clean up other ones to see if it helps. Thanks again.
Larry

[Rocketman]

Accell coils, new wires and plug caps going in tomorrow. Carb #1 & #2 are being rebuilt (again) today. Will try to figure out voltage drop this week. When does the bleeding end?

[Arie]

When does the bleeding end?

It doesn't, but soon the rejoicing begins, when you get back on the road.

I can say I was in your shoes, {well, maybe your sneakers} recently...

Last year replaced r/r with a honda mod, it lasted well, but the bad wires killed that one too.

replaced it earlier this year, but got a bad one: the diodes tested okay, but it had a power sense wire/circuit that did not, it ended up frying my ignitor. got a new ignitor, r/r, redid a whole lot of wires and crimps, and replaced the melted fuse panel....

several months later I can now ride!

[DanTheMan]

Just another couple of ideas.........Maybe you've done this already, maybe not-Clean all your ground wires, ground them to the battery, not the frame. When you open your carbs up, check for a little piece of sh!!t in the float valve. It'll hide there and if you're not using a good penlight (mag lite etc.) and maybe a magnifieing glass you probably won't see it. Simple sh!t can and will drive you crazy.:-|

[focus frenzy]

When does the bleeding end?

when you hear the dirt hit your casket!:shock: