TCI wiring...

Im finishing my wiring harness and the hayne wiring diagram is pretty ambiguous as to how the wires going to the tci are arranged. Ive been playing around with it for some time but cant get a spark to the ignition coils that are fed by the grey wire coming from the tci to the ignition coil. Ive rearranged every thing and replaced every component (tci, ignition coils, pick up assembly, and wires), and im left with one last shot, that my wring to the tci is wrong. So... I made a diagram of the tci, as if you were holding it with input slots facing you, and the serial nuber on top. can anyone can let me know what color wires should be where, by arranging letter codes like this: (the 81 xj650 maxim is different than most xjs, tci 4h7-10)

--Gy B.......Gy B
--O B.......O R/W


Thanks

 

Lou,
i have an 81 xj650 as well, i'll try & get that infor for you tomorrow after i get off work tonight, unless someone else gets the info for you first.
good luck,
Gregg

 

I make that:
Gy--O-------Rw--Gy
B---B--------O----B

 

I'm looking at my Haynes right now and the schematic shows that you have your colors off (this is for the XJ650H or 81 Maxim model).
It shows
TOP
6 pin conn........4 pin conn.
-- O B......O R/W
-- Gy B......Gy B
The only ambiguity I see is the orientation representation, you just need to mind the connector keying.
Best of luck to you on this one... The venerable Haynes has been wrong before.

 

it is the orientation thats getting me. They mix up the shape of the plugs in the diagram, leaving you questioning if your looking at it upside down or right side up. Great, thanks for the replys, wanted to just get a visual confirmation off a running bike, or a time machine to see how mine used to be...

 

Also, Ive only been checking for spark while cranking (and its about time for a new starter). It seems a silly question (did I say silly?), but could I only be sparking on one ign coil because this is how it is before the starter stops? I know I know, but im really running out of reasons now...

 

Your problem is fire on two cylinders and two are cold? If thats' the case it COULD be TCI but it could also be a wiring issue between there and the affected coil.

 

If you swap the Grey and Orange wires that go to the coils, at the TCI, that will tell you whether there's a problem in/before the TCI unit or not.

If swapping those wires swaps the spark to the other two plugs, then your problem is either in the TCI unit itself or in the trigger signal the non working channel gets from the VR pickup. To further differentiate, you could swap the Grey and Orange on the VR pickup side of the TCI; then if the spark switches you will know it's a VR pickup problem, while if it doesn't, it's a TCI module problem.

If the spark stays on the same pair of plugs when you switch the output side Grey and Orange, then TCI and VR pickups are fine, but you've got a problem with a coil or with wiring to or from the coil.

 

Yep, tried that, when I swap O and Gr to the tci, I still have spark on same set of plugs. When I switch output wire to the ig coils, the spark switches pair. So I know everything is right in the pickups, tci and ig coils. And ive all new wires too. Down to now checking (hoping) one pair of wires going to/from the tci has been out of place all this time. Looking forward to checking it out tonight. Thanks again

 

Lou, I think that's an incorrect conclusion. If the spark switches pair by switching the wires from the TCI to the coils, that means both your coils and their wiring are good. It's one channel of the TCI module itself that sounds like it's blown in this case.

 

I found this older thread and I am having the exact problem having difficulties wiring TCI for this 1981 650. I have brought up similar threads to help me with no luck. can someone help me with this?

I am sure the Haynes manual is wrong. which robert has described above.

I think Lou627 is close as I get spark in one coil with his configuration

I think it should be:

Gy--O-------Rw--Gy
B---B--------B----O

I get spark in both coils with this configuration however bike will not rev up and feels like timing is off.

I thinking I fried my TCI after trying the Haynes wiring version. Are these devices forgiving when wired incorrectly?

thanks

 

I'm looking at the connectors right now.

Layed out like the picture above, and looking at the wire ends of the connectors (which I think is what you drew as well), the layout should be:

X--O---B-------Rw--O
X--Gy--B-------B---Gy


P.S. Haynes is correct in the pinouts, but seems to show the 4 and 6 pin connectors on the wrong sides of the box, which makes it confusing as to which pins are on which side.

 

Thanks SQLGuy, I'll give this a try when I get home from work.

that may explain the haynes layout. I hope this works!

 

FYI - the wiring layout from SQLguy worked for my 1981 xj650 midnight maxim

thanks for you help; now for the other probs I am having....

I still think the haynes book is wrong

 

I forgot about this post (it was mine) but an update since its back; sqlguy, it was the tci that was the problem. Actually it was the two tci's I had that had a shot left channel. Having two with the same problem was causing me to look elsewhere for the problem. Getting a third tci solved it, and I'll open up the other two someday to see what caused it.