Coils...

So with much frustration, I think I've narrowed my problem to the ignition coils. The resistance around the pickups was ~4 ohms, but I found the secondary coil had infinite resistance. How do I proceed?

 

double, triple check your readings then get some new coils

 

And can someone verify that I checked it correctly? I put one lead in the pigtail and the other in a plug wire.

 

well that's the wrong way but that might be a good thing. unscrew the plug caps, snip 1/4 inch of the wires, test from one wire to the other.
thats the coil secondary. the coil primary is from one pin in the plug to the other.
i got my fingers crossed for ya

 

Thanks, but which wire? Plug wire to?...

 

And is it common for both to go out? Would one going out cause a voltage spike destroying the other?

 

one plug wire to the other plug wire, honest
both to go out, no very uncommon, one wouldn't effect the other

 

16.5 thousand ohm across each. Is this right?

 

i don't know, the book's in the garage but it sounds about right.
the primary should be real close to 3

 

Thanks, I just used a spare relay from another harness And got spark! After months of frustration... Thanks for all your help!

 

D-Rock For next time....I'm assuming you have an air cooled model. The water cooled ones are different

Pick-up coils:
650 ohms +/- 20% = 520 ohms to 780 ohms acceptable range

Ignition Coils:

Primary side (input from main wiring harness):
2.5 ohms +/- 10% = 2.25 ohms - 2.75 ohms acceptable range

Secondary side (spark plug wires, without their end caps):
11K ohms +/- 20% = 8,800 ohms - 13,200 ohms acceptable range

Spark plug caps:
1981-83 models: 5K +/- 20% = 4,000 to 6,000 ohms per cap acceptable range
1984 RL models: 10K +/- 20% = 8,000 to 12,000 ohms per cap acceptable range

 

Whoa, those are way off what i had. Ignition coil was closer to four ohms.

 

And i have an 81 seca 750 btw