XJ550 Maxim Starter Motor wiring question.

I recently purchased a XJ550 Maxim from a sketchy guy in a sketchy warehouse. When I got it the starter was removed because it was burnt out. When I installed the a new starter I could only find one loose wire. The one from the starter solenoid. My question is, is there supposed to be a ground on the starter? I've searched the web and have found pictures of starter motors using grounds but no references to my bike specifically.

 

I believe that there's only one cable that goes to the starter and it's from the battery.

This should clarify https://xjbikes.com/forums/threads/replacing-your-starter-motor-brushes-w-pics.45727/

Hopefully...

 

Okay. Thank you very much for the reply. I wanted to be sure before I hit the start button.

 

Ive looked at swveral diagrams regarding my 82 xj550 seca and i dont understand why the wiring diagram shows the rectifier brown wire to start solenoid and my bike isnt wired that way. Would that make my charging system fail?

 

The brown wire from the rectifier should go to the starter relay near the battery on the frame, not direct to the solenoid. The relay triggers a straight 12VDC connection from the battery. The ground side of the starter is through the engine case. Make sure the battery ground to the engine is connected.

 

I think that you may be reading the wiring diagram incorrectly.
Try this one.
http://lumien.se/stuff/xj550/XJ550ElectricalDiagram.html

 

what is refered to as starter relay is solenoid. there is also starter cutoff relay which is controled by safety switches.

the body of starter is the ground when bolted into motor. motor has a ground strap to battery and frame

 

solenoid near battery called starter switch in fsm




starter cutoff relay near fuel tank

 

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Sorry im really new to the fuctions on how to reply on this sight so please bare with me. I have this diagram wired in and usong stock coils runs and idkes fine actually think its more snappy. Untill about 4000 rpms. Any ideas on either using a seperate boost of watts to the pickups to trick the hei into waiting to rev limit. Or adjusting the doodes and resistor to bigger or smaller values. Any suggestion is appreciated as ive been mixing and matching, reading and learning bit still not getting it to advance my timing the 16-32 degrees it says. Ugghhh... Season is ending and havent rode yet.

 

The GM HEI units that I'm familliar with use vacuum advance on the distributor. The KZ550 has a mechanical advance, which is why the HEI works with it.
The XJ has electronic advance as part of the TCI.
In short, you can't use the HEI ignition modules on an XJ unless you adapt or make a seperate advance system to alter spark timing.

 

Ok, so i read about a guy drilling new holes in the plate your pickups read if i made the pickups adjustable like points are isnt it possible to solve issue? Or what if i custom mounted the coil packs that were on a buick to match the HEI?

 

drilling holes would give you a one position change and accuracy would be key but not adjustable
coil packs are coil packs nothing to do with timing

I think if you find out what the w connector is for you may be able to adajust timing on the HEI

you could put a vacuum set up on the manifold boots and a vac sensor to change timing but that is a guess on what you would need and if vacuum port would be strong enough.

 

this link explains a little about the W pin and possibly how to control advance. i get the impression a variable resister (potentiometer) may be able to control advance just have to adjust while you ride or get a vacuum sensor to do the adjusting.
http://gpzweb.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/Ignition/HeiModules/HeiModules.html

we have a member who could possibly solve this Rooster53 may be able to give you the info and a few more

 

Split Second may have something to help shift timing based on rev trigger.

 

Vacuum would bw allright as long as it worked the w from what ive read is supposed to give back 1.75 volts to g i believe i had notes and cant find em. I think im going to try cleaning carbs bfore i do any more experiments so i know its not their fault for the bogg. I have never bench set or used the tool to sync them either. A good mechanic tuned them last yr and i think theyre good but i also believe said mechanic sabotaged me bike .lol

 

this is a good way to see what wires go where.

 

http://gpzweb.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/Ignition/HeiModules/Hei4pinDR100moduleNotes.txt

This is really

Good if you understand the language..

 

https://www.cbperformance.com/CB-s-Black-Box-Programmable-Timing-Control-Module-p/2013.htm

https://www.jpcycles.com/product/38...uo_HUYUjYf5Zo_UG_S3JPOJ9jwsTVhDRoCYg8QAvD_BwE

 

I would recommend sending that hei document over to Mark at Split Second and see if he can put a dwell time adjuster together for the GM ignitor.

 

The World’s Greatest XJ550 Seca Wiring Diagram:
http://www.frankjohansson.com/stuff/xj550/XJ550ElectricalDiagram.html

above is for a seca 550 so the directional indicator is different with seca having 2 which have there own ground where the maxim has 1 indicattor and the left side grounds through the right side. fuel guage and volt meter

 

Where do i find mark at split second? Ive got 3 or 4 doff ideas that theoretically should work. But im no electrical technician and dont need to ruin more parts.. thanks

 

Mark Amarandos, mark@splitsec.com. Nice guy, discussed many custom module options during the Genesis project. I suspect a universal dwell offset and length module for bosch igniters could be used on all of the bikes to help tweak combustion timing. Do not need injection logic or any fancy crank sensor timing stuff, just dwell time increasing as a dialable ratio to rpm and a millisecond dwell advance and retard dial. He has a 4 to 8 cyl rpm signal module that can generate multi-pulse off one cylinder signal. He can probably take that and use it to produce a wasted spark driver that triggers 4 bosch coils for 2 cycles.

 

All that sounds way out of my legue. I undertand what your saying but wouldnt know where to start to find said items..
What causes the timing to retard and bogg engine out so soon

 

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The timing adjustments for ignition is in the TCI and is based on the crank pickup. I'm not familiar with the TCI on these bikes yet but will be digging into the 550 soon. Engine bogging is typically due to rich condition which could be too much fuel and not enough air or spark too late or early at TDC. Weak spark can also cause power loss as the coils can't keep up with the frequency of firing. Dwell,coil-on period, is usually noted in terms of duration and angle with angle being the number of crank degrees before and after TDC (highest compression point). Once an engine reaches certain valve train speeds the speed of flame creation at TDC spark causes loss of power since the exhaust valves are starting to open while the flame front is still running and producing gasses. You lose power because most of the flame and gas pressure ends up shooting out the exhaust instead of pushing the piston down. When you retard the timing you pull the spark timing back to fire before the full compression is reached. This gives the mix time to ignite and a flame front to form and produce as much gas as possible before the exhaust valves crack open. Advanced timing is the opposite and usually for lower revs to help with smooth idle. The flame front forms long before the compression is near peak. This reduces power but also allows the cylinders to balance each other based on the cyclic mass (crank, counter-weights, rods, etc). Smooth run versus power.

 

I actually have that backwards. thinking of fuel. advance is before tdc and retard is after.