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open pick up coil '83 xj550 maxim

Discussion in 'XJ Technical Chat' started by garyS-NJ, Apr 27, 2015.

  1. garyS-NJ

    garyS-NJ Member

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    Seems I just have a bad pick-up coil for my '83 XJ550 maxim (bottom pick up which fires the #2/3 cylinder coil). I must assume the only option for an open pickup coil (yes, I will make sure the wiring is good), is to replace with 30 yo ebay stock parts?

    I've been searching the forum and haven't found anything much better than below thread on replacement TCI ignitions (still current?) I just sent email to ignitech but my TCI is still good.

    http://www.xjbikes.com/forums/index.php?threads/aftermarket-ignition.45931/

    and I found these on TCI rebuild and pick up swaps:
    http://xjbikes.com/forums/index.php?threads/tci-rebuild-thread.38234/
    http://www.jetav8r.com/Vision/IgnitionFAQ.html#a8p9

    am I missing anything?> I just ordered a used pickup pair (mounted on the plate) off ebay. I'm debating if I should try to swap just the bad pick up (in order to preserve the timing setting), or swap the whole plate and retime it. any links on timing my bike?
     
  2. k-moe

    k-moe Pie, Bacon, Bourbon. Moderator Premium Member

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    Timing is handled by the TCI and is not manually adjustable.. Just make sure that you get the correct pickups for your engine and swap them in.
     
  3. garyS-NJ

    garyS-NJ Member

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    thanks K-Moe
    are you suggesting to swap the bad pick up only or test the new pair and swap the whole plate? I guess I'm asking is there an alignment for the second pickup after the first pick up is set or do you just set the plate? I installed a dyna-S on my cb750 and procedure had me set the first pickup/plate and then adjust the second pickup on the plate..
     
  4. k-moe

    k-moe Pie, Bacon, Bourbon. Moderator Premium Member

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    You could do either. Again the stock XJ pickups have no adjustment. Both the pickups and the plate have fixed attachment points, which is why getting the correct plate for your TCI is very important. Keep in mind that even though the part will be 30 years old, it is a solid state part and they rarely fail, so buying one form a broken bike should get you a good pair.
     
  5. garyS-NJ

    garyS-NJ Member

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    wow, that went good, kinda... I opted to leave the timing plate and swap the pickup so I didn't have to pull the "pointer". The manual didn't have instructions for swapping the coils and I was wondering if they should be mounted with thermal grease. Couldn't find anything online so I used the thermal grease. Had some funky results.. no spark on either coil when before I only had the only coil dead as a result of the bad pick-up.

    DOES THE TCI NEED TO BE MOUNTED TO CLEAN GROUND METAL TO MAKE A GROUND?? I THOUGHT IT GOT GROUND VIA ONE OF THE BLACK WIRES..

    I had crazy voltages at the pickups and grounds (measured on the TCI). Oddest thing was the black ground was not ground. So I grounded the TCI heatsink (which was now bolted to an aluminum heatsink I made) and I got spark on everything.. my bike is chopped up so before the TCI was just ziptied to a piece of steel welded to the frame... now seems the TCI heatsink needs to be grounded.

    SO DO THE BLACK WIRES GOING TO THE TCI 4 AND 6 PIN CONNECTOR SUPPOSED TO BRING GROUND TO IT?

    AND ANOTHER THING: what is the little blue wire coming off the pick up harness and getting screwed to the brass threaded boss on that triangle thing in front of the sprocket? (I couldn't find it in the manual wiring diagram). and I think this same blue wire has the push connector pigtail off the harness near the TCI six prong connector and on my bike it mates to a green wire..

    well I got the old girl running but all four carbs were pouring fuel out from somewhere (I rebuilt them and think the float pin seat o-ring isn't right size or the new aftermarket pins just aren't stopping..) and all that fuel was pouring into my starter (which is missing a piece of gasket), and made that start real hard.. and then my battery is tired and my jump start box had a bad clamp crimp. smh.

    anyway, ?? the TCI ground and the little blue wire??
     
  6. k-moe

    k-moe Pie, Bacon, Bourbon. Moderator Premium Member

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    The TCI is grounded via the wiring harness (it is mounted to a plastic panel in the factory configuration).
    The blue wire goes to the neutral switch. It is part of the safety circuit.
     
  7. garyS-NJ

    garyS-NJ Member

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    thanks again K-moe. seems my wiring harness is floating then because neither the 4 pin or 6 pin connector black wire is attached to ground. I checked that with the connectors on and off the TCI. I seem to remember that the pickups received their ground via the TCI so that would mean the 4 pin connector should bring ground to the TCI. I'll run an extra ground there and also add one to my mounting bracket so the TCI has a good ground through it's heatsink. and the tci is mounted to a plastic plate?? so I guess the little heatsink on the back of the TCI is all it needs and my nice heatsink mount was a waste. I used to have the tci just zip tieds in and it's lasted for years like that but I figured cooler means longer life..
     
  8. Rbotdnce

    Rbotdnce New Member

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    Hello, anybody knows if the Xj650 or xj700 pick up coils fits a xj550? are all the same?
     
  9. Jetfixer

    Jetfixer Well-Known Member

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    Honda CB750 from 81-84 coils swap right in and have replaceable plug wires , Cycle Recyle part two sells the brand new for around 40$ each they also sell plug wires and caps as well. These coils are made by Hitachi and fit in stock location you only have to flip them over to clear the tank , I unslodered the wires off the original coils , crimped on new connectors and plugged onto new coils , I have ran these for 3 years with no issues. Dyna coils are a good option but are much $$$$ and require some work to mount.
     
  10. SQLGuy

    SQLGuy Well-Known Member

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    This seems a bit out of context. This thread is about pickup coils (inside the left end timing cover), not ignition coils.
     
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  11. SQLGuy

    SQLGuy Well-Known Member

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  12. Jetfixer

    Jetfixer Well-Known Member

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    Doh you are right sorry..
     

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