Electronic ignition

[Gsbx1220]

Glad your trip went well. And your GS ran well. Next time you are passing through give me a shout!

Still not fitted electronic ignition yet, but still on the list

[Stonehopper]

Developments!

During the very cold weather, snow, ice, and rain of December, Jan, and Feb, the car started fine - and then didn't. It fired on two, picking up on four after some coaxing with choke and throttle. When one morning it failed completely, checking connections found the top of the Lumention coil cracked. The crack was considerable, more like an eruption from within (see image). After smearing silicon sealant in the 'chasm' and spraying with WD40 she fired up. The car ran for a couple of weeks then failed completely. I contacted Autocar, the manufacturers and suppliers in South London, and despite the coil being out of warantee they supplied a new one. Still no life in the car. Dead.

Despite Autocar claiming that their coils are not prone to failure, I cannot help but deduce that the failed coil had somehow 'cooked' the electronic control box. In our house move I have misplaced my original CB points coil, and so have purchased a new coil from Accuspark (the Red one), refitted the distributor with points and capacitor, and she fired up instantly after over a month idle and untouched (weather foul).

I will be sending the failed coil and electronic gubbins back to Autocar (they didn't initially want the failed coil for inspection) and ask if they might be able to test all, and point to the cause of the total failure. I'll keep you posted.

[white exec]

Will be interesting to see what they offer. Not something you'd expect to fail like that.
IIRC, most of the electronic ignition kits feed the coil primary not with DC like traditional CBs, but with a high-frequency, low current but high voltage pulse. This produces a good fat spark, by operating the coil more efficiently, without straining it.

I used Electronize EI kits for some years, both with the originally-intended CBs, but later with an inductive sensor in place of the breaker points. It transformed how a Rover V8 started and ran.

[Stonehopper]

Thanks for fixing the images. I tried combinations of links through Flickr, but only ended up with text links. Some advice on same would be welcomed.

[GiveMeABreak]

No worries, actually, you can now just upload pictures directly to the Forum instead of linking to them.

Info and guidance here:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=56795

[Stonehopper]

Thanks Marc. Since Photobucket went skewiff I went Flickr, but still find navigating its procedures complex. Drag and drop from own files is so much easier.

[Stonehopper]

Contacted Autocar yesterday after they had my kit for a couple of weeks, and got a reply straight away. They have found the module in good order, and are sending me a new silver MS4 coil to replace the green one. It's being despatched today.

if after fitting I still have no spark, and as the car runs fine on the points set-up which shows that leads and plugs are OK, then that just leaves the infra red lamp unit, or its wires and connections to question. I do recall having a misfire on a Newtronic system on my old Guzzi 500 once. That was down to oily residue build up on the infra red lens. I'll keep you posted.

GS exhaust systems are fun too - see another thread.