Dyna S install- help needed

[MAC10]

I just installed a Dyna S on my 78 GS1000C. Stock everything except the Dyna S ignition. The points ignition was working fine yesterday. The Dyna doesn't work.

I checked all the connections, and the clearance on the rotor and pickup. The advancer moves freely and snaps back.

The black and white wires are connected to the black and white where the points ignition connected. Red wire from the Dyna conected to the orange with white stripe coil wire in the main bundle under the rubber cover. Connection is soldered, protected with dielectric grease and shrink tubed.

Normal lights come on with the the key, but no ignition.

I have checked everything twice. The battery is on the charger before I try again.

Troubleshooting ideas are welcome. I am over my head, but patient.

I have a test light, and a timing light. I am confused about how to connect them to test the Dyna. Where should I connect the test light?

[GateKeeper]

you should delete one of your posts, since they seem to be the same ?

go to thread tools and hit the delete post button...

.

[MAC10]

Thanks Gatekeeper. Fixed it

[Guest]

If your battery voltage is too low, the electronic ignitions will not work.

[koolaid_kid]

MAC10, what you need is a multimeter. Do you have one?

[MAC10]

I have a multi meter. Battery across the terminals shows 12.8 volts. The battery is still working, but 3 years old.

[koolaid_kid]

Excellent. Now you need to check the DC voltage at the red, white and black wires. The white and black can be checked at the coils, as well as the O/W at the coils. All these voltages are important with an electronic ignition. If they are low, you will need a relay mod to supply full battery/regulator voltage to the red wire (which then supplies it to the white and black wires) and the O/W at the coils themselves.

[hjacobmiller]

Do you have spark at the plugs while you crank it?

Try setting your plugs against the head and watch for sparks. If you have sparks then your coils are firing.

I'm guessing you had to install the Dynatek rotor on the mechanical advance?

Make sure you have that installed correctly. If it is installed 180 degrees reversed than the left module will be firing the wrong cylinders (2&3 instead of 1&4 think). I don't know the firing order on the four cylinders but on my 2 cylinder with the rotor installed backwards the left module was firing the right cylinder and the right was firing the left. I had plenty of spark but just at the wrong time. Unless you pay really close attention it is easy to get put the rotor on the advance unit incorrectly.

This may be a dumb question but do you have your kill switch flipped?

Connect the alligator clip of your test light to the head on one of the cooling fins or something. Then put the pointer on the negative side of your coils (black for right white for left). This is part of the static timing process. The light is supposed to come on when the magnet on the rotor lines up with the center of the ignition module.

I wouldn't worry about setting the timing until you have sparks at the plugs and you are 100% sure that the rotor is installed correctly.

[MisterCinders]

For some reason, Dyna tells you to static time the ignition at the advance stage. So you set the timing light and line up the forward marks on the plate. Then twist the advancer so the light just comes on IIRC. Weird process that seems to require 3 hands.

[MAC10]

Thanks for the replies. I will check everything again re the Dyna S, especially the advancer installation. It could be backwards.

I suspect I have a coincidental charging system problem, and need to check that first, and ensure the battery is up to it. It dropped overnight from 12.8 to 12.3 volts across the terminals.

Before I can work on the ignition, I have to figure out why the bike won't crank. Until then I can't check for spark. Something is going on.

Ideas are welcome.

[Missile99]

What is the battery voltage with the key on and when trying to start? It may be falling short with a load on it. There's not much play between starting and nothing at all, so that .5 volt or more loss could be your issue here. We'll hear what the outcome is when it's recharged.

You can get the ignition statically timed and check for spark without spinning your starter. After it's running use a timing light if available.

[MAC10]

I have just made some time to get busy sorting this out. I will report as objectively as I can, but I am a first timer at diagnosing this kind of problem. Expert help is most welcome. Here is as far as I have been so far:

The battery was on a charger yesterday, reading 13.5 volts just off the charger then. As I started tonight, it read 12.36 volts.

Before I started, the lights would not come on with the key, and the bike would not crank. Nothing.

I disconnected the stator, and checked resistance with a multimeter according to the stator papers method. 0 Ohms showing on all three wires.Triple checked, the same reading each time.

I need help knowing what this means. Thinking out loud-

I am not skilled enough to be certain, except that I have a faulty stator, and that fault prevents the bike from cranking when it is connected. This problem seems coincidental, and not necessarily related to it happening while I was installing a Dyna S. I want to test the Dyna S unit as a precaution, but don't know how to do this. Can I test it on the bike, or do I need to remove it first? Koolaid kid very kindly explained how to check voltages, but I wonder if there is a way to thoroughly bench test it?

The stator was replaced 6 years ago with a brand new Electrosport unit, and the same brand regulator. About three years ago, the stator wire connections burned, and I made an extension for them to make them a bit longer, and reconnected them with good spades, soldered and greased with shrink tube. That seemed to solve the problem. Those connections were as good today as when I made them, with no sign of overheating. Could that event causing the connections to burn have been a sign of a regulator or an internal stator problem? Or only bad connections with high resistance and heat?

I will check the regulator according to the stator papers method before I proceed. The stator papers test is done with it off the bike.

Is there any problem with finishing the Dyna S installation with a disconnected stator, and running the bike in that condition for only as long as necessary to finish? I can keep all the lights switched off, and use a charger to keep the battery up if I need to.

[Missile99]

I am not skilled enough to be certain, except that I have a faulty stator, and that fault prevents the bike from cranking when it is connected. This problem seems coincidental, and not necessarily related to it happening while I was installing a Dyna S. I want to test the Dyna S unit as a precaution, but don't know how to do this. Can I test it on the bike, or do I need to remove it first? Koolaid kid very kindly explained how to check voltages, but I wonder if there is a way to thoroughly bench test it?

Bummer on the stator. I don't know how it would affect cranking though. What is the voltage across your battery with the key on? If too low then the coils and your Dyna are definitely not getting enough. What are the voltages at the coils, key on? Try this with the charger hooked up and kicking a few amps to compensate for your weak battery. If coil/Dyna voltage is still low then do what Koolaid Kid advises. You most likely have nothing wrong with the Dyna. The simplest way to test this is by doing what hjacobmiller described in his reply if necessary. The test light will glow and if plugs 3 + 4 are lying on the head you'll get spark. Don't forget to turn the key on.

Could that event causing the connections to burn have been a sign of a regulator or an internal stator problem? Or only bad connections with high resistance and heat?

Regulator or connections. I'll go with connections first.

Is there any problem with finishing the Dyna S installation with a disconnected stator, and running the bike in that condition for only as long as necessary to finish? I can keep all the lights switched off, and use a charger to keep the battery up if I need to.

No problem at all that I know of. This is the way I did it.

[dagreatgatsby]

It might be where you connected the orange/white wires from the coils to the dyna s. When I helped my brother install his dyna s, I ran into a similar problem of having no ignition. For me, the problem turned out to be where I was splicing into the orange/white wires. One of the instruction manuals that I was using told me that I could splice into the orange/white wires after the kill switch but before the major bundle of wires. Wrong, that was what caused the problem. You must splice into the orange/white wires after the main bundle. As I recall, after the main bundle, the orange/white wires go towards the ignitor and return back up towards the coils. And that is where you have to splice into them. I must tell you that I did do the coil relay mod at the same time, but I don't think that would make a difference. Check where you're splicing into the orange/white wires and let me know. The key is that you have to splice into them after main bundle and ignitor, but before the coils.

[Missile99]

His wiring setup is a bit different considering it was a points ignition before. I think any switched ignition wire would be a good choice. It surely doesn't hurt to verify it's a good feed and your post is a good reminder of that. I hooked mine to the orange/white at the old ignitor plug. This instead of unwrapping the bundle and tying in just before the coil split like the instructions said.