CB550 - Wont idle, cold cylinder

Clip a small light across the DYNA. It will turn on as you inch past the timing point. I use a spare instrument light with crocodile clips on the leads. IIRC one goes to the coil connection (DYNA side not battery side) and the other lead goes to ground. Turn the motor over slowly with a wrench while you watch the timing marks with all four plugs OUT and grounded to the motor.

The light should go on at the exact F marks. If not, adjust. Then repeat while with your other spare hand you keep the rotor rotated against the springs. It should now come on as it passes the full advanced marks.

When that's all in order, replace the plugs and check timing with a good strobe. Test to see that it moves from F to full advanced smoothly on each and every plug lead. Any that show odd results or interruptions, need investigating.

the light comes on at multiple spots.... this cannot be right.

okay, so you have all been very helpful and I appreciate it very much!!!! without a doubt. The responses i have received have been informative, educational, and helpful. That being said, she is actually not kicking over at all not. just burping, not fire like she did in the video...

I am going to do a dangerous thing, and make assumptions. Based on all your advice, and my experience, and going over this bike everyday for a week, i do not believe these are the main culprits:
1. exhaust (running stock, 100%)
2. air filter (stock)
3. actual spark plugs or caps. non resistor Honda plugs, resistor NGK caps. 5ohm. all new. wires were cut for fresh connection
4. dyna ignition (not timing, but actual device)
5. battery. holds a steady charge at around 12.2 v.

These could all play a factor in the tuning, and getting to run efficiently, but i have to eliminate some things in order to have a chance.

Here are what I want to focus on
1. Carbs (asked a local mechanic for a quote on rebuilding)
2. Dyna Timing (at a loss here, timing light comes on at multiple places on the timing plate, see previous pictures)
3. If I am getting enough Spark (not sure how to test this, any ideas?

i am currently unemployed, so time is not a concern. any advice, tips, etc, would be greatly appreciate. Also, i am a visual learner, so photos or video are GREAT).

thanks again!

"burping" might be having the 1-4 wire connected to the 2-3 coil.
Easy to check by just changing the wires.

And for the carbs, ultrasonic cleaning would be my choice.

Agree. My reply yesterday seems to have been eaten by the internet dog. What I suggested was marking the end of teh rotor at each of the two magets (if it has two).

Remove the plugs and see if it is firing (light going on) as each magnet passes a pickup or if the light is going out at other times as well.

What happens is that power flows through the system to the coil to the dyna to ground until it triggers and that cuts off the power through the dyna. At that instant, the light comes on. If the light is coming on at times other than when the rotor is triggering it, there is something wrong with the triggers or there is a poor ground connection between the motor and ground.

Try running a lead direct from a screw holding the dyna backing plate to battery ground lead and see if that fixes the multi spark situation.

BTW, it will not run with that inspection lamp connected. It's either spark or light - not both.

To test spark strength, go to your local auto parts supplier and buy a spark tester. It's a simple adjustable gap device that fits in place of a plug. A Dyna S should generate a spark that easily jumps 10mm.

Remember that those coils are double ended. Both ends need to be go to ground. If a plug lead is broken or not connected to a plug, the other usually cannot fire either.

Tetter said:

"burping" might be having the 1-4 wire connected to the 2-3 coil.
Easy to check by just changing the wires.

And for the carbs, ultrasonic cleaning would be my choice.

Click to expand...

if i switch the wires around, and it still does not fire up, how do i tell if they are incorrect? Also, it ran before (just no idle) with the wires the way they currently are. would that provide evidence that they are not switched?

teazer, going to try what you suggested. BRB

BTW, do not leave the ignition turned on for ages at a time as it overheats coils. And check teh voltage at teh coils to see igf you also have a bad connection in the kill/run switch.

alright.

there is only one magnet. so, i marked where the magnet is (green tape), and then rotated the engine manually with a wrench. i had the #4 spark plug out, and grounded to the engine. when the plug sparked, i took a photo. see below. the timing line is right on the F mark, which i believe is incorrect, as they should be advanced......

i would love for someone who has a CB550 with the dyna system to post some pics of their timing! youtube and google are no help, and searching in forums has turned up nothing.

This post is givin me second thoughts about the dyna I have for my CB400F. I am used to working with points, and am happy to do it. And if you've got a problem with points, you can usually fix 'em and get them running. A problem with the dyna and you're stuck somewhere...

dont let it worry you, i just suck. lol.

i have heard nothing but good things about the dyna, and my bike was NOT running before i had it either. so it is not the issue.

okay.

i advanced the timing as far as the timing plate would go, then, i moved the pick ups using the allen key as far as they would go (all counter clockwise). The timing is now as 'advanced' as dyna and my bike will allow (without mods), and it is still firing in between regular timing and advance timing.

what am i doing wrong?

these photos were taken from static timing, as per a blog i found on the issue. I did not rotate the rotor at all. when i rotate the rotor, i get multiple "firing points" as shown earlier in the trhead. when the timing plate is half turned it fires on the advance lines, and when it is all the way it fires on the advance lines, and wont start either way.....

green tape indicates the magnet on the rotor (only one).

Stop. The first pic is correct. Static timing should have the light go out/spark at the F mark - UNLESS the rotor is rotated to the advance position which it wasn't. That is where it is supposed to be. When you run th bike at over 3,000 or so, the weights in the advancer causes the timing to shift to the advanced position. AT zero revs it should be as per pic 1 and NOT between the two advance marks.

Shift timing back to the first picture. I suspect that the multi spark effect is because when you manually advance the rotor, it may be slipping back and forth in your fingers. If it rotates back under spring tension and you tweak it forwards again it will spark a second or third time.

The easy way to check that is to remove the center bolt carefully and slide a large washer under the big hex nut. Rotate the rotor forwards and tighten the nut to lock the whole lot in place in the advanced position. Then see if you still have a multi spark. If not it was never and issue, if yes, send me the DYNA and I'll run it up on a test jig and see what's going on.

so, satic time it so it sparks at the F line?

The two pictures are the same, just different angles, so i am not sure what you mean when you reference the first picture.


with regards to the two spark point, it is not two spark in the same revolution. I full advance the rotor (guaranteed no slippage with my fingers). until it sparks. then I tighten up and check. no luck. then when i try to set the timing again, i can get spark at a different location. it all depends on whether i start with the timing plate fully clockwise or counterclockwise.

off to the garage, BRB

set the timing as per the manual, spark on the F (fire) mark. still only burning, and one ridiculously loud backfire!!!!

what else could be causing this? electrical? clutch?starter?...... starting to feel pretty darn dejected over here.

i appreciate the 6 pages of help DTT members! only thing keeping me from putting this 550 to the curb

knowledge is power! more stats

bought a new fancy multimeter. checked the caps resistance

1 - 0 ohms
2 - 4.86 ohms
3 - 5.25 ohms
4 - 4.91 ohms

cylinder one was the cold cylinder as well. it has fired up since then, but not consistently. hoping this is at least part of the problem. i will be replacing the one cap, but are the others all within an acceptable range?

In all probability, they should all read 5,000 ohms which is probably what they are showing. Check the scale on your multimeter.

The "first " pic was the one at the bottom of the last page where it's at T/F.

If you rotate the backplate forwards it will spark at a different time than when it's rotating backwards if that's what you are talking about. Imagine teh motor rotated backwards or forwards. It would fire at a different time for each direction because it sparks as teh front edge of the magnet approaches the first edge of the trigger, so back or forwards are different by the width of the trigger - hope that makes some sense.

0If you rotate the backing plate for over retarded and rotate it towards advance it should be OK. If I got that back to front, reverse what I said (so to speak). Or if that is driving you nuts, just use the timing test lamp and see where it turns on and adjust the backing plate a little at a time - always turning the motor to find where the light goes on. Then repeat on 2-3 and it will be right on.

i believe i have the timing set. i will post pics tomorrow.

when i rotate the engine forward, it sparks at the F line. if i put to the advance lines, and rotate the rotor fully, it also sparks. i believe this is correct (similar to the pic you were referencing at the bottom of page 5).

i will be replacing the plug cap tomorrow, to ensure all are 5,000 ohms.

is there an additive i can put in the gasoline to help get it started? a small engine tune up oil, or something along those lines? or, are there far more important things to worry about before i get there.