CB360 Coil/Ignition Not Working - Thoughts?

[el barto]

Hi all,

Needing a bit of help please. I've got my 360 set up with a Pamco ignition and new coils from MikesXS. I also got a new loom off eBay as the one that came with the bike was in a bad way - the new loom has been perfect so far but I seem to have encountered a problem.

When connecting the coils to the Ignition Coil connection in the loom (see first photo below), there's no spark. When connecting the coils via the ignition, there's a spark (see second photo), so I think I at least have Pamco ignition and new coils set up right. Does this mean that the Ignition Coil connection is broken? We tested it on a multimeter and there was no current.

Thanks in advance for all help/suggestions!

When connecting coils here there is no spark.

Makeshift connection here gives me a spark.

 

[Tune-A-Fish]

The black/white is 12V from ignition. If no meter or test light it may be tough to find where the interrupt is, but I would start with the switch then work back to the source.

 

[el barto]

Thanks a lot.

It may seem lazy but would it be a problem just to continue getting the feed from the ignition switch, instead of tracing back to the source of the problem with the black/white wire?

 

[Tune-A-Fish]

Best not to cut corners, add a kill switch whatever you do.

 

[el barto]

Roger that. Thanks mate

 

[el barto]

In attempting to locate the problem I mentioned earlier in this thread, I discovered that the PO had soldered three black wires coming out of the right hand switch into one black wire. I went back into the old harness and discovered that he had done the same thing with three black wires running up to the two front clusters. Can anyone shed any light on what the desired result of this might have been, and how I can rectify it?

I can confirm that the new harness I'm using has not been tampered with, though it was listed on eBay as being from '73-'74, whereas the old one is (I assume) from '76, same as the bike.

Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated.

Photos below...

Three black wires soldered into one...

Close up...

Three black wires in harness soldered into one again...

 

[DohcBikes]

Those are factory solder joints.

 

[Tune-A-Fish]

Yep, any wrapped in gray tape are factory (usually) if you look back at the diagram any time a wire the same color intersects it's likely a split solder joint, black and green are like line and neutral if your an AC guy so many common functions.

 

[el barto]

Oh really! But they're so ugly! I thought factory would be neater than a bit of grey tape. Well my face is red. Thanks dudes.

 

[grcamna5]

I would just check the wiring diagram to be sure that's 'kosher'

 

[Tune-A-Fish]

Not a SOHC or any Honda under 77 without solder and gray tape joints guys. This was and isn't rocket science, but it did promote moisture to enter the wires so improvements were to come.

 

[redwillissuperman]

Most vintage Japanese motorcycles were never great bikes, just good enough bikes. Although in comparison to Italian and especially American bikes, they were incredible.

 

[DohcBikes]

Most vintage Japanese motorcycles were never great bikes

Good, keep spreading that manure so more people walk away from them

 

[el barto]

I cleared this up (sort of) for the moment. Once the green/red from the solenoid was grounded to the frame the start button worked. However, I'm not getting any spark...

 

[el barto]

Still working on the no spark dilemma. The coils appear to be putting out power (incidentally how much should a multimeter be reading when testing them?).

I've checked for a bad ground which I don't THINK it is. Is the kill switch the problem? If so, how would I go about testing that, the same test with the multimeter? And if indeed it is a kill switch issue, what's the fix? I read elsewhere that a dodgy kill switch is likely but... I dunno.

I submit myself fully to the wisdom of the board.

Thanks.

 

[redwillissuperman]

This is all you need for wiring to make it run. Start there then graduate to below:

 

[el barto]

Thanks for the diagrams but thoughts/insight/opinions are also welcome. In fact more so. As far as I can tell, the bike is wired up correctly.

 

[el barto]

Bump!

Coils are getting 12v at the plug caps and the kill switch looks to be working... stumped.

 

[Sonreir]

You should not be getting ANY volts at the plug caps, unless the coils are sparking. And then, you should be looking at around 20,000V, not 12V.

There should be 12V going into the coil on the black/white wire and a bit less than that coming out on the blue or yellow wire (depending on which side you're testing).

 

[el barto]

You should not be getting ANY volts at the plug caps, unless the coils are sparking. And then, you should be looking at around 20,000V, not 12V.

There should be 12V going into the coil on the black/white wire and a bit less than that coming out on the blue or yellow wire (depending on which side you're testing).

Hmm interesting. Maybe I tested them wrong...?

Incidentally, after some help from Mydlyfkryzis (thanks geez) I think I've identified the problem. My kill switch is wired with a black/white stripe and a GREEN wire, instead of black/white stripe and BLACK. I'm unsure of how/why this discrepancy happened, as the rest of the switches match up to the harness. So, I was putting that green to ground, like the rest of the greens in the harness, instead of to power. I haven't actually tested this theory yet to see if it's the reason that there's no spark, but it would make sense.