TOPIC:

could also be the plug wire or the plug cap on 2 and 3 since they are warm instead of hot.

they also share the same coil...i had a similar problem with a weak spark and I replaced all the wires. and it ran amazing afterwards.

I have only about 700 miles on a new set on Dyna wires from Jeff @ Z1 Enterprises. So I don't "think" it's the wires:dry: ...
But the Dyna 3.0 Green coils are getting around four or five years old, and they show it. I'm guessing either coil or wiring. The thing that leads me to think coil is # 2& #3 doing it and it only seems to do it when it gets warm after a couple of miles of riding. When it's cold it seems fine.
The PO of this bike was a farmer and he used whatever he had on hand to "fix" things. The wiring harness is CRAP , it's cut and spiced with ... house wiring wire nuts !!!!So I'm ordering a new one from Jeff TODAY !!! Hopefully this will help some of my strange problems.
But thanks for the idea, I'll check into that too as one never knows.. And sometimes it's the easy things that are the hardest to find:whistle:
Pat

Post edited by: patmann, at: 2006/06/28 11:05

Post edited by: patmann, at: 2006/06/28 11:08

Well switched out my coil last night.Started fine ran fine... for about two miles then the same thing! .
Went home swapped coils AGAIN with a known factory good one. Same thing. About 2- 2 1/2 miles down the road it cuts in and out on just #2 & #3:blink: .
I went home AGIAN. And swapped #1 & #4 coil with #2& #4 coil.
Guess what?? SAME thing!!!!!!!! It seems once it gets up to operating temp is when it messes up. I've pulled plugs, swapped plugs, changed plugs. The two clynders that are cutting in and out don't smell of gas and just look a little darker than the others.
So I stopped at a electrician buddy of mine who worked in a bike shop for ten years before changing jobs. I asked him about it. I told him everything it's been doing. Right off he says "it's your electronic ignition system, one of the pick ups is shorting out or something, since it is only on those two clynders and only when it gets up to operating temp"
When I asked about no gas smell/wet plugs on the two that are dropping, he said all it's going to take is one or two good strong firings of those coils to burn it off.
This seems to make lots of sense to me.. Because when it's cold it runs GREAT . But once it warms up ( about two miles into a ride ) it starts acting up:pinch:
You know I pitched my old Martek ignition when I bought the new Dyna S , so I can't change it back to make sure of this. Just my luck..
What are you guys thoughts???
Pat
So I guess this now goes to the electricial forum.

Post edited by: patmann, at: 2006/06/29 09:49

Pat, it does sound like a fault in the ignition. I would suggest sending it back to Dynatek for repair/replacement. These units are warrantied for a year.

Here's the link with the Dyna warranty return info.
dynaonline.com/english/warranty_info.htm

Dyna is fairly quick about returning units.

---

It's tough to know what causes the failures for sure - whether it's defective components in the units or problems with the bike. I do know some of the failures are a result of other electrical problems on the bikes.

Jeff, I was just going to call you !!!
I didn't get to call you yesterday and order the harness so I thought I'd do it today.
Thanks for the link, I called Dynatek and they gave me some trouble shooting info. I'll try that too, then give them another call back. IF I have to send it back, they seem VERY easy to deal with.
Pat

Post edited by: patmann, at: 2006/06/29 12:07

Pat, you have the exact same symptoms I was having a couple weeks back, and I mean EXACT!!!

Ended up being a bad module on my Dyna S, confirmed by Dyna when they tested it.

Try this...remove your points cover, start the bike, while the bike is idling take a screwdriver handle and tap on one of the ignition modules. When I did this to my 1/4 module the bike would misfire and eventually die. Try this test on both modules.

Dyna replaced mine under warranty, but now I'm having trouble timing my new one. I'm losing confidence in their products to tell you the truth.

Anyhow, here is my thread on this if you want to read more... kzrider.com/component/option,com_joomlab...mit,20/limitstart,0/

Post edited by: savedrider, at: 2006/06/29 18:57

Roland,
I read that before and it never sunk in:unsure:
From the start mine didn't seem to be gas related, but I checked anyway. I'll try the " Roland tap test " as it will now be called. My ohm/ volt meter is M.I.A. ( next door neighbor if I remember right, who just happens to be gone for two weeks )So I can't check it that way.
A buddy came over on his bike last night we pulled stuff apart and kept looking for a loose wire or something..nope. Bolted it all up and went towards his place. Within 1 mile it was crap again:angry: .
Got to his place and it was still running bad ( on two ). I sat down and had two beers, the first time I've drank that much in one sitting in over two years.
My head and body still feels it this morning:pinch:
Anyway, he took it for a ride and when he came back he said the damn thing almost killed him!! I asked what happened and he said "all of a sudden it came alive and I wasn't prepared, dang that things got some power" While it was sitting there iddling it was running fine idling at 900-1000 rpm, then it cut out dropping to the point it was about to die, then POP out the exhaust and running fine again..
He just looked at me and said "yep that's a bitch, and it has to be your module for those two cylinders"
This morning I was digging around looking for my old points setup ( or asprin ) and found my Martek setup !!!!
But I didn't dare touch the bike this am.. still hung over from those TWO beers
So tonight I will FIRST try the "Roland tap test" then switch out the 8 month old Dyna S for a 28 YEAR old Martek setup and see what happens...
On the plus side I did get to talk to Jeff yesterday and I did order my wiring harrness.
Disclaimer: ANY WRONG OR MISPELLED WORDS ARE DUE TO A HANG OVER!!
I'll let you know what I find out...
Pat
PS Roland please inform me when you have other problems so I know what to look for on mine;) Thanks buddy!!!!

Post edited by: patmann, at: 2006/06/30 09:50

Well the ROLAND TAP TEST confirmed it. And a half an hour later and one twenty eight year old electronic ignition system later the bike runs great !!!
Funny.. I put the Dyna S on so I wouldn't have problems with a old sysytem and it turned into a problem. I take a TWENTY EIGHT YEAR OLD electronic ignition system to fix it:pinch:
I guess they just don't make them like they use to;)

I put on almost 400 carefree miles this weekend before the family got home.
THANKS FOR ALL THE ADVICE !!!! Another Kaw back on the road thanks to KZRIDER !!!
Pat

I just had exactly the same thing on my KZ550A1. It would start and run fine...then about 5 miles down the road I'd drop two cyls. I traced it back to a bad pickup coil (hall sensor) on the dyna ignition. I put the points setup back on and it runs fine, although its harder to time accurately.

My new one should be in the mail back to me this week, but I too am a bit put off that I only got like 800 miles out of a setup that is supposed to be "set it and forget it".

Speed

Post edited by: Speedbump, at: 2006/07/03 15:13

What's even stranger is that they told me they only have maybe ten go bad a year!!! And I'm supposed to believe that one..
Pat

Glad you found it Pat, way to go!

Yeah, I'm pretty peeved at the whole situation too. Especially after getting a replacement and now having issues setting my timing.

Maybe this topic deserves to be a sticky?

I can't give you accurate numbers as customers return bad igntions and coils directly to Dyna - but from the emails and phone calls I've received from customers, I think the defect failure rate for the ignitions is probably in the 2-3% rage - possibly even higher.

Some cavaets on the numbers - I know some of the Dyna ignition failures are caused by other electrical problems on these old bikes - in particular charging system problems or mismatching coils with ignitions (like running 1.5 ohm coils with Dyna-S ignitions)

The coils do not fail often - I'm only aware of 1 coil failing in the past 2 years from a potential defect. Although a couple were killed when customers left their igntions on for long periods of time.