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Joined: Jan 24, 2010 Posts: 57 Location: Grand Rapids MI
Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2010 10:27 pm Post subject: '76 Honda cj360t project - coil
OK.......tried again for a spark. I put a charged battery in the bike and tried for a spark. Right cylinder showed a nice spark. Left side...no go. I took off the points cover and both sets of points looked good. Not pitted, not burned. I could kick over the bike and see the left side breaker points contacting, so I think the points are good ( or at least not clearly bad).
My next step will be to remove the seat and tank and remove the left side coil assembly and see if the ground looks good. Clean it up with some emery cloth and replace and see if I get a spark. I was surprised to see that OEM coils are NLA. Does anyone know of an aftermarket (other than used Ebay) coil that would work? I see a universal coil for $25 on some websites but not too eager to try that unless someone else has had good luck.
Joined: Feb 23, 2007 Posts: 1045 Location: Orlando, FL
Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2010 6:44 am Post subject:
Do some measurements and functional checks first, before spending $$
Normally, power flows THRU the coil to the points and thru the points to ground (when they're closed). Opening the points sparks the plugs. There's no other connection to ground. Power in to coil windings, power out from coil windings to the points to ground.
So, disconnect the wire from the coil to the points and check for continuity to ground thru that wire when the points are closed and for no continuity to ground when the points open. This VERIFIES what your eye is looking at. After all, the points can physically touch but have a minute layer of corrosion that prevents electrical contact.
Then, you can take the wire that comes FROM the coil (that goes to the points) and jumper that wire straight to ground. With the key and kill switch on, when you do this, you're simulating points-closed. Pulling your jumper away from ground should spark the plug. This is a quick 'n dirty way to functionally test the coil. So, by 'snapping' that wire to ground, you should see nice spark at the plug.
Swap the plugs, since you know the one works, just to confirm that it's not a gimpy plug.
Finally, measure the resistance of the coil winding from the incoming wire to the outgoing wire. Not sure what the specific value is, but as long as its not 'open' (indicating a burnt open winding), you should be OK.
And finally, if indeed the coil is bad, I believe that MikesXS online sells coils that work quite well. I think Bill Lane (tpbmusic) has done this on one or two of his bikes with great success. Maybe search this site for his summary...
Good luck with it, and be sure to keep us updated.
Joined: Feb 15, 2007 Posts: 1356 Location: LaPorte, Indiana, USA
Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2010 7:39 am Post subject:
It's one of the articles at this page - Click Here
Will be essentially the same for a 360 as for a 450.... _________________ Bill Lane - CB200-CM200-CB450-C70M-CL350
"When your only tool is a hammer,
everything starts to look like a nail."
Joined: Jan 24, 2010 Posts: 57 Location: Grand Rapids MI
Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 6:57 pm Post subject: cj360T spark
Victory! Worked on it again last night and got both cylinders to spark. It was the left side points. I picked up a cheap points file and cleaned them up on the left side. At first, still no spark. I then thought I wasn't getting any juice to the left breaker points for some reason. Then......opps, decided to put the points file back in there and get a bit more aggressive.....had accidentally left the key turned on. Guess what....the left breaker points were getting juice!!! Fortunately, the guys who make point files put a little rubber insulator on the handle....for which I am thankful. At any rate, I then knew I had some electrons wanting to move thru those points. I filed a bit more, cleaned them up by pulling thru some paper with the points closed on it. Still no spark, so I adjusted the gap until I knew the points were closing completely. Once I did that, I had a nice spark. I didn't have a feeler guage in my tool box, so I couldn't check the gap, but I'm sure I've got it pretty well screwed up in terms of gap, so I'll work on that next.....but at least I have a spark on both cylinders now. I don't think I messed up the timing, as I didn't loosen the plate, just the gap adjustment screws. Hopefully the timing wasn't/isn't off since I've never tried to adjust timing.
If I get the gap right, I think I may install a fuel filter, put in some gas and give it a go.....who knows?
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