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Dead Right Cylinder

Tweasl

Tweasl

Just got it firing!
Joined
Dec 21, 2008
Messages
7
Ok all,

First post in a long time but I really need a few ideas. Maybe I already know the answer, but I know the knowledge base here is huge and other opinions are always welcome in my crazy world.

M y 1987 Lemans IV has an intermittent and dead right side cylinder from time to time. I broke the bike out the other day to go for a ride and as soon as I twisted the throttle after my driveway....no power. I just went through the bike as far as a good carb clean, new plugs, checked timing, adjusted valves, synced carbs, etc.... I normally do this once a year after the bike has set for a while through winter.

My bike has a Dyna ignition and coils as well as some good Scott wires. Under load it seems to drop the cylinder, but while I'm tuning and adjusting everything in the shop it revs freely and nicely on both jugs. My battery was a bit weak, but it still started the bike through a 1.2 KW starter. Currently, I'm putting a full charge on the battery, but I dont feel this will cure anything.

ANY IDEAS???

Thanks Larry
 
First step is to switch leads on the coils and spark plug wires (change so the right coil now fires the left cylinder) and see if the symptom changes to the right side. If it does, it is an ignition problem (most likely) and if it doesn't fuel/carb. Let us know what happens.
 
Yes, that was my next step on switching the coils... I'll let you all know what happened.

I have the green Dyna coils. Are there issues with those as well?

Thanks
Larry
 
Ok all,

Solved my own post. I'm thinking weaK battery, with choke condition at startup fouled the plug. I pulled the plug and cleaned it thoroughly, charged the battery and she fired up on both sides nicely. My battery is a Hawker-Odysee Dry cell that is 8 years old. I'll ride the bike and see how the old battery holds up before replacing it. My last dry cell was an Optima that I used in my truck for 10 years!!

Thanks to all for your insight, I'll try and post more often to this Site in the future....

Larry
 
Larry,

If the battery is suspect then just change it.

I know there are a lot of Odyssey/AGM zealots out there but they do have disadvantages. One is that they don't give much warning when they die. They'll work fine one day then can fry your rotor the next.

The old rotors in Guzzis usually last a long time but if they get too hot for whatever reason, including a failed battery with too much resistance, they can go open circuit.

If money is tight then buy a cheap lawn mower battery from Walmart. A working lead acid is better than a dying AGM.

There will be howls of protest from the Odyssey faithful but so be it. :p Funny how the old lead acid gets blamed for everything. The fact the seat base was given a thin coat of paint, has sat under soggy foam for 30 years and gets a lot of flex due to changing loads hasn't absolutely nothing to do with the fact that it rusts. :roll:

If money isn't an issue then buy whatever floats your boat. :cool:
 
I agree,

Yes these batteries die without notice, but I was not aware that they would give you charging problems from a dead rotor after this. I will keep a close eye on this, I checked the input voltage to my battery and it was still over 13 volts at 2000 RPM so I figured the charging system was still ok.

Thanks

Larry
 
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