A month or so ago, I asked for help diagnosing the lack of ignition on the LH cylinder of my Cal 1100i.
The winners in the diagnosis contest are those who said it's probably not the phase or rpm sensors, but maybe in the coils/leads/wiring and to check that. The answer was that it was a bad connection from the
ignition module to the coil on that side. Here's how I eventually found that out:
I swapped the spark plug wires, No change, still LH cylinder problem. Swapped coils. No change, still LH cylinder Unplugged the connections from the ignition module, and used electrical contact cleaner, and
voila, it started and ran fine.
Gary Wright <wrightgw@fuse.net>
My wife and I were on our way to Ft Myers Beach, FL from Dayton, OH when my '96 1100i California started acting up. The left cylinder stopped working with an occasional loud backfire, stumble a little, quit, and then run fine. After an hour of this we pulled off the interstate to try to figure out what was wrong. My brother thought the problem was in the ignition module. I thought it was humidity related. The weather was in the 30's and raining. If we could continue south maybe it would clear up. We swapped the spark plugs and the problem went away.
On the way back, a week later, the bike acted up again. We rode
about one hour on one cylinder while all kind of bad things went through my mind. Ignition module $500. Coil $200. I wasn't too far from
Atlanta, maybe MGNA could help me out. What previous experiences have I had similar to this? A few years ago my boat had a similar problem and it was the coil wire. The carbon core inside had disintegrated about one half inch up inside the cable. Maybe I should check the other end of the offending plug wire. Corroded maybe? I pulled it out. Minor
corrosion. I rubbed that off and pushed it back into the hole until the boot was seated on the coil. I gave it another push to seat the wire. And another. And another. Finally the wire seated. Ahah! The
3/8 inch the wire had pulled out of the coil was the problem all along.
Over the years I've been using the spark plug wire to support the funnel when I change the oil. That must have been what caused the wire to come loose. Sometimes the simplest things are the ones most overlooked. I have a tender spot on my forehead from doing the Homer
Simpson thing.
Terry Whitaker
