Starting problems: I found some thing very interesting

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Gearbox
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Starting problems: I found some thing very interesting

#1

Post by Gearbox »

Heres a good one for all of you having problems starting your Pan , It took me about twenty kicks to start my Pan the other day and I thought the usual things , not enough gas ,too much choke , not enough choke , no gas , timing ahhhh, when I rechecked my timing because since it was its first start after rebuild , I found some thing very interesting, some times the light would light and some times it wouldn't ( this is a man. adv. circuit breaker ) after adj. it and still having times it wouldn't light , I started to look at it more closely and found that the top rotating part of the circuit breaker would shift a little ( slop side to side ) and that would be enough for it to be out of time . I first thought , thats not enough to have it start hard , well maybe and maybe not! Thats enough to put it out of whack for even man. advance . Last night I played with it and I can see it would be enough , if it shifted when retarding it for starting , I was not even getting a pop , then played with the side to side and varoom she fired every time I played with it after having nothing happen in the firing dept. This is my only second man. advance , has this happened to others? Time to put my Mallory on, I did start her with the org.and I believe this ones wore out.
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Re: Starting problems

#2

Post by PanPal »

I found the same thing on my second pan. When you have too much play, you will find you do not get a consistent point gap. Take a look at the gap when the points are opened with the lid off. move the top portion side to side, do not turn it and observe the gap. You may also loose ground as the cap must ground to the base. I have seen others attach a wire from the top portion to the base to insure contact. The guy before me used a spring to hold the breaker in the advanced position after starting. This may have helped the wear along. I now turn it by hand back and the assembly has been restored well enough that I do not need the spring. It stays put on it's own and will be a spare as soon as my Mag arrives.
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Re: Starting problems

#3

Post by mbskeam »

if you want to save the dist,
1 make sure bushings are good
2 up and down end play set up
3 then take the top. and if you look you will see that the hole in the center probably has worn to a loose fit on the base.
to fix mine I took a set collar just slightly smaller ID than the nipple lookin part of the top, put it on top of the upward protruding metal, (support from the under side)get a drift and hit the set collar . this will close up the hole to the fit you need.
If you go to far then you might have to run a reamer thru it to the size of the shaft that it slips over.
you can also shrink up the outside of the top part with a small brass hammer by working the metal to fit the base, while it is in place.
did this to mine and it came out real nice, and it does not have any more side play, just the back and forth action, this dose not take to long to do.

mbskeam
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Re: Starting problems

#4

Post by junker »

had this problem once to often.took a old choke lever off an ole brit bike mounted it on left bar hooked up to dist. retard to start and turn lever with thumb to advance.tried spring trick.after kicking two or five times it would creep forward and then kicker would try to send me in orbit.been using the lever several years now .gotta have it.
Gearbox
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Re: Starting problems

#5

Post by Gearbox »

Well , I figured I was not the only one to have this problem and it was just one of those things ya find with and older HD. I have a Mallory to put on , I know its not org. , even not looking like org. but , theres no doubt in my mind that the electronic ign. will be better starting not to mention better fuel economy and now a days thats a big factor . I will repair this circuit breaker for a spare just in case modern tech. lets me down .

mbskeam: I will check out your fix when I pull it off to put the Mallory on.

junker: I tried to make a lever and found that because of the ark of the circuit breaker , I needed some kind of clevis at the ends of the linkage to keep it from binding , how does your linkage look that keeps it from binding?
junker
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Re: Starting problems

#6

Post by junker »

the cable is a thin one and it is run between the cylinders with a small clamp holding it tight bolted with one of the lifter blocks the cable is stripped back from there to the dist where it is ran through the hole that was made for the orig, cable and looped back and twisted together.works pretty good
Gearbox
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Re: Starting problems

#7

Post by Gearbox »

mbskeam
I dissembled the timer yesterday and found the hole in the timer plate was egg shaped some what , with the most ware one side closest to the condenser( makes sense). I did the procedure you described and it turned out real good . I constricted it a little at a time and test fit is after each compression and got her good and snug . Timing light lights every time now . I found that my other coil ( for the Mallory) was cracked so I had to fix the stock one so I can run her.Found a striped motor mount stud on rear head , so I have to take care of that before I start her again. Thanks for the info.

Heres an update on my manual adv. dist. (circuit breaker ) I started to have problems starting her again so checking everything out again, I found it was out of time every time I rotated it back and forth to start.I also found small cracks around the base plate around where it attaches to shaft housing, could be from my attempted repair. I bought a new re pop auto adv. dist. and man it be starting first kick , what a beautiful thing that is .
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