Very little spark from distributor.

[Scrimhorse]

Hi,can you help.Spring start up of my 1965 Electra Glide after winter lay up. Rear cylinder fired up front cylinder didn't. Change the plug in front went ok,rode around 6 miles to DMV for annual test,passed ok. That was last week. Started it today same deal rear cylinder fired up front didn't,also had some smoke from exhaust.Began systematic check,plugs,points coil, earth wire. I have another Panhead so I was able to swop parts to solve the problem which was a very poor spark at distributor.
No matter what we did it made no difference. Changed leads,put extra ground leads on no change.
Still very poor spark,finally battery went dead so had to give up. Any ideas please?.

[Cotten]

Welcome Scrimhorse!

The first diagnostic is alway a manifold bubble-test, as a vacuum leak will certainly give such symptoms.

You might review http://virtualindian.org/11techleaktest.html

Are you using OEM-style clamps upon the O-rings?

(There may be other issues, of course... And you really need a good battery!)

....Cotten

[john HD]

points and condensor come to mind if your battery is fully charged first.

john

[Scrimhorse]

points and condensor come to mind if your battery is fully charged first.

john

Thanks for your input.i changed the points & condenser changed the coil, put an extra earth strap on engine to frame.renewed wire from coil to distributor changed ht leads. Opened points manually with screwdriver very little spark,crossed screwdriver to distributor got good spark. Have power to coil.
Trouble started after bike was laid up. Front cylinder was not firing but changed plug then all was fine.
It was a brand new plug that I changed. Left it for a week,same deal started ok but only on rear cylinder,some smoke from exhaust but I guess that was from unburnt fuel in front cylinder.
I have just run out of ideas.

[Scrimhorse]

Welcome Scrimhorse!

The first diagnostic is alway a manifold bubble-test, as a vacuum leak will certainly give such symptoms.

You might review http://virtualindian.org/11techleaktest.html

Are you using OEM-style clamps upon the O-rings?

(There may be other issues, of course... And you really need a good battery!)

....Cotten

Thanks Cotten, yes all clamps o rings oem.last time I did any distance I drove the bike to Holland for the Old Timers Rally in The Hague, I am in London, clutch sliped a bit but that was about all, covered 450 miles.Battery was fully charged when I started today.

[Scrimhorse]

Welcome Scrimhorse!

The first diagnostic is alway a manifold bubble-test, as a vacuum leak will certainly give such symptoms.

You might review http://virtualindian.org/11techleaktest.html

Are you using OEM-style clamps upon the O-rings?

(There may be other issues, of course... And you really need a good battery!)

....Cotten

Thanks Cotten, yes all clamps o rings oem.last time I did any distance I drove the bike to Holland for the Old Timers Rally in The Hague, I am in London, clutch sliped a bit but that was about all, covered 450 miles.Battery was fully charged when I started today.

would an air leak from the manifold affect the spark at the points?.

[Cotten]

Technically not, Scrimhorse,..

But it would certainly affect the burn of the plugs.

And visual inspection of spark at the points is pretty subjective.

Once again, the bubble-test is only a diagnostic.
Any stone unturned hides something to bite you.

Good luck!

....Cotten

[john HD]

what are you using for plugs?

john

[Scrimhorse]

points and condensor come to mind if your battery is fully charged first.

john

Champion J12YC.John.

[lostboy]

Hey
I had the same deal: weak spark at the points. I changed the condenser, put in a new one, same thing. Put in a "new" new one and problem6 solved. Point being is that sometimes these new ignition parts are junk even when brand new out of the box. I installed Echlin partss and they seem to work well.
Eric

[blewcrab]

if your firing on the rear cyl. and not the front,, your getting fire to the coil.. try switching the plug wires,, if your problem reverses..bad coil or plug wire..if it stays the same,you might have a bad valve in the front, or as Cotton says ,,a manifold leak...good luck !

[itsRICH]

I had a similar issue before front cylinder stopped firing, but I had rode to work no issue but on lunch break I had the issue, I have an electronic ignition, but it was the bottom port on my coil to the front cylinder that failed, put in a new new accel coil and issue was fixed

[Scrimhorse]

Thank you all for your suggestions.I will keep on trying and let you know if and when I have any success.
David (Scrimhorse)

[Scrimhorse]

I have posted some photos of my bikes in gallery.Enjoy.

[panhead]

2013 Oldtimers08_small.jpg (99.15 KiB) Viewed 3408 times

Rijswijk last year.