80 xs400 ignition help

[bostonstrong]

hello all, I just picked up an 80 xs400. The bike was rewired by previous owner and he didn't do the greatest job but all the essentials seem to be there. I replaced the battery and I have power at the connectors going to the ignition coils but I have no spark at the plug wires. Are they're any kickstand, clutch safety switches I need to be aware of? the bike most definitely has compression and air/fuel just no spark. I plan on ordering two new ignition coils, wires, wire plugs, and spark plugs anyway but I would just like to know if there are any safety switches which would prevent the coils from providing spark to the wires??? Also the ignition points are something I've never dealt with on a bike, Could they be worn or need an adjustment? Thank you in advance.

 

[xschris]

No points on the bike but a pickup coil for the TCI box. With your wiring the way it looks I would re-do the entire thing because it could be anything There are a few threads on here for custom jobs.

 

[bostonstrong]

Is another word for the tci box the ignition module? And is the pickup coil bolted to one of the cylinder heads?

 

[bostonstrong]

I intend on re-wiring the whole bike and hiding everything. I need to figure out the whole ignition system first. I've been reading the tci box is a common problem with these so i'm going to rip it apart and take a look

 

[xschris]

The TCI box is the square plastic box. The pickup coil is located on the left side of the engine under a cover off the cam.

 

[bostonstrong]

Okay so the pickup coil is what I thought the points were its behind a cover on the left cylinder head correct? I appreciate the help

 

[bostonstrong]

there are contact points on that ignition coil though right/ That's what I was referring to.

 

[xschris]

No points, this is what the pickup looks like.

 

[bostonstrong]

No points on the bike but a pickup coil for the TCI box. With your wiring the way it looks I would re-do the entire thing because it could be anything There are a few threads on here for custom jobs.

So I managed to find a tci box and complete factory wiring harness with fuse panel. When they come in the mail I will hook up the new tci box and see what happens. I plan on using the factory wiring harness to completely re-wire the bike and cutting out everything i don't have, which will be most of it seeing how all I have wired is headlight, tailight, and all the ignition wiring. I have one question though, I was going to order an ignition coil, wires, and plug caps for my bike from mikexs.net but it says in the description they are for contact point ignitions only, will they still work or is it a difference? I couldn't seem to find ignition coils for non contact point ignitions.

 

[xschris]

The TCI bikes use 3ohm coils. The ones for points are 4ohm.

 

[bostonstrong]

so since they're 4 ohms will there be too much resistance? Or would they be okay?

 

[xschris]

You need to run 3ohm coils with the TCI ignition.

 

[drewpy]

You need to run 3ohm coils with the TCI ignition.

or you will burn out the tci

 

[xschris]

I would test yours first to see if they are ok before spending money on things you may not need.

 

[bostonstrong]

How do I pinpoint test it?

 

[xschris]

It's all in the manual