dead ingnition pickup?

[ntula]

son of a b..  those ancient pick ups are a bit pricy. okay, my symptoms are, beside the sadness  from missing a beautiful day for a ride, are one cylinder (plug) does not fire. (it ran fine when the temperature outside was 80 and above.)

noticed it  when i found the bike lacking a bit of power..    and discovered on cylinder was not firing, the lower front of a 1999 m900s.

swapped the cdi units, same part numbers on these, and no change.

then swapped the respective wires and did it with the coils, no change.. still no spark to the front cylinder plug and the upper (rear) cylinder worked fine either way (i routed the plug wires respective to pick up cdi input and timing)

next i took the pick up wire, red and white from and put it on the coil and cdi for the upper cylinder, which fired fine ( plug wires were off of course for this), and still no spark.

what is a good test for the pick up and can i test it from the red and white wires the connect to the cdi. also, is there anything i missed that may cause this as well besides a dead pick up?

if i have to replace my pick ups, can i just put the in the exact place the previous ones were or do i need to do the timing adjustment dance with it?

[greenmonster]

if i have to replace my pick ups, can i just put the in the exact place the previous ones were or do i need to do the timing adjustment dance with it?

Yes & no.

next i took the pick up wire, red and white from and put it on the coil and cdi for the upper cylinder, which fired fine ( plug wires were off of course for this), and still no spark.

Bit hard to understand,
you mean front p-u wires fired on rear,
"still no spark" means rear p-u wires on front cyls gave no spark on front?
If so, that indicates both p-u`s are fine,
try a new plug on front.

[64duc]

what is a good test for the pick up and can i test it from the red and white wires the connect to the cdi. also, is there anything i missed that may cause this as well besides a dead pick up?

if i have to replace my pick ups, can i just put the in the exact place the previous ones were or do i need to do the timing adjustment dance with it?

 There are two wires coming out of your engine case on the left front, follow them to a connector and unplug. Test for resistance from each wire to ground. Should be in the area of 93-95 OHMs.

  And yes you can replace just one, I did.  Scribe a line on the mounting bracket to locate the pickup and two lines on the case to locate where the bracket mounts and you should be fine.
 

[ntula]

oh, i disconnected the plug caps from both plugs leaving the plugs in, took the front (vert) pickup connect and put it on the upper (horz) and then put a new plug on the upper/horz plug cable, which worked fine, and got no spark. the other thing i noticed is my spark to the upper/horz, when it is wired correctly, is pretty weak, even under a cover in the shade it was hard to see a spark. i am going to try the ohm meter test.. i may have a short or wire break somewhere.. which may be why it runs fine when it is hot outside.. the sf fog moisture is gone.

yes, i was thinking i could just get a sharpie and trace the edges of the existing one and then put the new one in it's exact place.. the bike is due for the 6k valve service, so worse case i can just have them fine tune and adjust it during that.. .. i want to paint my alt cover if i have to take that off. i have never done this on a ducati, did it on a kawi before.... if anyone in sf wants to give a hand and confirm the diagnosis, i would gladly compensate you with cash and/or drink.

the bike is 11.5 years old and this is the first significant problem it has had... i did have to replace 2 hitachi solenoids.. but that is pretty minor... 

[Howie]

If the problem is intermittent you will need to do the resistance test when the bike is acting up.  If you do not change the bracket the pick ups are attached to, assuming the timing was correct, you will not need to re time, just set the air gap.  OEM pick ups come on the bracket.  You will need a non magnetic feeler gauge for that. 

[ntula]

i did a resistance test, the upper read 102 ohms, the front read zero. does it matter where the flywheel is on this, i did not turn the engine over at all when testing. while testing the front that read zero, i jiggled the wires around with no avail and there were no breaks in the insulation or coating. i did notice the my battery overflow line ran right where the wires went into the case. i am going to do one last test before i buy the part since i ran the bike briefly to keep the cylinders wet.

are there any good sources for the part, my local dealer wants about $250 including tax for it.. that sound ridiculous for this 80's tech common part, as i recently picked up a set of similar ones for a kawi for $80.

[ducpainter]

http://www.electrexworld.co.uk/p8-pickup-pulse-coil-9413-0.html

http://www.ignitech.cz/english/aindex.htm

[Howie]

i did a resistance test, the upper read 102 ohms, the front read zero. does it matter where the flywheel is on this, i did not turn the engine over at all when testing. while testing the front that read zero, i jiggled the wires around with no avail and there were no breaks in the insulation or coating. i did notice the my battery overflow line ran right where the wires went into the case. i am going to do one last test before i buy the part since i ran the bike briefly to keep the cylinders wet.

are there any good sources for the part, my local dealer wants about $250 including tax for it.. that sound ridiculous for this 80's tech common part, as i recently picked up a set of similar ones for a kawi for $80.

You are measuring resistance of a winding so flywheel position has no effect.  Zero is a strange reading though.  You might want to check again.  More likely is infinity or a lower resistance.