Done putting the motor back together. Trying to set timin by following the book (Clymer) but my points are floating; not riding the cam when they should be open. Here's what I did. 1) gap set to .012 2) Found TDC, zeroed indicator. 3) rotated clockwise (via alternator bolt) to -0.12" from zero. 3) rotated counterclockwise .041" to reach .079". This is the spec from the manual where my points should open. Again, points are no where near the cam lobe. So WTF? I even took off the whole big gizmo off down to the rotor to make sure I installed the cam correctly. That pin makes it pretty idiot proof. other relevant questions: - Why does the manual state to go all the way back to .12" BTDC and then up to .079"? - Looking at the points, does the left set correspond to the left cyl? Right to Right?
Maybe the points are not the correct parts. Maybe the points have not been installed on the stator housing correctly. In any case, if you can afford it, there is no need to suffer with points in the year 2012. Things have moved on and electronic triggering is more precise and more reliable. Back in the day the hot setup was Krober ignition, but that was a long time ago. I haven't messed with this stuff in a while but I believe points are not the only means of triggering ignition on an RD these days. The problem with points is that the cam follower wears quickly and because of this the timing will not remain as it should be for very long. Also, if the crankshaft main bearings have excessive runout the point cam ( which is attached to the end of the crankshaft ) will "wander" and this means that ignition timing will vary significantly. So even in the best circumstances points are a bad solution and a constant source of hassles. You do not want ignition timing to be imprecise or variable on a performance 2-stroke engine. This can destroy an engine in less time than it took to write this sentence. Ok, maybe the entire engine won't be destroyed, but a holed piston is not a good start. You need to post some good close-up photos so people can see what is going on. Words aren't going to give us the clues we need to solve this. .
I gapped them when they were open, ie. when they were on the cam. When I have it at the correct spot for timing, they're closed - ie, off the cam. Like 90 degrees out. I'll snap some pics when I get home today and go over this crap. And yeah, EI in the future. Maybe even before I fire this old gal up for the first time. But I'm still not going to let this go until I figure it out.
Is it on the crank or is it gear driven? When you say that you rebuilt the motor, what all did you do to it? Was the top end apart? Was the clutch and/or the alternator pulled? Was the trans apart? You may have to TDC the piston and reset the cam gear, yes? I have seen plastic cam gears damaged. A new one could be in the cards.
make sure the part of the points that rubs on the cam, and the points are closed when you are opposite the lobe. turn motor over so the lobe is at it's highest point, and pushes the points apart. set your gap. turn motor over again, watching the rub block of the points, is it following the lobe? the points plate can be set so it never follows the lobe, or just touches the lobe at it's widest point, and that just ain't gonna do jack shit. sounds to me like you adjusted the points plate wrong. look again closely at how it works. .
i will reinspect asap. really fucking rough day, just walked in the door, already in beer country. The motor was completely disassembled. everything came off, everything back on. I never touched the points plate; removed the old points, put new on. There's no cam gear. The rotor is bolted directly to the crank and set with a woodruff, not able to mess that up. The points cam fixes to the rotor with a locating pin, not able to mess that up. That's off the top of my head, I'll try to get pics and shit up soon. I know that will probably spell the answer out quickly. just not now.....beeeerrrrrrrrr
There is no cam gear. This is a 2 stroke engine and the point cam is attached directly to the end of the crankshaft. We need PHOTOS of the old points setup alongside the new points setup, and photos of the new points setup as installed on the outside of the stator. Oh, and don't work on the thing after drinking alcohol, mistakes and frustration are much more likely in that scenario. If you doubt this, consider whether you'd like a dentist to work on your teeth when the dentist was a bit tipsy. Whatever the problem is, it can be fixed. Relax, take a deep breath, and take some photos and post a link to those photos so we can see them. Photobucket or Picasa both offer free hosting for photos, last time I checked. If you want to get fancy you can embed a link to the photos so they will appear in your post on ADVrider, but that seems to be difficult for some folks, so if it doesn't work for you just post a plain text link we can copy and paste into our browsers. .
Without adjusting the points plate, it will be impossible to set timing correctly. Timing on these bikes is set by firstly setting the points gap properly, then setting the motor to firing point using a dial gauge, and adjusting the points plate so points are just opening at the firing point.
Me thinks that the OP will take a look at the backing plate or the alternator cover and see that something is not in the right position. Maybe there are pieces that can be assembled in more than one position. The backlash that is mentioned should not be very much. Certainly not the 90 degrees that he sees.
well i'm not sure what happened last week that this didn't work out. started over again today and things seem to be lining up well. at first, the set of points I arbitrarily set upon starting with first wasn't riding the cam at all. I reset the gap, and when I dialed it in it opened at the correct time, or at least there abouts. Still fine tuning Anyway, I'm not sure what the issue was. perhaps I didn't tighten down that set of points well last week, and when it when through the motions, the cam bumped it out past the point of travel when it would contact the cam. Or perhaps the genius of stainlesscycle was right, and I may have adjusted the points when it was not on the lobe of the cam, but somewhere (anywhere) else in the cycle. So I think I'm clear. I'll keep fiddling in my precious moments of free time. and probably come up with something else to keep you all occupied. Pics were promised. as she sits:
It does look more normal than strange. However, there is so much rust that I myself would take it back down and scotchbrite it. Also, I would have Yamaha get me some new screws. A clean ignition in good repair will make better contact, will be easier to adjust, and it will stay in place when tight.
I was going to suggest you were looking at the wrong set of points relative to the cylinder you were checking TDC on. Now that you say everything is normal, I suspect that's what was wrong. Chuck
