Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech 2005 America only running on right cylinder

My buddy has a 2005 America. Last week he started having an issue with the bike only running on the right cylinder. It is an intermittent problem. He can start it and it'll run fine, shut it down and the problem comes back. He already tried swapping out wires, plugs, and coil. Nothing changed. Got gas going to both carbs.

Does this sound like an igniter issue? From what I've been able to find that's what it sounds like to me.

Thanks for any advice.

Brian

Read through this thread and see if one of the options offered helps:
http://www.bonnevilleamerica.com/forums/...part=1&vc=1

Quote:

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Does this sound like an igniter issue?

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Yes.

@oldroadie Thanks for the the thread. I'd seen that already. Some of it doesn't apply. He's not getting spark on the left side when it's not running. Getting gas in both carbs. They've never been off the bike.

@bigbill Thanks.

If he swapped both the input and output of the left coil did the spark follow the swap?

Yep, it's bad news I'm sure. Do like Ed says and swap the plug wires left to right just to be sure. If it stays the same, it's the igniter.

My igniter started acting up on my 05 America when it was about 2 yrs. old. One cylinder would quit running - usually after the bike had been running a bit. The dealer ended up swapping the igniter and both coils out on warranty and it never happened again.

OK, dumb q: What's an igniter??

Ignitor = CDI = ignition module = the thing that tells the coils when to fire.

He's got a mechanic friend who's going to let him borrow a spare igniter to see if it's the issue. If it is I'll try to get him to buy a procom. Might be a hard sell because he's not 'puter literate.

Check this out. OEM

That's a great price for one of those. I had to replace the one on my 02 three years ago. Procomm wasn't offering one that would work and I spent @$600 for a new one. I did have a line on a guy who might have been able to repair it, but I never pursued it.

If it were me, I buy the procomm and pay to get it programmed right for your ride.

Ted

I can't remember when the motors bumped up to 865 but here's one for a 790cc model pretty inexpensive:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/01-Triump...s#ht_4348wt_939

That is a good price. I think it's because it's for a Bonneville which is a 360 degree firing engine. Won't work on our cruisers. Seems the Bonnys don't toast their CDI units too often.

You're right, they had that lumped in the middle of a batch of America parts. All the same, Pinwall usually has igniters on hand and their prices are very good.

Thanks for all the help. It was the igniter. His mechanic buddy is letting him use his spare until he figures out what he wants to do for a replacement. He's also inquiring with Triumph about replacing it. Don't think he'll get far with that.

Tell him to buy the Procom unit. Triumph is not going to help with that part.

I'm really glad mine went out when it did. Although it was almost a year off warranty, it was replaced by Triumph. There must have been a run of potentially bad igniters during that manufacturing period.

Think of Jurassic Park. Instead of dinosaur dna encapsulated within the amber, in our case it is moist air encapsulated within resin.

Man I feel lucky! I have an 05 and so far so good. Coils and CDI have been great.