Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Why do igniters fail

Less than 1000 miles and a little over one month and I think my igniter went out again.
Has anyone picked up on a common thread with all the igniters that went bad that could be a reason for them failing. I had the pickup coil adjusted before this igniter was put on.
It just seems to me there is something that causes them to fail but I don’t see a common thread in all the posts I read. Maybe someone a little more observant than me has…

Voltage spikes ? Is the voltage going to them regulated ?

Someone stop me in my thoughts, but can't something like a fuse, or an RCD or a weak link be put in the cables before the CDI to stop spikes getting through??
Something that's easy to change if it goes.

It's probably more likely that the voltage spike is feedback from the coil's high tension output and due to a poor grounding scheme.

I was interested in the way the service alert for the sensor coil was worded as it stated that once the coil was set to 0.8mm no more failures had been observed. That implied to me that a weak output from the sensor was somehow stressing the ignitor but that side of the equation is all done at very low current so I didn't understand how that would prompt failure. I could see where it would generate a poor spark but I'm not a brilliant enough electrician to follow the path to a dead ignitor.

Then again, maybe the Gill folks just have a higher tolerance percentage for failure than we'd like. I read of a large number of ignition coil failures over a t-rat.net followed by blown ignitors and a few bad sensors. You'd really have to Google hard to find the same volume of electrical failures with other brands of bikes.

Cripes! Terry - That just plain SUCKS!

I find this appalling to say the least. If grounding is a suspect cause, my less than electrically charged thoughts tend to lead me to the conclusion that those of us who have bikes with a few miles/years on them may benefit in taking a good, proactive look at the grounding connections to determine if there is any signs of corrosion or looseness that would adversely affect continuity, and those that take the time to check report their findings.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know, only the 270 fire bikes have ignitor issues. I've never heard of a Bonnie or Thruxton with a failure...not sure about Scramblers...never paid any attention.

Yes, after reading Oldroadie’s post, I was thinking the same thing.
When the last igniter went I checked the wires for contact and breakage but I didn’t check the grounds. I’m going to take a look and see whatall grounds I can find and take them off, clean them, grease them and tighten back down.

I got to talking to an old school Harley wrench and he’s said it a fault with the voltage regulators sending a voltage spike to the CDI. He said when he can he changes back over to points and condensers in his bikes

Although I trust in the wisdom of our own knowledgeable wrench oldroadie first

I tell you what. I'm about done with my bike. I got the same odd start up backfire that came before my last 2 cdi deaths. Only this time I still have spark but it blew the stater.
This is maybe 1000 miles since the last time it went in August of last year.
I wish Triumph would sit down and figure this out instead of just throwing parts at the problem.

Here’s an update on my igniter fiasco.
Triumph replaced the igniter again and told the dealer to remove, clean, and grease all grounds. The mechanic said he didn’t find anything in the grounds that seemed bad but he cleaned, greased, and put a star lock washer on each of them. All I can do is hope this will work out OK. I just don’t have the confidence to jump on and ride anywhere anymore. I’m thinking I’ll buy a used igniter and carry it with me to get me home if I have another igniter fail.
Does anyone out there have a used igniter they don’t need for a poor man’s price?

I just wish Triumph would put their best electronic minds on this problem and find the solution. There has to be an answer as to why there’s so many igniters failing. I also agree with Gina, there should be a way to protect the igniter with something much cheaper to replace.
Wish me luck, I need it.

Check Pinwall Cycles on ebay. Mine cost about $240.

Hi Terry,

I can say that anyone hired by Triumph Corporate signs a confidentiality agreement. The ignitors are one of the reasons among many reasons the clause is in place. Something very odd about the ignitors, something that to some at corporate is a constant source of amazement and a MAJOR thorn too boot. "Don't even get me going there, moe" "Anyways, I am under a confidentiality agreement to not discuss with those not in the club"

Seems to me that a simple fix is available but the Torres have not a concern for the serfs.

grrrr

my hunch is an eloquent solution is available, most likely a honda part or some such thang. However, the corporate boys would loose big time and GILL would be like those that have lost an ignitor, really pis...er upset about losing the business. Cause we all know that we would pounce on a rice burner alternative.

Gosh I am starting to sound like a certain lad from prescott.

has anyone counted the ignitor failures here?
mine's bad, so add 1 more.
it's very dangerous to suddenly have little power.
imagine an onramp and a merge...

cat

Triumph obviously knows there was an issue with certain series CDIs since they have now changed the part. However, the new ones will not work on the 05 and earlier bikes, go figure. Anyway, we discovered this in New Hampshire last year when Dill had his CDI replaced with a new one off the floor and it would not start (brand new bike, 06 I believe it was). I mentioned they should try one from the same year bike, then it worked fine. he was scratching his head and did not have an answer.
So they know, they are just keeping their traps shut as moe stated. I wish they would let other companies make them too.

has anyone counted the ignitor failures here?
Add me to the list (03 America)

hey can you change the cams with the t100 would that help

Glazer's CDI had a crack in it, that apparently allowed moisture in. Once it dried in the sun for a while, it started right the F' up.

...and that's the truth, Ruth.

Add me to the list 3 replacements in four years Made me swop my bike in the end

From what Triumph said to me on the phone the new EFI bikes do not use the same company(GILL - UK), so maybe, just maybe I will have a Triumph I can rely on when I pick it up

I have had the same problem with my 02 BA. I t/s it down to the ignition control unit. I am not getting any spark from either plugs, all coils have been checked good. What's this about a cheaper than $600 replacement. Where can I get one? Bike Bandit is awful pricey.

I have had the same problem and posted a couple items on one of the threads about coils. I too have an 02 America with about 22k on it, garage kept and rarely rode in the rain. I have checked everything, including the grounds. I reluctantly decided to buy a new igniter last week. I am hoping it arrives by next thursday, so I can ride over the holiday weekend. Here is a link to a place that has used parts, I haven't seen any igniters for our bike since I started looking, but apparently they come up ocassionally. With all the complaints I have seen about this issue, Triumph really ought to step up and make this right.

http://stores.ebay.com/PinWall-Cycle-Parts-Inc

Good Luck,

Ted

I also have an 02 BA with a bad ignitor. Imagine that. My bike still runs, a little, so I hate to take it apart, but I wonder if anyone else has cracked one of these bad ignitors open to have a look.

>This should be set at 8 thou

Huhu (sp?) - .8mm - about .020".

'03 BA on 3rd ignitor here.

Thanks Birhr! I will give it a try.

.8mm = .031

Triumph is screwing us here. Pat is right they seem to have made a change after 05.
I have to say I'm not impressed and the constant downtime that my bike has had will cost Triumph more than 1 sale/customer. I was ready to buy one for the wifey also. But neither of us trust them now.

Triumph do not seem to give a hoot Alden, as the amount of bikes produced outweigh and the amount of failures and complaints they receive. At the end of the day using UK law your argument is with the dealer not with Triumph themselves..

Seems like one of the aftermarket companies could come up with a new and improved version.If they would sell them for a little less than the stocker(or maybe a lot less)they would sell a lot of them and if they outlasted the stockers it would give them a really good name on the market.It seems to me that if the ignition is not working correctly if it is running even barely that the bike would not pass pollution standards.I believe on cars they have to be able to pass standards up to 75,000 miles.You think they might have the same law for bikes? If they do Triumph ought to be making sure these things last to please the evil smog police.

I weighed in on this discussion about 10 days ago. I received my new igniter last thursday and that was the problem. It was hard for me to shell out $600 based on my best guess, but I guessed right and I am running again.
Funny story: After it fired up, I shut it down and then started putting the rest of the bike together. Then I fired it up again, punched it and there was a pop and it died. After I put my exploded brain back in the skull, I realized I had drained so much gas from the tank, it had run out. I flipped it over to reserve and it fired up again. Major duh moment.

For those of you who need to deal remotely for parts, I highly recommend Hermys. www.hermys.com The local dealer here, which is over 100 miles from me, stinks. He wouldn't even take my cc over the phone to buy the part. Hermy had it to me in less than a week. On the other hand, I ordered a side cover gasket from Bike Bandit 3 weeks ago, still waiting. Never using them again.

Had mine since 02, pre fire, no problems (touch wood).

Well my last igniter had the number 1291100, serial number 05060802 on it unfortunately Idid not take any notice of the one I took off except the 1291100 was the same.

But something is odd about them keep going, but if there is a fault with them Triumph are keeping it close to their chest..

I emailed "GILL" the manufacturers and asked why they keep blowing and if they have tested any that had been returned. I know they open my email as I got receipt but no reply. Maybe we should start bombarding them with emails until someone gets a reply..

Email: anem@gill.co.uk

Emailed Gill, let's see if we get a response, also copied to BIKE magazine and MCN..

Hi

Having sent an email to Gill on the 28/06/2008 and not getting a response, I wondered if you had forgotten about it hence my email today. I have established through the internet that I am not on my own when my Triumph motorcycle is blowing the igniter. I have had to replace my bike due to the fact that it has had 3 replacements in 4 years, surely this is not normal.

I am a member of “Bonnevilleamerica.com” and find that there are a lot of people with the same problem, with some of them experiencing the same problem and having to replace the igniter 3 times, is this something to do with the engine being a 270 degree firing, as the 360 degree Bonneville ‘s seem to have no problems..

I also find that Triumph are just replacing these until the warranty runs out then it is down to the customer to replace the igniter. Can you shed any light on why these units are going down.

Thank you

Mr R Birch

Well, I suspect there is a design or manufacuring flaw at work here that is not being replicated often enough for Triumph to consider worth investigating. I don't know how many Americas have been made, but there are only less than thirty of us discussing this topic. Obviously there are many owners that don't visit this site, but how many more, and do they have/have they had this problem. I will email Gill as suggested above but have no expectation that they will respond.

In any manufacturing process you will have an allowable rate of failure. ( Unless it is NASA)

For me, the next time this thing fails, I'm going to replace it and sell the bike. Hard to do, cause it was the bike I was going to keep until one of us died, but $600 bucks for a set of what I consider points is over the top.