jueves, octubre 09, 2014

Troubleshooting the Ignition of the COTA 247

The first thing you should do is change the sparkplug.  If you go all through the following steps and discover it was a fouled plug you will hate yourself.
The initial start of the Cota can be a little difficult if it hasn’t been primed sufficiently.  Once the engine has been running for a while it characteristically starts on the first or second kick anytime thereafter during the day.
Thing to look for:

  1. Are the points set at .014”-.016”?
  2. Are the points clean?  You can card the points to be certain.  (Note to follow)
  3. Is the wiring clean and properly installed with no broken or exposed wires?
  4. Is the condenser questionable?  The test of a condenser is by using a volt/ohm meter, touch the outside of the casing and the center contact.  If there is continuity it is bad. Note: Many condensers will check good but will fail when the engine heats up.  If there is good starting but the engine stalls or stutters after it has come to operating heat this makes the condenser questionable.
  5. Is the timing set at 27 degrees BTDC? (Some Cota’s respond to 21 degrees).  It will start and run anywhere between 21 and 27 degrees.
  6. Is the high tension coil and sparkplug cap undamaged and connected properly?
  7. Is the kill button questionable?  This is easily checked by disconnecting it from the coil and checking for spark.
  8. Does the spark plug throw a spark with only a quick twist of the wrist on the flywheel with the sparkplug out and grounded against the head?
  9. Is there any corrosion with the contact of the ground to the high tension coil?  Remove the coil and sand through any rust or paint to make a new ground.

If all of these check out then you have a mystery.   It could mean rewiring it entirely and replacement of the points/condenser.

CARDING THE POINTS:
This process has been around for years.  I heard about it in 1966 with my first Montesa.  It was around long before that.  Points were the method of choice for ignition.  Was there any other way?
The original method was to use a clean corner of a business card.  Open the points, insert card, and twist the card with a back and forth motion.  Open the points and remove the card.  Inspect the card for discoloration. Select an unused part of the card.  Repeat until there is no residue on the card.
I simplified this by using a 3 x 5 card.  I cut off a ¼” strip.  Each time I removed the card I sniped off a small piece and repeated.

If you pull or push it there can be paper left behind insulating the points from contact.  The result would be NO SPARK.

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