1978 Harley burning up points.

Keith Kragerud

I have a 1978 4 wheel HD cart that keeps burning up points. They are sparking or arcing terribly when I run the cart with the cover off. Checked the voltage from generator when running and it is putting out around 14.5 volts. The cart will run well after I hone out the burnt spots or put a new set in but it doesn't last long before I need to fix them again,

BGW

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meangreenmachine72

Sounds like you may have a short somewhere.

73eldo

Have you also been changing the condenser?

How long are we talking about? Minutes? Hours?

chuckbaynham

Lots of info here; search internal resistance coil.
good luck.

Keith Kragerud

Yes, I change the condenser with the points. It actually runs good for a month or so depending on how often it is driven.

Keith Kragerud

Thank you, I will try the search...

backyard

You need resistance. Low resistance is good for a hot spark but hard on points (and also the electronic ignition modules). 9 times out of ten I see on here there is a low resistance automotive coil installed on these things which are somewhere in the neighborhood of ~1 ohm. That is fine to have one of those but you need a ballast resistor to make up the difference.

The manual calls for a coil that has: Primary resistance = 3.4 to 4.2 ohms and Secondary resistance = 6,000 to 9,000 ohms. The carts came with an internal resisted coil that are within those specs. When they went bad, I assume they went to the parts house and just asked for a coil and was given a low resistance coil.

Check the primary resistance of the coil and you will see. Also many times it is stamped on the side of the coil either "External Resistor Required" or "No External Resistor Required".

tew45

Backyard is correct about the wrong coil can cause the problem. I have done that in the past but the coil replacement burned up in a few minutes. Also Chinese condensers have been known to fail. Please follow backyards suggestions.