no fire

[kevinral]

I have a miriad of questions/issues. I got a '63 CA77. It has very low original miles. I pulled the carb and de-gunked it. I replaced the plugs. I had a key made for the ignition. I got a new battery. I bought the battery about a year ago and it has since gone dead.

I installed the dead/weak battery (as evident by the weak red neutral signal below the speedometer). I started kicking the kick start. The ignition that I have is a 5 position ignition (no winker). The manual that I have says to start the kick start procedure in the IV position. I did so with some weak head light response but no fire to the plugs (later pulled and checked against the head). Now I read on the forum that most of these old CA's actually have a 6 position ignition.

Do I need to get a good charge on the battery before re-attempting? I think that my ignition switch needs to be in the II or III position prior to cranking. In the IV position the key can be removed. Or might there other issues that I am overlooking?

(I also have issues with the fuel petcock side of the gas tank (leakage). Are there any Kreem suggestions?)

Please help me!

[Dana01]

Hi Kevinral,

I've used Kreem, but I found POR-15 to be a better product for coverage ... it's thicker, so the final coating is thicker. I pried some of the dried material out of my plastic bucket after an application and found the stuff quite flexible and tough to tear.

I used it on my Norton Commando with no problems and have done it on my CB77 tank.

[brewsky]

Kevin,
Definitely charge the battery before trying to start.
If you have the 5 position switch. you should be able to start from either II or III.
I.....Crank, no ignition
O....Off
II....Run, no lights
III...Run, with lights
IV...Park, tail light only

The owners manual says for low battery starts, use III, but put dimmer switch in "middle" position to turn off headlight. This would increase juice to the ignition by eliminating the headlight draw and using the extra coil in the magneto that kicks in when the ignition is in III position.

The only problem with those instructions, is some dimmer switches do not have a "middle off" position.

If you have no fire with a charged battery, then the problem is elsewhere.

[pknopp]

Charge the battery and if you haven't yet, put in new plugs. Then try and start in position II.

[kevinral]

Well...I think that I really messed up. I put the battery on the charger for 24 hrs. @ 2amps. It charged up but then it discharged. I connected it to the bike and the headlamp came on but no spark when cranking (I only cranked it with my hand a couple of times). I took the battery to the auto parts store and they told me that it had a dead cell. Now I need a new battery.

Should I buy a trickle charger (1-1.5 amp) or a maintainer?

[brewsky]

I bought one of these at walmart and have been really impressed so far.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Schumacher-Sp ... gMethod=rr
One of my batteries was showing -.6 volts and I was sure it was toast.
Added a little distilled water to top off and now it is holding at 12.5.
I've got several Battery Tenders, a full size charger-maintainer-"rejuvenator", but this is the only one I use now.
It also has an automatic desulfation mode...if it detects sulfation in the battery, it automatically switches to desulfate mode.

[kevinral]

I know that it has been a while but, life for my Dream is a little intermittent right now. Anyways, I wrote in a few months ago about not getting fire out of my plugs on my '63 CA77.

I purchased a new battery, re-built the petcock, and started cranking. Still no fire to the plugs. The neutral light, headlight, starter motor, and horn are all working.

Any suggestions about where to start or how to trouble shoot? (I don't know much about electrical).