Accent Electronic Ignition on a GT550A

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Laurence
Posts: 124
Joined: Fri Aug 01, 2014 3:57 pm
Location: West Sussex

Re: Accent Electronic Ignition on a GT550A

Post by Laurence »

Hi All
Thanks for all the replies.
So it looks like my Cam is all ok and has not lost any magnets.
Uwe from Accent has responded to my e mail that I sent late on Friday afternoon so that’s pretty good service. He has asked me to return it for testing and repair so I have removed it from the bike and will get it posted off tomorrow.
Just waiting on him to confirm whether I need to send the cam back as it’s not going to come off very easy without some persuasion such as heat etc . Which may damage it so would prefer to leave it on for now.
Teazer asked me if this had just happened and yes I installed it 5 years ago and it’s been running fine . I do not think I have had the cover off since fitting it . So hopefully it is just a component on the board that has packed up .
Thanks again for all the useful feedback .
Will update again when I get something back from Accent .
Cheers
Laurence
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Laurence
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Joined: Fri Aug 01, 2014 3:57 pm
Location: West Sussex

Re: Accent Electronic Ignition on a GT550A

Post by Laurence »

Hi All

I received the Accent electronic ignition back from Uwe a couple of day ago and got some garage time today to re fit it .
The problem was that the Hall sensor had failed and this senses the magnets set into the cam.

When the ignition failed completely I had the bike on the bench investigating a rough running problem that had suddenly started after having had 5 years of no problems. So when I lost sparks on all cylinders I hoped that the poor running was associated to the ignition becoming faulty and then finally packing up altogether . But today having re-installed the repaired ignition I still have this problem .
Originally the fault occurred at low revs , it was as if one cylinder lost its spark and the engine was clunky and only ran properly at high revs . So my initial thoughts were ignition or perhaps an air leak issue. But before I had a chance to investigate I lost all sparks to all cylinders, when the hall sensor obviously failed. Now I get the same issue as above but I also get back firing and the centre cylinder exhaust pipe is not getting hot and the left is much cooler than the right which is hot . The centre pipes are also spraying an oil and petrol mix from the breather holes . I have a good spark on all three cylinders and have fitted new plugs to rule a faulty plug out of the equation . While I had the bike running I sprayed carb cleaner around all the inlet rubbers and there was no sign of improved or faster running so not sure it is air leak related .
Shining a light down each plug hole there does not seem to be anything horrible like a holed piston that I can see.

Any thoughts on what the could possibly be would be most welcome :D

Cheers
Laurence
asco58
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Re: Accent Electronic Ignition on a GT550A

Post by asco58 »

It sounds like there could be an excess of fuel? Maybe a problem with the choke plunger seals leaking or floats or valve seats?
teazer
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Re: Accent Electronic Ignition on a GT550A

Post by teazer »

Great news that Uwe identified the problem and that at least is fixed.I'd recommend starting with a compression test and leakdown test just to put those numbers on the board. next I would pull the pipes and be 110% sure that there's nothing blocking the baffles or pipes. You really have to remove pipes and carbs to do a leakdown, so may as well give them another checkup while they are off.

I would strip and clean the carbs again even if you already did it a few times and check fuel level on all 3. You will need an adapter to replace the drain screws (one at a time) and it's possible that one or more are allowing a high fuel level. As the last post suggested also check the choke plungers. I was caught out by those in a prior build. They looked fine but leaked. Also check the air jets and air passages. Who knows what tiny bugs might have over wintered in there.

One last thing I have found that engines that have not run for a few years are often very reluctant to run cleanly at first regardless of what you do. Sometimes they just need hotter (lower number on NGK) and run them until they get hot and stop acting up, but usually there is some small annoying thing that we miss because we are sure we already checked that.
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Laurence
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Joined: Fri Aug 01, 2014 3:57 pm
Location: West Sussex

Re: Accent Electronic Ignition on a GT550A

Post by Laurence »

Thanks guys
I will start working my way through the items that you have listed.
Cheers
Laurence
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slosher
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Re: Accent Electronic Ignition on a GT550A

Post by slosher »

teazer wrote: Thu Dec 16, 2021 3:50 am next I would pull the pipes and be 110% sure that there's nothing blocking the baffles or pipes.
+1 with teazer sounds deja vu with recent problems i had with my 550 complete blocked baffle area, cool header pipe, running erratic
This with cross over pipes fitted iv'e now fitted a 3 into 1 piper and runs fine now

Cheers Dave
GT750L
GT550L
TL1000 97s
T140V
Loctite Trained Engineer :lol:(since having the Bonnie)
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Laurence
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Joined: Fri Aug 01, 2014 3:57 pm
Location: West Sussex

Re: Accent Electronic Ignition on a GT550A

Post by Laurence »

Hi Guys
My last post on this was in December and you guys had given me lots of advice on what to check . Christmas , family and other commitments have got in the way but I have an update on where I am with this issue .
I have had the centre exhaust pipes off as the centre pipes were running cool. Have cleaned them manually ( using an internal pipe bending spring ) and using a caustic soda mix. Did not find anything that could explain the problem but they were very oily from the cylinder not running correctly .
Also had both left and right pipes off and also gave them a good manual clean and no problems to report here.
Have had the carbs off and cleaned out all jets and airways and checked float heights, also checked choke plunger seals and they look to be in good condition . When I had the top of the carbs off the left and centre carb o ring seals sprung out of the grooves as I lifted the top off . It appeared that they had expanded in diameter and no longer fitted in the grooves anymore . Being that these were the cylinders that were not running correctly (based on exhaust pipe temperature ) I was hopefully that this could possibly be the problem . So I have replaced all three with some pattern carb kit ones from Japan.
Put everything back together and fired the bike up but still have the same rough running and sounds like it is only running on a couple of cylinders . It clunks and hisses with a slight backfire .This time it's the left cylinder that is not running correctly as the left pipe remains cool. Checked sparks on all cylinders and either have no spark on left or at best an intermittent spark.
So am thinking that I have an ignition circuit issue any advice on how I can check this would be appreciated ?
All HT leads and plug caps were replaced 5 years ago when I restored the bike.
I guess ignition coils are unlikely to become faulty but is there a way to check these ?

As always any advice would be much appreciated.
Cheers Laurence
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Laurence
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Joined: Fri Aug 01, 2014 3:57 pm
Location: West Sussex

Re: Accent Electronic Ignition on a GT550A

Post by Laurence »

Hi Guys
I think it's not a spark issue as after switching plugs around and cleaning them and also trying another set of coils from eBay I think I have ruled out a coil issue .
Firing the bike up on the bench again it is still the same symptoms like it's not running on all cylinders . With hissing and occasional back fire but without the bang. Centre and Left cylinders exhaust headers remain cooler than the right .
Engine of course started on the choke and when this is switched off the symptoms become worse . So it is a problem with the centre and left cylinders and the fact that it gets worse when the choke is switched off I am thinking is it a problem with the choke plunger seals that was mentioned above by asco58 and teaser. When I had the carbs apart the choke plunger O ring seals looked ok . Is it just this part that needs replacing ?
Where can I get these from ? Is it something that Reiner might have ?

As always any advice is much appreciated.
Cheers
Laurence
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canaletto5
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Re: Accent Electronic Ignition on a GT550A

Post by canaletto5 »

I've used this guy when refurbishing my carbs, I recommend him,

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254873112045 ... Sw7YRgMkHv

Kev
asco58
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Re: Accent Electronic Ignition on a GT550A

Post by asco58 »

Laurence wrote: Sun Feb 20, 2022 10:50 am I think it's not a spark issue as after switching plugs around and cleaning them and also trying another set of coils from eBay I think I have ruled out a coil issue.
If you want to check the coils are in spec, measure the coils primary resistance (between the orange and black wires on the block connector) and the secondary coil resistance (between the orange and HT lead). The 72/73 Data Manual says 3-6 ohms primary and 10k to 25k ohms secondary. There's a lot of variation between manuals but based on the measurements I made of my own coils, it looks like these numbers account for whether you have non resistor plug caps, 5k plug caps or 10k plug caps.

What do the spark plugs look like? When my choke seals were leaking, the left and centre plugs carbon fouled quite badly. The right did as well but quite a bit less. I'm thinking it's because the right takes a choke feed from the centre on the banked carbs.
Laurence wrote: Sun Feb 20, 2022 10:50 am When I had the carbs apart the choke plunger O ring seals looked ok . Is it just this part that needs replacing ?
It's the piece of rubber on the bottom of the choke plunger that needs replacing. They'll look ok but if they're several years old then the rubber goes hard and doesn't seal properly.
I used this guy as well. I used the email in the advert and it was £5 cheaper in total.
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