Replacing Coil Wire and Condensor Questions

NFSGamerUSA

NFSGamerUSA

Member
Going through the electrical system today, my step-dad rotated/twisted the coil wire out out of the coil (like you would for the spark plug boot) and found that it appears the wire isn't supposed to be removable. The wire needed replacement for sure, but there's nothing on the inside of the coil for a new wire to screw onto. Is it supposed to be like this? The coil seems to be working (it has something like 10kohms of resistance), but is it now useless? :2:

Also, is the inside of the condensor supposed to be able to wiggle around a little? After finally putting in the new points and condensor yesterday we noticed the inside of the condensor was a little loose. My step-dad is afraid it might be grounding out and might be one of the culprits for there not being a spark.

Thanks!
 
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snooter

Member
is it a new condensor?..if not replace that junk thing..the condensor insulation has broken down and will give you nothing but electrical fits via phantom problems...Ignition coil i have never ever replaced on any bike i have ever owned...however if the wire is beyond repair you will need a new one...not really sure without a photo but with the new honda condensors you will need a little soldering skill which incidently may be you could just repair the IC wire as well using your new soldering skills....musta been mice...mice prefer honda wire insualtion over all others for some reason...must be sweet
 
NFSGamerUSA

NFSGamerUSA

Member
snooter said:
is it a new condensor?..if not replace that junk thing..the condensor insulation has broken down and will give you nothing but electrical fits via phantom problems...Ignition coil i have never ever replaced on any bike i have ever owned...however if the wire is beyond repair you will need a new one...not really sure without a photo but with the new honda condensors you will need a little soldering skill which incidently may be you could just repair the IC wire as well using your new soldering skills....musta been mice...mice prefer honda wire insualtion over all others for some reason...must be sweet
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Yeah, it's brand new from the points and condensor set on Beatrice Cycle, but I bought it from them a few months ago and they don't allow returns on the electrical parts. :47: The coil wire was just rotted out from age and as most rational people would think, my step-dad twisted/rotated it out of the coil. However, there's no prong inside; is it supposed to be like this? It's an original blue coil, and we think it works, but my step-dad thinks he's made it useless by pulling out the wire.

And yes, there was a mouse nest, but surprisingly everything was intact except for a few little nibbles on three wires in the wiring harness. That was easily fixed, though.

Thanks a lot for the reply! I want to make sure a coil wire can't be put back in the original coil before laying down $50 for a new one.
 
NFSGamerUSA

NFSGamerUSA

Member
hondaman said:
Get a new coil. It is all one piece. You are correct, the plug wire does not screw out of the ignition coil. Get a new condenser and points while your at it. Get a shop manual if you do not have one aleady. You can get an aftermarket coil at Northeast Vintage Cycle OEM NOS and Reproduction Honda Parts Z50 CT70 Minitrail for 20 bucks. Everything else can be had there as well.
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What a stupid design, I thought Honda would've been smarter than to make the coil wire non-replaceable. :102:

And again, the points and condensor are BRAND NEW from Beatrice Cycle, I just put them in on Sunday after having them sit in my garage in the sealed bag since late last year (December). I think we've got it covered without the manual, but thanks for the suggestion; it's just the coil and I guess possibly the brand new condensor that need replaced. I want to keep it original, so I'm ordering the OEM Honda coil. Is Beatrice Cycle not recommendable?
 
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snooter

Member
was the condensor OEM honda?..ive never seen any honda condensor rattle..gotta be aftermarket?..beatrice is great...but you gotta watch saving a few bucks for the chicom stuff he peedles..its not all bad..heck some of it will work and save you a few bucks i guess
 
NFSGamerUSA

NFSGamerUSA

Member
snooter said:
was the condensor OEM honda?..ive never seen any honda condensor rattle..gotta be aftermarket?..beatrice is great...but you gotta watch saving a few bucks for the chicom stuff he peedles..its not all bad..heck some of it will work and save you a few bucks i guess
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It's whatever came in their kit. I don't think the Honda ones are sold anymore (otherwise I'd have bought them), are they? If they are, that's what I'd rather have, but I didn't see them. Maybe I'll order the condensor from elsewhere.
 
NFSGamerUSA

NFSGamerUSA

Member
What do you guys think of this condenser? It's not an OEM condenser, but it's supposed to be a name-brand Japanese replacement. I've found an OEM (Hitachi) condenser on BikeBandit.com (where I regularly order Honda replacement parts for my TRX300), but it'll be over $21 shipped versus $12 shipped for the one on eBay. It's only $5.99 for the one from Beatrice, and I'm already planning on ordering the OEM coil from him since it's cheap there.

However, there are also a lot of used coils with good wires attached to them on eBay that are cheaper than even an aftermarket coil. I've read that the coils are overbuilt, so would it really be that risky to get a used one? In addition, it'd also be blue instead of black like the new Honda replacements.

Thanks again, guys! :3:
 
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hondaman

Active Member
I have used the one for twenty bucks at Northeast Vintage Cycle OEM NOS and Reproduction Honda Parts Z50 CT70 Minitrail
It works just fine and bolts up just like the one from Honda. You will never see it tucked inside the frame so why pay 50 bucks or more. I have also used condensers which are not honda made and they work just fine. Its all stuff you will never see from the outside and they all work just fine. But if you have alot of money to burn go for the Honda brands. Its up to you.
Good luck.
 
NFSGamerUSA

NFSGamerUSA

Member
hondaman said:
I have used the one for twenty bucks at Northeast Vintage Cycle OEM NOS and Reproduction Honda Parts Z50 CT70 Minitrail
It works just fine and bolts up just like the one from Honda. You will never see it tucked inside the frame so why pay 50 bucks or more. I have also used condensers which are not honda made and they work just fine. Its all stuff you will never see from the outside and they all work just fine. But if you have alot of money to burn go for the Honda brands. Its up to you.
Good luck.
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But I can get a used Honda coil with a good wire for less than that on eBay, so I might just get one of those if it's supposed to be working (It'll be the seller's balls if it's not! :70:). I think I'll do the same for the condenser and get a new Japanese one off eBay, as well. Thanks for all of the help!
 
HymieP

HymieP

Member
If you don't want problems/issues with the coil down the road, only buy a Honda coil. You can research this site and listen to the countless stories of 30+ year old bikes with the original "Honda" coils never breaking or failing. Just my .02
 
NFSGamerUSA

NFSGamerUSA

Member
HymieP said:
If you don't want problems/issues with the coil down the road, only buy a Honda coil. You can research this site and listen to the countless stories of 30+ year old bikes with the original "Honda" coils never breaking or failing. Just my .02
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Yeah, it'll be a Honda coil for sure, it's just a matter of new or used (since they are supposed to last forever). Do you think it'd be a bad idea to buy used, or would it be fairly safe if I use common sense?
 
NFSGamerUSA

NFSGamerUSA

Member
Well, I ended up buying a used but great condition used coil assembly off of another '70 CT70 for $40 shipped on eBay (looks like a newer black coil, so maybe that's another good sign). Here's the link. Beats paying $60 for the same thing from most places. I contacted him and he said it'd work perfectly fine, so I bought it. I'll have his own words against him if it's not, so I won't have any trouble getting my money back if it doesn't work. I also bought this name-brand Japanese replacement coil on eBay that I linked to earlier, as well.
 
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snooter

Member
good deal..sucks about the coil as those almost never go bad..future reference...if you have the funds..just spend the few extra bucks and get honda OEM replacement electrical parts..it will save you tons of headaches
 
NFSGamerUSA

NFSGamerUSA

Member
snooter said:
good deal..sucks about the coil as those almost never go bad..future reference...if you have the funds..just spend the few extra bucks and get honda OEM replacement electrical parts..it will save you tons of headaches
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Definitely. I was just about to buy a new Honda coil until I found that one on eBay in such great shape (and I bought it assuming it's a Honda coil; I'm pretty sure it is judging by the picture and description). I would have bought a Honda condenser, but over $20 or more is just not enough for it to be worth it when a name-brand Japanese condenser (which should essentially be the same thing, or at least of the same quality) can be had for roughly $10. Hopefully what I get will be better than whatever junk condenser I got from Beatrice Cycles.

I'm all for keeping this thing original and using only Honda parts when available, and it's rare that I cheap out on any of my vehicles unless common sense tells me I'm paying for the name rather than better quality. Top notch parts is the name of the game.
 
kmcrab

kmcrab

120cc
Snooter is so right about going new OEM on electrical if you can. $60 is nothing for the peace of mind it buys as most electrical components,especially used are non-refundable parts anywhere. The seller has no idea how it was hooked up, what it was hooked up to etc and you will have no recourse. You do not want to skimp on electrical as just the position of the coil itself makes partial disassembly mandatory. . Same for the harness. That is the worst thing, tracking down electrical issues if you end up with no spark or electrical components, unless you are very familiar with wiring/grounding...even then you still have to disassemble at times to track the problem down. Good Luck with the new parts and getting your bike back together, I really hope that this fixes your problems.:4:

PS: Read Campn' Dads Thread on No Spark What to Look For. Talk about frustration that has been going on for a long time. I feel bad for him.
 
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NFSGamerUSA

NFSGamerUSA

Member
kmcrab said:
Snooter is so right about going new OEM on electrical if you can. $60 is nothing for the peace of mind it buys as most electrical components,especially used are non-refundable parts anywhere. The seller has no idea how it was hooked up, what it was hooked up to etc and you will have no recourse. You do not want to skimp on electrical as just the position of the coil itself makes partial disassembly mandatory. . Same for the harness. That is the worst thing, tracking down electrical issues if you end up with no spark or electrical components, unless you are very familiar with wiring/grounding...even then you still have to disassemble at times to track the problem down. Good Luck with the new parts and getting your bike back together, I really hope that this fixes your problems.:4:
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Well, she said it was guaranteed to be working and was just removed, and on top of that they're supposed to last forever, so I'm not too worried. Even before installing I can test it with a multimeter to verify it's working. If not, PayPal/eBay is anti-seller, so I shouldn't have much issue getting my money back. I know what to hook up it up, too. But yeah, hopefully these two things will straighten out the spark problem. There's only one other issue where a wire is supposed to be looped that'll be a quick fix. Thanks for the advice!

I'll let you guys know how it goes once these parts get here and are installed. Fingers crossed, there shouldn't be anything else keeping this thing from running again for the first time in decades! :1:
 
kmcrab

kmcrab

120cc
I just wanted to say that I was not implying that you did not know how to hook it up...Only that electrical component sellers use that as a blanket statement on electrical parts that people attempt to return. I bought a new plug and play mother board for an RV air conditioner once and the dealer actually said to me..."I have used boards for $120 and new boards for $145, no returns or warranty on the $120 used item as we have no way to know how you hook it up..180 day warranty, exchange or full refund on the $145 part". They were identical parts and they were both one way,one plug connectors...I just laughed as I paid the $25 extra for the new one, but I never forgot it.
 
NFSGamerUSA

NFSGamerUSA

Member
kmcrab said:
I just wanted to say that I was not implying that you did not know how to hook it up...Only that electrical component sellers use that as a blanket statement on electrical parts that people attempt to return. I bought a new plug and play mother board for an RV air conditioner once and the dealer actually said to me..."I have used boards for $120 and new boards for $145, no returns or warranty on the $120 used item as we have no way to know how you hook it up..180 day warranty, exchange or full refund on the $145 part". They were identical parts and they were both one way,one plug connectors...I just laughed as I paid the $25 extra for the new one, but I never forgot it.
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Well, this was a private seller who had personally used the coil, and I could get picture proof of it hooked up and/or with a multimeter attached if necessary. Regardless, I understand what you're saying and you've got a great point! I'm like you, I rarely buy used and/or cheap aftermarket parts, but considering the Honda coils are supposed to last forever and this one was in such good shape with the seller's guarantee of it working, I didn't think it'd hurt. Hopefully I won't end up biting my tongue! :4:
 
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