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ignition pick up sensor

7K views 22 replies 15 participants last post by  bmwbob 
#1 ·
Hello Folks,
At 25,850 miles my '05 T100 ignition pick up sensor failed. I curious how many other people have experienced this.

Months before I had just finished a 6000 mile road trip. It would have been major hassle had this happened in route. The part is $80 and if enough other people have had this experience I might pick up a spare for road trips.

Paul
 
#5 ·
My 2 cents: If I were to pick up the $80 part, then the $500 dollar part would fail while I was out on a trip. Some have had igniters fail, and some have had coils fail. Most of the ignition pick-up sensor failures that I have read about were low mileage failures.

I believe it is wise to carry a cell-phone and have tow insurance when on long trips. Google's new directry assistance number could come in handy also: 800-466-4411
 
#6 ·
25,000 miles. Your lucky my 07 went at 5,000 km and there has been so many that are faulty Triumph should bite the bullet and do a recall. Imagine if GM or any of the big car manufactorers had a part that failed and caused your engine to stall half way accross a intersection.
:mad:
 
#8 ·
Does this pickup sensor cause one cylinder to cut in and out? My 05 T100 is currently running on one cylinder except when I roll on the throttle. Then it runs fine and pulls strong so long as it is under load. If I set there and just rev the engine it runs on one cylinder. If I maintain steady speed the one cylinder cuts in and out and pops. I tried new plugs and a new Nology coil. I haven't done anything to the carbs except new jets when I installed the TORs a year ago.
 
#9 ·
Whilst anything is possible, I wouldn't expect a faulty pickup sensor to consistently affect the running of the same cylinder on your T100. It activates once every revolution of the engine irrespective of which cylinder is firing and the ignitor fires the coil every revolution. If the pickup sensor is faulty, I would expect it to randomly affect both cylinders. Is this the case, or is it the same cylinder that misses every time?
 
#10 ·
Paul, it's the same cylinder all the time. I have a hunch it is the carb. I did open the carb bowl drain to see that there is flow to it but have not done anything else yet.
 
#12 ·
I'll try that too. I should have done that before I bought the new coil, but hey, it's only money.

I just like to try to figure these things out myself rather than taking it in to the shop.

Thanks
 
#13 ·
it concerns me that a part like a pick up sensor can fail randomly and leave one stranded.

I just finished a 2,000 kilometer trip through the Australian alps. very remote and no cell phone coverage. a couple of mornings when packing up and getting ready to move on I did wonder what if my bike refuses to start.

this pick up sensor, where is it located and how hard is it to replace?

and how do you check it?
 
#15 ·
Its under the alt cover you have to pull the cover then theres a few screws that hold it on .you have to set the gap with a feeler gauge.May need a gasket.If you lean the bike over to the left you wont loose your oil when you pull the cover.
 
#14 ·
Thanks for the replies folks,

It does appear that most of the failures at at relatively low mileage, have not heard of anyone with a 2nd failure yet.
FYI: I'll give you the sequence of events on mine.

On return form Montana going through Wyoming back to Colorado (not a great place to break down) the bike ran fine till I was ten miles from home. I noticed a slight misfire, then again after a few more miles. It started getting worse and I actually pushed the bike the last few yards to my garage.
Next morning it started up and ran fine, and continued to do so for a week.
Then 130 miles from home it started again. This time it would misfire a few times and then quit altogether. This continued all the way home. Deteriorating to about ten miles between failures. Obviously heat related. Ten to fifteen minutes cool down and it would go again.

I took it to the dealer and, of course, it ran fine for them. I told them to just keep it and ride it. They did and after a little more than 100 miles it failed again and they were able to diagnosis it.

Hope this helps if anyone else sees the same problem.

Paul
 
#16 ·
mine failed at about 15000km on a 2006 790 bonneville. have another 15000 on it now and not a problem. i was told by triumph service dept. that there was a bad batch of pick up coils around 2005-2006

but mine took awhile to finally die. kept failing intermittantly, and then had me stranded 8 times (on the comute to work) and would start again when cool.....before it died for good one night.... had it trailered to the dealer. they wouldn't replace unless it failed on them.

it was a very frustrating time dealing with the dealer and triumph.
 
#17 ·
Air gap on ignition pickup sensor

On my previous Triumph ('98 T-Bird), before finally discovering the bad Gil coils, I had a go at the ignition sensor pickup.
I found it gapped MUCH closer than the factory spec.
Don't know if this is a common situation with the Bonnies, but now I suppose I will check mine soon.
For those who have had the unit fail....was there any sign that the sensor had actually contacted the lobe on the crankshaft?
I suspect that such contact could contribute to the early demise of the sensor.
But, then again, it's more likely just one more "quality" piece from Gil, son of Lucas (Lucas=Lucifer, who means NO ONE any good at all!) :)
Bob
 
#18 ·
What caused the electrical pick up to fail?

I'm curious what caused the failures. Do you all spray wash your bikes? The reason I ask is I had a bike years ago if I sprayed it with water, condensation got into the ignition. When I dried it out it would run fine again. That's why I ask. Most pickups do not fail in my experience unless someting causes it to fail but I am curious as to the cause of your electrical failures and if there might be a common connection so we can avoid the cause.
 
#21 ·
I'm curious what caused the failures. Do you all spray wash your bikes? The reason I ask is I had a bike years ago if I sprayed it with water, condensation got into the ignition. When I dried it out it would run fine again. That's why I ask. Most pickups do not fail in my experience unless someting causes it to fail but I am curious as to the cause of your electrical failures and if there might be a common connection so we can avoid the cause.
If you managed to get water into the pickup coil from spraying or washing your bike, you d have bigger problems than a failed pickup coil. ie. No oil . It s behind the alt. cover on the righthand side. There was a faulty batch in 06-07 models and their policy is not to replace them until they completly fail, unless you really complain and try calling your National Service Manager. ;)
 
#19 ·
The pickup sensor is a known problem. Also, Triumph changed the gap spec on it from 1mm to 0.8mm, which would be something to try before changing it out.

Knock on wood, mine has performed without problems.
 
#20 ·
To elaborate a bit on the change in the manual for the Ignition Pick-up Coil air gap: The setting in the manual originally was 1.0 mm +/- 0.2 mm. Triumph changed this to 0.8 mm +/- 0.2 mm. I believe the problem was with an air gap of 1.2 mm which was originally within specs.
 
#22 ·
My '05 Speedmaster started cutting out like it wasn't getting enough gas or firing on one cyclinder then back to normal all within 15 miles. I originally thought it was bad gas or some blockage with the fuel pickup with the carbs. However, after reading about the ignition pick-up sensor, I now have another area to investigate. It didn't start on my bike until around 18,000 miles.
 
#23 ·
Bet it's the coil(s)

My '98 T-bird was doing just the same thing.
After beating myself up trying to get the carbs right (and they weren't the problem), through info from this forum, I replaced the Gil coils with Nology units, and all of the troubles vanished!
Bob
 
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