Ultima ignition

[1997flht]

Thinking about putting a Ultmia 2000i ignition on my 1997 flht, my pick-up in the nose cone is melting and full of oil....any thoughts or problems using these Dyna look-alike/re-labled systems. Can get one off e-bay for $130, hell the factory pick-up from Harley costs more than that, thanks....have a great day

[gryphon]

I've been running one now for thousands of miles without a problem. They are made by Dyna and are in fact the 2000I. Just has the Ultima label on it. Of all the electronic ignitions I've run this has been the most reliable for me. Just make sure it's the correct one. The model you want is the 53-642. When I bought mine they were $99 so I bought two. One for a spare.

[Porkchop]

I've ran one all summer (9000 miles) and have had no problems.  It came with the 100 inch motor and after the warranty is out I was going back to factory ignition, just for ease of getting parts on the road.  I'm thinking of just buying a extra 200i and keep for a spare.
Porkchop

[Nebraskarider1]

I put one in my 97 that I converted from F.I. to carb and have not had any problems so far. I got mine from Jirehcycles.com for about $130 with a new coil and wires. Pretty good deal I thought. It has 4 selectable advance curves programmed into it. Only thing I wish it had was the rear cylinder timing offset, it has it but you have to buy a 99 dollar programming kit to reprogram it into it. I run about 10:1 compression so I get a little pinging on the rear cylinder when leaving a stoplight on a hot day. If you are running stock compression I think it is a very good deal and haven't seen any complaints on here about them. As mentioned earlier you can buy 2 of these for what one Crane costs, food for thought.

[baldoldfxr]

Ive got one on my FXR no problems -works well, & its easy to set up or change curves etc.

[ricochet]

On these 2000i Ultima equivalents all the kits I see advertized include the 45k volt coil intended for single fire and single plug.  I thought I read where they can be used with single fire and dual plug setups.  Is this so and is it a matter of getting another of the same coils or a different set of coils altogether?  The kit includes the rotor, a coil, pair of plug wires and the module itself.

ricochet

[ramcr913]

Lotsa questions regarding Ultima ignitions- Are they any good, are they Dyna copies, are they made in China, etc. Well I don’t know all the answers, but after ordering one from Jireh I did find out a few things- (Apologogies for the long post)

Gryphon- Jireh no longer lists the 53-642 in the catalog or their website. Maybe discontinued?
Ricochet- Read the rest of this first, I think I can answer your question at the end.

If you have the Jireh 2008 catalog, you can reference the catalog pages as well as the jireh website.

First of all, Jireh discontinued PN 53-60 (Module only p. 9/2), and 53-61 (complete kit, module, rotor, wires and coil p. 9/2) They were replaced with 53-644 (Module, $109.95 p. 9/3) and 53-660 (Kit, $149.95p. 9/3) Jireh claims that the 53-60 module was unreliable and they had a lot of returns. Anyway, the 2008 catalog and the website disagreed- the website lists the 53-644 as the entire kit. The 53-660 is not listed on the website at all (although you can order it by phone).

Second, is the Ultima a copy of the Dyna? According to Jireh, the Ultima module (53-644) is a clone of the Dyna 2000I (53-520 p. 9/20). Take a look at the picture, except for the writing, they do look identical. Another interesting note- in addition to the 6 dip switches used to set the modules up, both modules can be programmed using the same 53-646 Programming Software and PC Link ($87.95, p. 9/3 and 9/20). Yeah, I would say it’s a clone. The Ultima coil is a 2.4 ohm (primary resistance) coil. I believe the corresponding Dyna coil is the 53-591 ($119.95, p. 9/20). JIreh doesn’t provide the primary coil resistance value, and I couldn’t find any other specs on the coil. Interestingly, the Dyna 2000I is designed for “Designed for coil primary resistance of 2.5 to 3.5 ohms.” You can verify this on several websites, I included one for reference: (http://www.nrhsperformance.com/partsignition.shtml).

Third, is the Ultima made overseas? According to Jireh, the Ultima is made by Dyna in California. I found no “MADE IN” designation on the unit or the packaging. The coil however arrived in a box clearly marked “MADE IN CHINA”.  I still have no idea where the module is made.

Fourth, is the Ultima a reliable unit? According to Jireh, they have had no returns/complaints regarding the 53-644 module.
I haven’t installed the unit yet, although I may get around to it this weekend. I recently upgraded to a Woods W6 cam, and a Mik HSR42. I haven’t completed tuning the carburetor, and will install the ignition when I am done tuning. I have read a lot of posts on several forums regarding Ultima ignitions and have heard conflicting reports regarding their reliability. I don’t know if the negative reports were from the obsolete part number or not.

Ricochet- The Ultima 53-644 module set in single fire mode (Switch 6 ON). Rather than ordering the 53-660 kit (and have a Chinese coil you don’t need), you can order the 53-644 module by itself ($40 cheaper).  According to the Ultima destructions, you can run “dual plug: use two DC2-1 coils wired in series (equals 3 ohms)”.  DC2-1 coils are Jireh PN 53-393, $94.95 per pair p.9/18. Note that these are Dyna coils. I suspect you can use a pair of any 1.5 ohm coils. I don’t know if Ultima makes a DC2-1 clone. The 53-644 module instructions has diagrams of the various configurations, including the single fire/Dual plug set up you want to use.

Any comments or further clarifications would be welcome, and I will post again in the future after running the unit for a while.

[ricochet]

Great info, thanks.  I've been doing some of that same research in the catalog but don't have the benefit of having seen the units or the instructions.  I pretty much arrived at the same conclusions and was planing on buying the module only 53-644 but came up with a different coil set.  Plan is to run single fire, dual plugged so from the same page 9/18 I come up with the coil choice of 53-392 which is a pair of dual tower coils, or a kit of 53-647 which I believe is the pair of 2 output DC6-4 Minicoils.  That's how I read the category for that coil on page 8/18 and it coincides sort of with the Dyna site. Could it be that the instructions that call for the 53-393 coils are for the ignition as set up for dual fire?  Also possible where I see the the coils set-up as you describe for "racing applications" on the Dyna site.  So is there a benefit of going the "racing application" route versus "street".  What's the difference in the end other than cost of coils?  If you have to run 4 dual output coils only to ground an output for each then where's the benefit?  There must be a reason they list it as such.

I know, I know,  so many questions.  Are we confused yet?

ricochet

[ramcr913]

Ricochet- You are correct, I read the wrong section of the instructions. So, according to the Ultima destructions for SINGLE FIRE DUAL PLUG, “use  two DC1-1 coils or DC6-4 Twin-Fire”. 
DC1-1 coils are Jireh PN 53-392, Dual-Tower, $104.95 per pair p.9/18. I think DC6-4 coils are Jireh PN 53-591, Dual Tower, $119.95 Each. Looks like the DC1-1 would be a more cost effective alternative. And I agree that the 53-647’s would work, although the instructions do not reference them. BTW, I have no idea why a 5 ohm primary resistance makes the coil a “street” coil and 3 ohm is for “race”. Sorry for the confusion! Good luck, let us know how it works out.

[gryphon]

My understanding on the destinction between Race and street applications is that the 3 ohm "race" coil will heat up quicker and have a shorter life span than the 5 ohm "street" coil.

[ricochet]

I figured it would be something like that or also that it's easier and cheaper to swap out a bad single than a dual tower unit.

As far as coils I think the dc6-4 are those mini coils depicted on p9/17 part # 53-647 as a set including the 4 outputs needed for dual plug.  The 53-591 would be for single plugged.  Also available is the 4 tower 53-417 for 4 plugs in my case @ $114.95 which is probably the best set-up for my needs given it's size and being a single unit to mount.  Otherwize I'd go with the Mini 53-647.  Is there advantage to being able to replace one of the two mini's?  Are coils still subject to high failure rates?  I can tell you this...  My COP (coil over plugs) on my F150 has an extremely high failure rate.  They must use the cheapest coils for that application.

Thanks,

ricochet

[Buddy WMC]

Do they offer this ignition as a separate module using the factory pickup ala Dyna 2000? I like to keep the heat away from the module and am currently running a Dyna 2000 7 pin module on single fire. It would be nice to have a spare just in case.
Thanks, Buddy....

[ramcr913]

I wonder what difference there is in terms of application- Does the 3 ohm make us go faster? And why?
Buddy- I haven't seen a pickup only from Ultima, I can certainly understand the merit of having a spare.

I will probably install the Ultima ignition this weekend. If it strands me I will be sure to post!