Crane HI4 ignition problem.

[lonegoosehonking]

Buddy has an Ultra. Pretty nice bike. Calls me up and tells me that its crapping out. So he brings it over. I fire it up and ride away. Bike is running good then after it gets warmed up it starts running on one cylinder. It has a crane hi4 single fire ignition. I have a coil so I change it out. Runs a bit and does the same thing. I check coil input and it has 12volts on the center ,fire signal on the front cyl. but not fire signal at rear. I ohm out wires from ignition to coil and they are all good. So he orders a new crane ignition . I get the new ignition and solder it up and fire up the bike. Damn thing won't even start . Pops on rear occasionally . Now the igniton has four color coded wires and I am not color blind. I slice open heat shrink and double check and all it right. So I think well old ignition would fire up the bike ,lets put it back on. So I do and wallah the bitch fires up. When I move the wire on the old igniton at the module (cone nose) end it will bring in the and take out the rear cylinder. Reinstalled the new one to confirm and it will not start the bike. So I am guessing new unit it crap also. What do you think? All settings on the new module the same as new also. Also plug wires are new.

[Hillside Motorcycle]

Have seen the HI-4's "Potty mouth" the bed, many times.(as we have also seen OE's, Dyna's, and the god-awful, Comp-U-Fire's)
Too bad, as they are certainly tuner-friendly units, that do produce the power.
Maybe, now that S&S owns the Crane name, they'll key in on those.
Scott

[lonegoosehonking]

Well the fact that I can reinstall the original one and it will start the bike indicates to me that the new one has to be the problem. Both are the 8-2100 unit. Going to call crane and see what they say this morning. My bud was pissed hehe . I will get it running.

[Hillside Motorcycle]

"Better to be pissed off, than pissed on, 'cause if your pissed off, you can always climb back on."

[bigtone]

Thats the normal failure mode for the HI4, I've had 3 fail on me over the years. I believe Crane closed up a few years ago, so i think it's time to try another ignition.

[attachment removed after 60 days by system]

[PaJoe]

Ultima has a programmable ignition made by Dyna that costs $109.95 at JirehCycles. I know a few people that have them, including myself and seems to work OK.


Part#   53-644    Price   $109.95

Description:   ULTIMA PROGRAMMABLE IGNITION KIT  Ultima programmable ignition module  Ultima products offers the finest electronic ignition system, at a very competitive price. These systems feature an industry standard electronic module w/ programmed curves suitable for all engines up to our monster 140". Programmable features & date recovery features require programming kit 53-646.

www.jirehcycles.com


On edit: The Ultima ignition does not have the simple adjustments for the advance curve the Crane Hi-4 does, it has 4 preset curves that you select with dip switches but if you want to do more you need to hook a PC up to it.  It is similar to the Dyna 2Kip ignition, and uses the same software, hook up wires etc. I found one of the curves gets mine close enough, do not need to fine tune it.

[lonegoosehonking]

Thanks for the input...Left a message with Crane and the place I bought the HI4 said they will change it out. Curious to see if the new one I receive works. Will update with results. 
Update: Just went out to the shop. Fired bike up and it was on one cylinder. Pressed module and other cylinder came online. Definite short in the module.

[96flhpi]

That Ultima ignition isn't similar to a Dyna 2000, it IS a Dyna 2000 with a different lable.  Jireh used to carry a Hi-4 under the Ultima label as well but it disappeared when Crane went belly up, don't think it'll be back as Jireh and S&S won't play nice with each other.

BTW running the Ultima "Dyna2000" for two seasons now.  No problems so far.

[PaJoe]

Hopefully all will be well with the new Crane Hi4, I had one in the 80" evo and liked the way you could easily adjust the advance curve. I thought the Hi4 we had in our '90 Ultra was going bad one time but it turned out to be the tach. We would be riding along at normal highway speeds and it acted like the rev limiter would kick in.  At first I thought it was shutting down one cylinder, but the more I observed it the more I realized it was more like the rev limiter. After watching it more closely I saw the tach would hesitate then jump ahead much faster than it should have, more like a bounce.. I don't understand how they interact but replacing the tach fixed the problem.

[paulkay]

It is not a short but a loose fitting in the module. They had the same problem in the 7 pin connecting blocks with a loose crimp. Don't know if the S&S ones will have the same problem but they cost a lot more, hence not worth the bother. They were the nicest adjustable electronics until the loose connections popped up.

[MiketheBike]

Are we talking about the Hi4 that had a lousy reputation for duability (mounted in the nose cone) or the Hi4E which was a module mounted in the side cover near the battery? Just wonderin.

[lonegoosehonking]

The one I am talking about is in the cone nose. Definitely some kind of connection problem. I am anxious to get the new one and put it in. If it doesn't work I will send  it back and go with the Ultima. Printed the Ultima instructions out and if I had seen it before I would not have bothered with the crane.

[lonegoosehonking]

Well I shipped it back to the ebay seller. Followed up today and they said 3-5 days to handle the exchange. Then this afternoon I get an offer to cancel the transaction. So when they credit my account I will order the Ultima ignition. What a run around. But I have a better feeling about the Ultima. vs. the hi4 cone nose unit.

Got the Ultima ignition from Jireh in less than three days. Slapped it on last night and fired her up. Took test ride and it works great. Thanks for all the input and suggestion. Buddy of mine in Houston is ordering the Ultima for his shovelhead.