Topic: Oh No.....CB550 coil problem

[1stgenxxx]

So.......
Last week I pulled the coils off my DD 78 cb550 to see if I could get my project 72 cb500 to  fire. I kicked the 500 over about 20 times (no starter) and got nothing. It didn't even try to start.
Tonight I went down to the basement and put the coils back on my 550...since it finally stopped raining...and something is bad wrong. The bike will run (barely) on 2 cylinders. The header is hot 1 and 2..dead cold on 3 and 4.

[luap]

id double check that the 1/4 blue wire coming from the points up to the coil is connected an check the black/white wire is getting power also

[david 750f]

Coils should be OK.. One coil fires 1&4, the other 2&3.. As 1 &2 are getting warm I would look elsewhere. Check the spark plug boot connections. Unscrew the plug boots, trim the wires and re-install.

Swap 1&4 and 2&3 plug wires.. If the cold cylinders stay the same it is likely fuel/carb issues. If the dead cylinders move with the plug wire then it is electrical.

[1stgenxxx]

I trimmed back the wires and reinstalled. I got the same reaction.
#2 and 3 wires are barely long enough to reach the plugs
This whole thing seems odd to me because one from each coil is working

[1stgenxxx]

I swapped wire 1 and 4....and the dead cylinder didn't change. The 2 and 3 wires were too short to swap.

[1stgenxxx]

The bike was running fine when I parked it.....maybe two weeks ago. I left the petcock on by accident but didn't see any gas in the floor ( thry have been known to leak)
im going to mess with it one more time and them Im gonna take it to a shop and have them fix it.

[1stgenxxx]

Im going to check my oil tomorrow. I talked to a local mechanic and he told me that I prob have two cylinders full of gas