Now it's my time to ask for some help

[rob f]

I just got back from holidays in Utah. Lots of harleys but no drifters.
I see that you are still having trouble Mitt. As Troll has said, and myself also back on April 2 you have to pull the plugs, hook them back up, ground out the metal part of the plug on the metal of the bike and visually see spark. Just pulling the plug and looking at it doesn't show you much. When you do this test make sure that you do not have the spark plug sitting near the sparkplug hole. If you smell gas then the cylinders may be full and when you crank the bike over it will spray out of the hole. If it hits the plug while sparking you will get a big surprise. Just like I did when I was 16 and checking for spark on my Kawi 125 dirt bike. Was looking straight into the hole at the time
So you have checked the red coil wire and it is good. This means that the problem ( if there is no spark at the plug) is related to the wiring circuit of the other side of the coil. This starts at the grey wire of the key switch and like I said, on my bike it registers 5.7 volts. It may be "possible" that if that wire had 12volts during your key swapping that it may have burnt out your ECU box. This circuit is the complicated one that signals when the spark happens. There are tests in the tech manual for this but are a bit more than i can relay to you. I would concentrate on getting 5.7 volts at that grey wire. I believe this is what that tiny resistor in the OEM switch was for.
Good Luck.........Rob

[greenbarn]

Sorry, I didn't realize the original switch was broken.... that makes it even harder for you.

[Tfrank59]

So Mitt, in my simplistic brain I would say, just for now at least bypass the switch--hotwire the bike in effect--to ensure that you have spark and the bike will run. Then go from there on a workaround if you don't want to spend that $170. Maybe it's not that simple I don't know, but just my 1.5 cents.

[mittico68]

I figured all along that you DIDN't have spark, from what was going on.  I'm guessing you don't (but you'll know when you check).

My suggestion is (assuming you don't have spark)  to start over with the stock switch to see if it will run that way.  That tells you if it's just the ignition switch install issue (which I'm guessing it probably is) or something else that happened by coincidence (which believe it or not, happens all the time).

You know what?
I thought to use the stock switch, as you suggest, BUT it's definitively broken so I need to buy a new one, and it will cost me 170 bucks! 
That's why I'm tryin' to solve the problem differently.
I'll check that spark out and will report.

[greenbarn]

I figured all along that you DIDN't have spark, from what was going on.  I'm guessing you don't (but you'll know when you check).

My suggestion is (assuming you don't have spark)  to start over with the stock switch to see if it will run that way.  That tells you if it's just the ignition switch install issue (which I'm guessing it probably is) or something else that happened by coincidence (which believe it or not, happens all the time).

[Tfrank59]

 I actually thought you had done this and made sure your coils were okay. Let us know what you learn.

[mittico68]

Take one plug (new or old) and connect it to one plug lead, and then lay the plug against the engine. Crank and observe the gap. IF there is no spark, then the Odyssey continues.

Ok, I'll do it and will let you know, asap.

If there is spark, then are you sure you have fuel?

Good question. I'll check it out, even though there's one thing that makes me think the bike has got fuel: after 2-3 ignition attempts, I can strongly smell the gasoline... 

[Troll]

This is going to be a strange question, but...nowhere in all this have you said you have spark at the plugs. Take one plug (new or old) and connect it to one plug lead, and then lay the plug against the engine. Crank and observe the gap. IF there is no spark, then the Odyssey continues. If there is spark, then are you sure you have fuel? You only need spark, fuel and compression to make it run....what's missing?

[mittico68]

Is anybody local who's maybe good with Car electrical who would take a look at it?

That's my last resource, before quitting my project. 
But I still trust in the helping hand of this Forum Guru's... 

[Tfrank59]

Wow Mitt, that really sucks. In my experience with electrical, which I told you is minimal, it's always one small thing that's eluded me and it was the key to everything. A loose ground wire a broken wire, some open circuit even stuff I know you've already checked but maybe you should go over it again I don't know what to tell you. Is anybody local who's maybe good with Car electrical who would take a look at it?

[mittico68]

New update.
I've tested the red wire of the coils and it's ok.
Then I've also changed the spark plugs with a brend new pair, even though the old ones were not that bad.
So, I tried to start the engine, but again no luck: the starter goes on and on, but the engine doesn't fire up! 
What else should I check? 
Could it be related to the fact that the brake light doesn't work (its bulb is ok)? 

[mittico68]

Don't worry, Rob, I AM such a 1st year apprentice, as my skills are very, very, very basics! 
So, my next step will be to check those spark plugs.
Thanx again!

[rob f]

Mitt: i am retired so don't have any life worries. Also the more that i help you the more I learn about my own bike so we both win, I hope.
i have a good knowledge about basic wiring and functions but not so much in the electronic stuff like resistors,ECU, transistors etc. from what i can understand now about this bike is that the ignitor box has to have a lower voltage signal from that gray wire (5.7 v on my bike). I am not sure why the oem gray wire starts large from the key switch and then goes small at the connector. But the important thing is to get that 5v on that gray wire and i believe this is what  https://www.vulcandrifterriders.com/forum/index.php?topic=3625.0  means when he says the resistor is important.
If your starter works then the brown wire curcuit is ok.  Did you test for 12v with key on at the red wire on the coils? The front cylinder is easy to check.
If you have  12v, then you need to pull out the front spark plug, hook the sparkplug wire back on ,ground out the sparkplug body  against the engine , turn over the starter and check for spark. Don't hold the sparkplug with your hand. Right now you are guessing that you have no spark but you need to find out for sure!
I know that this is a little extra work but could save a lot of worries if there is spark.
As far as the wire sizes i personally would try to stay with the OEM sizes. Not sure how a different size on the gray wire would affect the 5v
I hope that you are not offended by the way i give you instructions. I do not know the level of your skills so I have to treat you like a first year apprentice. i am trying to help you avoid mistakes that I personally have made when I was learning.

[mittico68]

Rob, first of all I really appreciate all your efforts to help me solving the issue(s) I'm facing, as I guess you've got your own daily problems to solve... 
Now, to answer your questions:
- even though it doesn't matter anymore, I can assure you that the kick stand is on and the gear is in neutral;
- the starter turns on, as I push the starter button, but the engine doesn't fire up;
- the resistor (a very small one) is inside the OEM key switch: you can see it, by opening the black cover (you gotta unscrew 2 little screws).
That said, there's something that makes me mumble: could the issue depend on the fact that I used wires of different sizes to connect the HD switch to the OEM harness? I mean, I used a 2.5 (mm2 - 13 gauge) for the gray + brown wires connection and for the white wire, then a 1.5 (mm2 - 16 gauge) for the red/blu + red wires.

[rob f]

Just came back from doing some tests on my 800.
Here is what i found:
With the key on:
there is 12v at the red wire of the coils
there is horn, starter, signal lights, tail light ,brake light, no headlight(  but it comes on as soon as i hit the starter button)
Interesting about the gy wire, I tested it at the key to engine harness connector and it has only 5.76v. i notice that the gy wire is about a 14 gauge on one side of the connector and gets smaller(18or20gauge) at the back of the other connector. I beleive that you and Greenbarn have been talking about resistors in the gray wire. This could be your problem. Somehow that gy wire gets cut down to 5.76v . Nowhere in my tech manual  does it show this, but that's what my bike says. You had mentioned that the OEM switch has a built in resistor . How did you find that out?

The kick stand safety switch  works with the neutral switch, so as long as the bike is in nuetral this is not our problem.

I also found that I had given false info way back when this topic started so i will correct this now. It is not relevant to our issue right now but still would like to address it.
I had stated that the brown wire  at the key switch is only live when the engine is running. This is false,as it is fed by the live white wire at the key switch. I was reading the electrical incorrectly. My apologies.
Seems like I am learning as we go along too.

[rob f]

ok, I was going to ask about the kill switch also but that's been eliminated. Gotta ask some simple questions first to narrow things down. When you say the bike doesn't start do you mean that the cylinders do not fire or that the starter does not turn? If the starter works ,then did you actually test the sparkplugs for spark yet?  Also is your kick stand down? There is a safety switch on it. In neutral?
I know this is all simple things and sure that you have done it but i have to know for myself.

Looks like both the br and gy wires end up in the igniter box. The gy goes there directly and don't see any resistor it that circuit. The br  wire ends up going to the igniter box, alt , and the fuses that feed the headlights, turn signals,tail light,horn and ignition system.

The ignition curcuit is fed 12v in by the brown wire from the key through a 10 amp ignition fuse and then out by a br/w wire up to the kill switch starter button and then to the coils by a red wire. If your starter works then the whole curcuit from the battery to the key through the fuse box is ok and doesn't need testing. Could be in the kill switch itself and an easy test is to check for 12v at the red wire at each coil when key switch and kill switch are on. I will test this theory out on my own bike today just to make sure.
If there is power at the coil red wires then the power side of the coils are good. Which means it's the signal to the other coil terminal is not coming from the igniter box   My manual only shows a 12vcheck at the igniter box at the br/w wire. There is very little info about the gy wire that goes from the key switch directly to the igniter box. i am assuming that it should have 12v to the box but in the HD key conversion posts they say that it is important to have the resistor in.
Your brake light could be related or separate so  lets get it running first and deal with this later.

[mittico68]

Troll, thanks for those diagrams.
And, as already stated above, the kill switch was ON while attempting at the damn thing...
TFrank, I'll keep you posted, for sure.

[mittico68]

Are you familiar with Dc volts and continuity testing? Basically we will test the HD switch to see if it has continuity across the terminals and then we will test for voltage at the wires at different locations. If you have the wiring diagram I sent you, it will help a lot. Looking at the whole diagram seems a little scary so what I  sometimes do is , clear my mind, get a copy of the diagram and then with a colored pencil trace each  separate circuit with a different color. If you start tracing from the switch harness right down to the battery it will start making more sense in your head as you follow the wires on the page. Just focus on one circuit at a time.
I must go now and will check in tomorrow.

I've got a volt meter and I've tested each and every connection for 12v continuity: everything was ok, with the HD switch in the IGN position and the OEM kill switch ON, too.
I've also got the 800 OEM Service Manual, and I'll do as you suggested for the colored diagrams.
So now, all I need is your kind HELP!   

[Troll]

Here's a couple of wiring diagrams.  Just a silly question, but the kill switch is in the on position, right?

[Tfrank59]

Bad news.
After double checking all the connections of the whole damn thing, I've tried to fire up the engine.
No way, it doesn't start.
I've even bypassed the resistor, resultless...
And, if ever it is enough, I've also noticed that even the brake light doesn't work!
So, am I at a dead end? 
I don't wanna give up, but I really need your help.

This really isn't my area so I'm just going to have to sit back and let Rob and others help you. Keep us posted though.

[rob f]

I"ll try to help you out Mitt but only have a little time this morning.
I think that you said that you went out and bought a volt meter. We will need one. Does it have an Ohm scale? Are you familiar with Dc volts and continuity testing? Basically we will test the HD switch to see if it has continuity across the terminals and then we will test for voltage at the wires at different locations. If you have the wiring diagram I sent you, it will help a lot. Looking at the whole diagram seems a little scary so what I  sometimes do is , clear my mind, get a copy of the diagram and then with a colored pencil trace each  separate circuit with a different color. If you start tracing from the switch harness right down to the battery it will start making more sense in your head as you follow the wires on the page. Just focus on one circuit at a time.
I must go now and will check in tomorrow.

[mittico68]

Bad news.
After double checking all the connections of the whole damn thing, I've tried to fire up the engine.
No way, it doesn't start.
I've even bypassed the resistor, resultless...
And, if ever it is enough, I've also noticed that even the brake light doesn't work!
So, am I at a dead end? 
I don't wanna give up, but I really need your help.

[mittico68]

Got it.
I'll try and see what happens...

[Troll]

can't hurt to bypass it and try. The idea of the resistor is to send a specific voltage to the "unused" port on the injection ECM that verifies that the ign. switch hasn't been bypassed.   

[mittico68]

The resistor is for the fuel injected models...can't see why you would need it at all on a carbed model

Never thought about it... 
That said, I also remember that the OEM ignition switch has got a resistor soldered inside, on the gray wire...
So, do you think it could affect the whole thing?