Coils voltage and Ohms

I have a 1977 kz1000 with points ignition. I tested my coils, as per my good ole clymer???? manual, and they were within specs. However when I tested the volts, (something I picked up on in one of the forums here, Thank you), one of the coils (the black wire) had .1 volts coming out. All other connections read the same as the battery Voltage (10.5 at the time). I don't understand why, if the ohm reading is ok, why the voltage reading would not.
Also I have a fairly new set of Dyna 5 ohm coils which have an ohm reading of approx 6 on the primary and 18000 on the secondary. The manual indicates readings of 4 and 13. Why would the reading be so high and is this ok.
Any explanations would be greatly appreciated.
Thx Barry

the points were grounded (closed) during your test I'd bet.
your meter may have a variance and read off a bit not a problem.

you are looking for a open or direct ground when diagnosing a coil. resistance variance is not that big of a problem.

9V at coil is better for the points not to arc.

12V at coils if you have a electronic pointless ignition system

Post edited by: trippivot, at: 2008/01/07 13:00

If your bike is running, I'd suspect you either have:
1. a bad reading or
2. a weak condenser (almost shorted to ground)

If your bike is not running, I'd be looking at your condenser. If it is near shorted (very low capacitance) or shorted, it would keep the coil from firing.

Either way, I'd replace both condensers (keeping the working one as an emergency spare). You replace them both because they have both fired the coil the same number of times, so logically if one has failed, the other is not far behind. It is always better to change the second condenser now rather than on the side of the interstate.

Secondtime wrote:

... have a fairly new set of Dyna 5 ohm coils which have an ohm reading of approx 6 on the primary and 18000 on the secondary. The manual indicates readings of 4 and 13. Why would the reading be so high and is this ok. Any explanations would be greatly appreciated. Thx Barry

manual indicates readings of 4 and 13 --- perhaps these coil test readings are intended as 4 ohms (primary winding) and 13,000 ohms (secondary winding)?