QuestionI understand that you have the Dream shop manual(s) on cd, and i now have a Dream. Please let me know how I might acquire one from you, thanks. Also a question: I discovered my Dream will only run if I pull the cap on the left sparkplug and allow the spark to arc to the plug's electrode. If I put the plug wire on the spark plug's electrode it immediately dies. What do you make of this?
AnswerDavid, I do have Dream Restoration Guides for sale. Contact me through my website: www.vintagehonda.com for details and to order via email.
The old symptom of pulling the plug cap off to increase the spark output is usually needed when the spark plug is fouled and shorting out down the side of the insulator. The higher voltage spike will jump the gap properly, lighting off the fuel charge in the cylinder. When plugs are fouled or the engine is using oil/excess fuel, the misfire adds more and more unburned fuel into the cylinder, until it finally fires off intermittently or just completely shorts out the spark plug. If you have resistor plug caps on the coil leads, be sure that they are around 5k ohms and well matched side-to-side. They came with non-resistor caps originally.
Remember that Dreams have only one coil, which is double-ended, so both wires must be connected to spark plugs or grounded, so that the secondary voltage completes its circuit through the engine. Spark actually jumps from center electrode to the side on one cylinder and has reversed electrical path on the other plug, so jumps from the side gap to the center electrode.
Make sure the plugs are not fuel/oil fouled and that the point gap is about .014" wide, set to open at the F mark on the flywheel alignment. Spark timing influences the engine's vacuum signals to the carburetor, so always do ignition timing first, before trying to adjust the carburetor.
Bill Silver
