Arcing Colortune

[nashville_bill]

I have a colortune that arcs between the center conductor and the base on the outside of the device. This, of course, kills the cylinder it is installed in and makes it useless. I have cleaned it with several fluids but it still has the arcing problem. Does anyone have a suggestion?

[sixtysix]

Mine sparks inside but I tried it a couple of times and found it to be nearly useless, maybe I just don't get it, or mine is defective or something.

[Bill]

Well, veteran XSive "Indy Rick" must have made it work well when he wrote his Colortuning Carburetors article. He describes Colortuning for idle, off-idle, low/midrange, and midrange. I invited him to the forum a few weeks ago... has he joined yet?

My Colortune works well on the XS1100 and my Suzuki GS850, which has a similar spark plug configuration. It arcs badly on my GSX-R1100 which has recessed spark plugs.

I wonder if it would help to replace the Colortune spark plug lead with one made from small (7mm) spark plug wire. Any thoughts?

[nashville_bill]

Bill,

It seems to me that there is something on the crystal surface that allows the current to pass over that 3/8" instead of the spark .035" plug gap inside. Could the pressure in the combustion chamber have something to do with it?

I sent an email to the company that makes ColorTune but haven't heard from them. I did notice, on their web site, that the design pictured there is different than the one I bought. I looks more like a spark plug - having a large vertical insulator instead of a small metalic screw.

[Bill]

Does your Colortune plug look like this?


Bill's Colortune plug
I have no idea if the pressure in the combustion chamber could cause the problem.

[nashville_bill]

No, mine looks like this one minus the white insulator. When you look down into it, you see the clear window and the metal threaded conductor.

[Bill]

Mine has a short, white ceramic insulator that is molded into the clear portion. A small slide-on plastic insulator fits over the center terminal and into the ceramic insulator as shown below:

[Bill__Woods]

i have heard good and bad about the colortune. i am fortunate that i have a CAS machine at work, complete with 4 gas analyzer. talk to your local mechanic specializing in engine performance/drivability work and chances are he will check the bike and make base mixture setting fo a modest fee. With a 4 gas you can measure how much co2 is coming out of the pipes. co2 is a byproduct of combustion. the more co2 the more combustion, and the closer you are. you can alos check o2, HC, and co. good luck getting you arcing colortune fixed.