78e dies when put into gear

[Yamdaha]

Originally posted by Dsxs11
That's where they die at when you wash them. From my bike it's never been under the tank it's always been the pilot box. I always toss a plastic bag over the cluster then wash the bike and to the cluster by hand have never had the problem again. I assume it has something to do with the neutral light in the pilot box.

i guess all the spray from the rain soaked road was the culprit. the gauge cluster gaskets are shot and i can see water getting in there. but the indicator cluster has me baffled as how water got in there.

[boyat68]

One of the legs off of the AC generator is tapped for the tachometer, so it stands to reason that water would short that leg to ground reducing available voltage to run the bike.

[oseaghdha]

I kind of suspicioned that was the problem area on my bike, but I have not tested it yet.
It gets the blues when I wash it and once after it got rained on.

[randy]

I don't buy into those theories, even if the alternator output dropped to zero, the bike should continue to run until the battery voltage drops too low.

And water isn't THAt good a conductor at these low voltages.

I'm still curious to know what the real problem is.

[xsilerating]

I too, have experienced the same problem. The cause? Don't know. Was intrigued with the 'wet gauge cluster' theory and, from my experiences, the culprit may be connected (somehow) here.

What I do know for sure, is that it is definitely a 'water' issue, as it has happened during/following a period of rain or washing. Initially I suspected the coils/wires/boots but, remedies taken with these areas did not solve the problem.

I was then 'convinced' that the problem was water getting into the gas (tank). I tried a number of 'fixes', thought I had the problem solved until... it happened again . Only, this time precautions had been taken to ensure that it would have been impossible for water to get into the gas. (Everything had been carefully covered.)

Additionally in my case, once the engine was warmed up, when put into gear (as previously mentioned) the engine would die... but, it would be possible to keep the bike running if the revs were kept up (3-4KRPM), only it would run as if 3 of the 4 cylinders had completely shut down . The really strange thing though, is that the engine would idle fine. It was only when the clutch was engaged AND the bike put into gear that the engine would die (while the clutch was still engaged).

So, Dsxs11's theory, that it has something to do with the neutral light, may or may not be correct but, Randy shouldn't be too quick to dismiss the possibility outright though, his 'ground' reference may be the one to explore further .
(The last time it happened to me, most things were covered EXCEPT, the instrument cluster )

[oseaghdha]

Hair Pull

It is definitley electrical, and absolutely involves the neutral light circuit. IMHO.

Mine drops two cylinders. Not sure which, I have a 4 into 1 exhaust.
It is not an immediate effect either; it takes about .75 seconds before they cut out.

If I thumb the kill switch while driving on two, it hits the dead holes for, like I said, about 750 milliseconds.

I found that out, while limping the SOB home, following a soaking one day.
It started working correctly, well after the engine was dried out.

Did I mention I have a bad tach gasket?

[Mathh]

definitely a malfunctioning neutral switch. Unscrew the cable on the switch and ground it, then it must keep running.

[randy]

I'm still not convinced. All that lead does is ground to complete the light circuit. So if the switch is malfunctioning, the light would either be on all the time or off all the time.

If you really want to isolate it, disconnect it and then while it's disconnected, start up and pull in the clutch, put it in gear, see if the problem goes away.

[Mathh]

I've had the same problem and it worked for me....I think. It is however more than 15 years ago I had that problem.