Rough Running in the Rain

[lisk]

Hi Guys, I haven't been on here in a while but have encountered a problem with my '80 XS1100 Special and figured rather than spend a lot of time and money by trial and error I would ask if any of you have had the same issue.

In the rain my bike all of a sudden seems like it's running on two or three cylinders. It will idle ok, although rough but as I try to accelerate the tach says the RPMS are high but the engine is chugging along like a tugboat with no power or speed!! Could it be a bad plug wire that's wet? Wet coil? It was sitting in the rain and water hadn't really been splashed up under it yet. Not sure. Any ideas would be much appreciated!

Thanks Cameron

[DGXSER]

Mine does this after I wash it. My best guess is plug wires. You could try spraying with a water bottle while running and see where it shows up at. You can also get soem silicone spray and coat the plug wires to see if that helps.

Replacing them is no simple task with stock coils, my only real complaint about the engineering of this bike as far as maintenance goes.

[lisk]

Thanks for the idea, i noticed that mine did the same after I washed it the last time. I never thought about it until you mentioned that. I guess in order to replace the plug wires I need to lift the tank? It must say how in the manual. Silicone spray may work too. Thanks for the advice. Much appreciated.

Cameron

[DGXSER]

On the stock coils, the plug wires are "built into" the coils. They are not replacable per say. There is a tech tip on a process to cut into the coils and install new wires though, it aint for the faint of heart though.

[Ivan]

Another good trick is to use a 12V test light with the lead connected to the engine for grouns and slowly move the tip arouns the wires and watch for a spark, while listening for a miss. Since the light is a better ground than your fingers, it won't shock you (most of the time)

Typical places to loo are around the boot and the body of the plug. Also any connections, such as where it connects to the coil (not really a problem on the XS). Look for cracking on the rubber sleeving of the wires. If you see any, check that as well, since the insulation underneath is likely cracked as well.

One other chance is the wires not having enough seperation. If two wires get close enough they can cause a misfire due to a phenonemon called Corona Discharge. This si a secondary EM field around the plugwires which can actually oppose the electricity passing through the wires. Getting tooclose to each other can cause teh field to get crazy and stop the electrictiy passing through the core where it should. It is actually visible under certain conditions with low light, looks like an eerie glow around the wires, and freaked me out the first time I saw it. The explaination I was given is that it is a micro version of the same thing that causes the Northern Lights.

Give those things a try, use the spray bottle first, since it usually works best.

Good luck, and remember that your tounge is not an electrical ttesting instrument.

[DiverRay]

You would be better off replacing the coils. Just find some 3 Ohm, dual wire coils and you can then replace the wires as needed. The other thing it may be is just the spark plug CAPS. They are supposed to be a 5K Ohm resistance, and if they are above 7.5 K Ohm, they need to be replaced. They just "unscrew" off the wire for testing. I always clip about 1/4" off the wire before putting the caps back on. You will also want to use silicone grease, also known as dielectric grease, on all the connections. This will keep the water out, and keep it running well in the rain.

[lisk]

Ok thanks guys for all of your input I will check on all those areas. Interestingly enough, the wires actually do touch each other under there so maybe they are causing an issue when it's wet. I will move them apart as well. Where would I find this dielectric grease at an auotmotive store? We have Canadian Tire here in Canada, I suppose I could find it there. Just smear it around the cap and top of the plug? Thanks again, i appreciate the help.

[howdy_doody]

Mine had the same problem...

Mine was doing the exact same thing, a huge loss of power, seemed to be watter related. It wasn't the coils.

I found the wires down at the iginition pickup were bad. Probably the most common problem on XS11's. There are two coils used to fire the ignition. The wire to one of them was occassionally breaking, and it would happen easier if there was some water present. When this connection breaks, it causes 2 cylinders to drop out....just as you say happens to you.

I happened to have some new pickup coils and installed them last year. The bike runs better than it has in the last 20!

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Cameron,

Yeah, the high tension leads are a good place to look, but also where the power/trigger wires(Harness red/white and grey/orange) plug into the coils can also corrode, etc..

With the dielectric grease, remember, it's an Insulator, so you don't want it getting on the actual metal parts of the sparkplug where it plugs into the cap, just around the insulator where it mates with the rubber plug cap, and around the plug cap where the rubber is on the plastic/bakelite cap housing. Same for where it plugs/screws into the coil wire. Clean that connection, snip off 1/4" if needed to get past any green corrosion, and screw it back on, THEN apply the grease around the cap/wire connection.

The pickup coil wires is also another place, however if the side cover has a proper gasket, then it shouldn't get much water inside that area!
T.C.

[b.walker5]

JAT, but I had a similar issue on my old 750 triple in the rain. Turned out to be a bad connection on the ballast resistor and would only show up in the wet. I found it on the side of the road one wet day, and i bridged it out to get home again. Funny thing is that I never did get round to fixing it properly and that bike went for another three years with a bypassed resistor. They must have been tough coils.

[The Lorax]

Mine used to run like crap in the rain, always like it was missing 2 cylinders. one day on the way home from work in the rain, I lifted the tank a bit and it helped, slid my hand along the bottom of the tank and got bit a few times, I replaced the wires and I believe it's all better, but haven't got caught in the rain as yet to find out for certain. I'm going with the consensus, plug wires arcing to the tank or frame. have a nice day and ride safe

[lisk]

Running Rough in the Rain

Thanks for all your help guys! I think I have enough input to fix the problem!! That's what this great Forum is all about! I really appreciate it.

Ride Safe! (Preferably Dry!!!)