Beginning to hate the rain

[trbig]

No, not me.. I LIKE riding in the rain, but lately, my bike is starting to not like getting wet. After the carwash, it's a PITA to start, and will miss and spit until I ride it a few miles and get it dry. It has started doing it in the rain also.

I have seen blue sparks against my valve cover at night when it's wet. Instead of going through the trouble of replacing the wires right now, I was told by a few people to try heat shrink. I found a really good deal on Ebay for some double walled 1/2" that shrinks down to 1/4". The wires are slightly larger than 1/4". I got 20' of heat shrink and planned on putting on several layers clear up against the coils. Hopefully this will help the arcing through the wires.

A couple questions I have though.. I've never taken the boots off. They have to come off to put on the heat shrink. Are they molded onto the wires when stock to where I'll HAVE to buy replacement boots, or can I re-use them?

Also, is there something I can do to the coils themselves? Could they be grounding out somehow from the wet? Could it be a problem with them as well as the plug wires?

Sorry.. I haven't done a lot electrically to the bike and don't know these things.


Tod

P.S. Oh.. and what's the best tire and oil to use for insulation against this grounding?? lol.

[Incubus]

The boots on my bikes are all reusable. They have a screw in the end that screws into the spark plug wire. I don't know what the original wires looked like on an XS11 since my XS11s were all almost 30 years old before I got them.

If you are running the original caps it would be a good idea to replace them anyway. Replacement 5-ohm NGK resistor caps cost about $3 each at the local shops here.

Take a close look at your spark plug wires. Tod. If they are arcing that could mean the insulation has broken down. Shrink wrap would help, but you should check to make sure the wires themselves aren't compromised.

Patrick

[trbig]

Oh, I'm positive the insulation has broken down with nearly 30 years of heat and bouncing. Otherwise they wouldn't be arcing through to the valve cover. BUT.. the fix to fit new wires into these coils looked like such a PITA, that I'd try this route first.


Tod

[Incubus]

While you have the caps off, trim back your spark plug wires about 1/8 inch until you see shiny copper. It will help your spark considerably.

Patrick

[Ivan]

The good news is replacement caps are only about $2.50 each.

[79XS11F]

The heat shrink is a good start but I would also use plug wire keeper like you see under the hood of cars. I use them even with new wires. You can use them to keep the wires off the valve cover, away from each other and they are cheap. If the plug caps are original it's time to give them the boot and if lenght allows clip off the last 1/4 inch of the wires when installing the new ones.
Rob

[crazy steve]

...I have seen blue sparks against my valve cover at night when it's wet. Instead of going through the trouble of replacing the wires right now, I was told by a few people to try heat shrink.....

Don't be surprised if the heat shrink doesn't work; that stuff is only rated for 600 volts at the most, and some is only good to 300. Seeing how the coils put at least 10,000 volts to the plugs, you'll be exceeding it's rating by more than a bit....

'78E original owner

[trbig]

It's not volts.. I am just trying to really get some distance between the wire and any metal parts it may come into contact with. Back in the 60s and 70s, a lot of cars had asbestos wrap on the plug wires to help from heat one.. but also kept the wires off the metal parts by the thickness of it.

And... Yes, being a cheap azz is part of my makeup, but why would you automatically change out the plug boots just because they don't seem to cost much? Why change stuff if it's still working fine?



Tod

[XSokieSPECIAL]

It's not volts.. I am just trying to really get some distance between the wire and any metal parts it may come into contact with. Back in the 60s and 70s, a lot of cars had asbestos wrap on the plug wires to help from heat one.. but also kept the wires off the metal parts by the thickness of it.

And... Yes, being a cheap azz is part of my makeup, but why would you automatically change out the plug boots just because they don't seem to cost much? Why change stuff if it's still working fine?
Tod

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong but as far as I understand, the required resistance in the secondary system is in the boots.

It can be in the wires, or the plugs also if you change to non resistor boots.

Over time the resistance becomes greater due to break down. And, as we all know electricity will follow the path of least resistance, and since the insulation has broken down in the plug wire insulation also, the valve cover gets it.

I had actually never thought of this until now someone mentioned it.

Where do I get boots (spark plug Tod) I don't really want to go to the dealer if I can get them somewhere else 'cause I'm a cheap a$$ too.

[bikerphil]

Plug cap for the 1-4 cyl is NGK P/N LB05F
Plug cap for the 2-3 cyl is NGK P/N XB05F

http://www.parkeryamaha.com/ngksparkplugcaplb05f.aspx

http://www.parkeryamaha.com/ngksparkplugcapxb05f.aspx

An auto parts store that carries NGK plugs will have or be able to get them.

[XSokieSPECIAL]

Thanks Phil.

Just ordered 2 of each.

[trbig]

LOL.. $8.50 worth of parts and $13.50 to ship it.


I think I'll try local.


Tod

[Incubus]

If you like cheap (I do) and you still want to change out those ancient wires without going to all the trouble of grafting in new wires into the coils, NGK also makes plug wire splicers that sell for $3 or $4 each. I think Dennis Kirk sells, them, among other places. Then you can pick up some cheap copper core wire from a cycle aftermarket shop (think dirt bikes), cut the old wires short and splice in some new ones.

Patrick

[trbig]

See... I'd asked about something like that before, and nobody I talked to had ever heard of anything to splice a plug wire?? I wish I'd have known that before buying all this heat shrink. Now if I can only find what you're talking about.. I'll post it here.


As for my question about the coils... Anyone know if there's anything I need to do to them, or is my problem likely all in my wires and caps?


Tod

[XSokieSPECIAL]

LOL.. $8.50 worth of parts and $13.50 to ship it.


I think I'll try local.


Tod

Acually my shipping was only $11.06 and with gas at $2.38 a gallon that is about 4.5 gallons. Probably about twice what I would use running around looking for them, although if I called around to find them I might very well save some fuel but spend maybe 1-2 hours, and maybe never find them in town.

You think they have them in Ada? Possibly.

Oh yea, I'm nearly as lazy as I am cheap!

They'll be in my mailbox next week.