Hard Rain = Front Cylinder Missing

[John Ritter]

Got caught in a hard rain tonight about 8 miles from home (after meeting a nice police officer on the side of the road in Red Wing)
When I turned a corner the bike started missing. (am sure water was the culprit - didn't do that until the rain)
It was missing pretty bad (running on one cylinder more like it)

Got it in the garage and my hand by the mufflers told me the front cylinder is the issue.
Lifting the plug wire off the front cylinder when it was running confirmed it.
A good blow with the airhose over the coil pack - especially the front side seemed to clear up the issue.

A good ride tomorrow will confirm.

Now, the question - do I need to re-seal the packs/wires somehow. Or do I need new stuff?
I don't like to ride in the rain, but do need to if the even happens...

[johnny vision]

You can do a test on the plug wires to see if there good. Do the rear first then compare it to the front. I'm not sure if its ohm's or resistance you check.
Get some dielectric grease from any auto store and put a little on both ends. Look for green junk on the coil end if you find green corrosion you will need some electrical cleaner auto store again.
Any time you pull a wire connector apart or change a bulb put some dielectric grease on the contacts even put a dab on top of the spark plug before the boot goes on it helps prevent water shortage and corrosion.
You might have a small pin hole in a plug boot or even check the wires going into the coil.
I hope you rode a good long ways this week end with no problems

[DEZ]

You can do a test on the plug wires to see if there good. Do the rear first then compare it to the front. I'm not sure if its ohm's or resistance you check.

Those two are the same thing (resistance is measured and represented in ohms), so that should narrow it down. :)

[bthrasher]

How much did your "visit" cost you?

[John Ritter]

The "visit" was free: "no sir, we weren't drag racing - just popping through a few gears - a little fun; I don't think we even passed the speed limit". (might have been close)
A nice warning of "take it a little slower off the start, even if the other guy taunts you; and - get home soon, severe thunderstorm on it's way".
"Thank you sir, I appreciate it" (handshake here)


About 600 miles to Michigan and back yesterday; and a little over 500 miles in the Kickapoo valley today confirmed that I only have the cylinder missing issue when heavy rain is present.

My plug wire has a zip tie on the wire side, and on the coil pack side. Don't know how they are connected or married to each other. How are they connected to each?

[KillerX]

John,

Do you still have the original plug wires on? If so, the insulation will break down over time. The resistance might still be in spec but if the insulation is going then something like a heavy rain will provide a path of lesser resistance. Look for minute cracks in the insulation and even try spraying the wires down with water while the bike is running and it is dark. It doesn't always work but you may see some sparks when everything is wet.

[KillerX]

Not sure what you've got with the zip-ties. The parts drawing looks like there should be a boot on each end of the pug wire. It should just push into the coil like the plug wire on a car going into the distributor. You can give me a call if you want when your working on it.

[DEZ]

Zip ties might have just been put on there to keep track of which wire goes where.

[johnny vision]

my wires are zipped to the wedge mount.

[John Ritter]

Thanks for the info folks.

A question - how do the wires plug into the coil? Kyle, (or anyone) do I simply pull with increased force until the wire comes off the coil? (similar to pulling it on the spark plug side?)

Don't want to be yanking what shouldn't be yanked...

[John Ritter]

A little more checking today confirmed the coil connection is probably the issue.
Do not twist the plug wire off the coil. (on the models that are similar to my 99) The coil has a male spade. The wire has a female spade. Twisting will cause it to break off the wire.
It was so corroded, I couldn't understand what I was looking at (a trip to the auto store was a little help, but not much)
Removing the rear wire from the coil confirmed the male/female spade combination. Little to no corrosion on the rear cylinder wire.
My plug wires have a zip ties on the boot - one on the coil side, and one on the cord side (of the coil portion).
Got some connection cleaner like Johnny Vision suggested.
Going to clean them both.
Then solder a new female connection to the bad wire.
Dialectic everything up.
Connect everything.
Ops check.
Zip tie.
Ops check with a ride.
Ops check with the hose spraying water everywhere.
Will post results.

[Sparky_Bill]

A little more checking today confirmed the coil connection is probably the issue.

Probably??? Maybe an understatement John. :devil1:

[John Ritter]

Something to note: the plug wire female spade connection (it plugs to the male spade on the coil side) has a large diameter "wings" that crimp to the plug wire itself (making the female connector "bite" to the wire.
I couldn't find a female spade connector like that, so I soldered the wire to a female spade I had.
Dialectic 'ed everything up.
Zip tied the boots.
Put about a 1000 miles on and it worked well. (no rain though)
Tonight I hit it with the garden hose hard, and it seemed to perform.

Time will tell.

Tomorrow's weather may provide real-life scenarios.

[johnny vision]

Now that every thing is clean it must feel like a bullet full of power.

Don't mean to spend your money John but go buy a new plug wire. The corrosion might have worked its way inside the wire that you can't see.

[John Ritter]

Don't mean to spend your money John but go buy a new plug wire. The corrosion might have worked its way inside the wire that you can't see.

I agree John, I need to add a new wire to the list of things to get.

Thanks for all the great help everyone.

I also need to add 8 thousand miles to the list too :riding: