HELP! bike misses after torrential rainstorm!

[silversurfer]

i just had something like this happen when i left the hood open on a car in the rain. i replaced the wires and all was fine. THIS BIKE WAS PERFECT FOR THE PAST 1000 MILES UNTILL YESTERDAY I LEFT IT OUTSIDE IN A HORRIBLE RAINSTORM. i checked all the spark plug boots ( three of which are new) to see if the water got into them but they all have there protective seal over the top and bottom of the boot. its arcing somewhere but WHERE? I was just telling myself the other day how much i liiked that the rain didnt affect this bike. IT was a bad storm the other night, so far its been drying for about 1 day and still misfiring. i checked the kickstand wires which i already had rigged and i even cut and attached the wires for the kill switch and i think i already removed the tip over switch, please please help, ps im sure i wouldnt be having this problem if only i had closed the vents on the side of the motor....

Edited May 27, 2011 by rideordie12

[oldgoat]

could be the TCI got wet? when i first bought my 84 i did a power wash to get bird poop off of it. and well it ran like crap for a few days then one nice 80 degree temp day it ran good again. now im no expert on here so im sure someone else will chime in with more...

[saddlebum]

Get a sprey bottle full of water run it at night or in a dark garage. and while spraying the wires and ignition look for christmas lights (sparks)

[muaymendez1]

Check your spark plug wells. The should have a drain hole that gets clogged up with debri. A small paper clip should clear the passage and allow water to drain and not ground your plug

[silversurfer]

yea its such a pain kinda checking for arcing around the coils because well you know. i had already done a quick lights off test at night looking for the light show but it was late and i did it quickly. I LOVE the part about spraying water on it as im looking (i have actually done that before on cars) i will have to try that after i go for a test drive. i checked in the plug holes and blew a very minimal if anywater out of them. thanks for the replys hopefully its dry by now and all cleared up i love this bike to death and drive it everywhere possible. I will let you all know where i found the arcing

[Condor]

could be the TCI got wet? when i first bought my 84 i did a power wash to get bird poop off of it. and well it ran like crap for a few days then one nice 80 degree temp day it ran good again. now im no expert on here so im sure someone else will chime in with more...

 

Heck, I power washed the '93 when I first got it and it wouldn't start for a month....

[GaryZ]

Check your spark plug wells. The should have a drain hole that gets clogged up with debri. A small paper clip should clear the passage and allow water to drain and not ground your plug

 

I have had to use the vacuum at the car wash and suck the water out of the spark plug wells. I didn't know there were drain holes!

[silversurfer]

isnt the plug supposed to be grounded

[muaymendez1]

The drain hols on my 2nd gen is behind the fin covers. I will be taking them off tommorow to spray them black so I will take a picture of the drain holes.

 

The plug outer wall is grounded but the lead is the positive power. The insulator boot is not the best so if you hold the plug boot while cranking the engine you will still get shocked. Now if this is submeres in water the spark will find the point of least resistance to spark through. Water is the best conductor and therefore will cause rough running.

Happened on my goldwing all the time.

This is another reason why spark plugs with multiple arc legs are just a waits of money.

The spark isnt going to jump through all 4 or 2 legs. its gonna find the point of least resistance.

[muaymendez1]

You can try this at home if you want. Start your bike and grab a litre of water and dump it into the spark plug well . And your bike will run like crap till it dries and drains the water.( PLEASE DONT TRY THIS)

[silversurfer]

yep it just cleared up on its own today like i figured it would. I still would really really like to know exactly where the problem lies. The spark plug wells on mine were bone dry as i drove the bike home and all that water dried. The spark plug hole i remember looking at on the back head was actually quite shallow and when i blew the air gun nothing came out. Ive diagnosed many spark plug boots that went bad arcing out on the motor ect, and i didnt see any of that going on. This kinda sux but ill have to eventually figure it out say by spraying water on it like was recomennded. thanks for all the advice ill let everyone know what i find down the line

[easternrider]

Mine wouldn't run for a bit after I washed it. Then, ran like crap till I think I found the problem. The end of my ignition wire, that is plugged in the coil was all green with corrosion. Nipped the end, and then it ran good. Week later, having the same problem, so now in the middle of tearing it down to check the other 3.

[friesman]

I would move your tci to the location on top of the air intake box. When you do this make sure all connectors are clean and dry and maybe use some dielectric grease to keep them dry and clean. Some people take the tci and put in on their oven door on low temps to dry it out, but if youre dry already, i might skip that step.

 

Brian

[bongobobny]

Yah! The usual problem for poor performance after getting wet with 1st gens is the TCI and/or connectors. The TCI is located under the coil pack mounted to the bottom of the coil mounting frame. Access to the connectors requires removal of the airbox, but removal of the TCI requires removal of the upper fairings. I have seen the TCI's literally have standing water inside the box. The baking process removes the moisture and it's best to take the cover off the box, 4 screws, and bake at 175- 200 for a couple of hours. Reinstalling the TCI on top of the airbox is an excellent idea as it allows instant access for servicing and/or replacing. The only issue is you have to break off one of the mounting ears to make it fit. The wires have enough length to reroute.

 

How about the coils? The caps may need replacing. You can remove each wire and inspect the caps for cracks and make sure the rubber "O" rings are in place on each wire. Spray the inside coil contact with some WD40, and snip about 1/4" off the wire before reinstalling and after the cap is reinstalled coat the outside of the cap with some vasoline to keep the moisture out...

[Yammer Dan]

Heck, I power washed the '93 when I first got it and it wouldn't start for a month....

 

 

Been there done that. Had to change TCI on "UGLY"

[Carbon_One]

Here's a solution for wet electricals. Get a can of spray silicone and give all the wires, boots and connectors a nice even spray. Do this when you know everything is dry.

I've done this on older cars and after a treatment you could dump a bucket of water over the distributors & coils without killing the motor.

Larry

[easternrider]

I just finished doing that to mine. Silicon on the wires. Also coated the coil threads for the cap with dielectric grease. Seems to work fine........so far:fingers-crossed-emo