| Author | Message | ||
     Paralegalpete |
Was out for a cold ride yesterday the bike had very little power much like this thread http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/621526.html?1300919940  Over the winter I installed new plugs and in February the bike was running like a top I checked today and the front cylinder isn't firing. Pulled the plug cleaned it, replaced the boot, still no fire in the hole. Question, whats an easy way to see if there spark coming from the wire? Same as with a lawn mower, remove the plug insert into boot crank it and see if theres a spark? Any other possible problems, wires? | ||
| Tootal |
You can use an old plug to test it so you don't have to pull it out again. The spark plug wire has been known to rub on the frame and wear though. I would pull off the air box and check the coil connection and the wire if there's still no spark after your test. | ||
| Itileman |
Swab some dielectric grease on the connections at the plug & coil when you put it back together. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Wet your fingers with spit and touch the electrode of the plug while you crank it over. For sure you'll know if it has spark.  | ||
| Paralegalpete |
So I pulled off the air box base plate and noticed that the coil wire for the front cylinder was not on all the way. I fixed that and then checked for spark and bingo there was. Re attached everything and the thing still won't fire on the front cylinder What I should have done is checked for spark before I tightend the boot on the coil. Any more ideas? | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Plug was probably compromised with weak spark before it went tits up. Get a new plug and see what happens. | ||
| Paralegalpete |
I've used two plugs and both show the same amount of spark | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Are you getting fuel to the front cylinder? (Message edited by electraglider_1997 on March 29, 2011) | ||
| Paralegalpete |
When I first pulled the plug it was clean but wet with fuel | ||
| Etennuly |
If it has been wet with fuel it is junk. Toss it and try a new plug. | ||
| Paralegalpete |
Electraglider "Plug was probably compromised with weak spark before it went tits up. Get a new plug and see what happens" Etennuly "If it has been wet with fuel it is junk. Toss it and try a new plug." Bingo, I put the old plug back in from last season and she fired right up. Thanks everyone for all your replys Love this place. So in summary what I think happend was this The boot came off the coil which caused the bike to loose spark. The brand new spark plug was destroyed by getting pumped full of fuel for an extended period of time. (Message edited by paralegalpete on March 29, 2011) (Message edited by paralegalpete on March 29, 2011) (Message edited by paralegalpete on March 29, 2011) | ||
| Etennuly |
Sounds right to me.  | ||
| Bttrthnwrk |
Not being much of a plug person, I have to ask why, "The brand new spark plug was destroyed by getting pumped full of fuel for an extended period of time?" Just sitting here in the bliss of my ignorance, I can't see why just airing the plug out and wiping it down, and maybe even letting it sit for awhile (week? month?) wouldn't work to make it all better again. I guess I'm just having a hard time imagining what gas might do to mess up ceramic and metal. Or is it that sometimes it fires and turns the coating to something that's too much like varnish? | ||
| Tootal |
On dirt bikes, we would foul a plug and throw in another one. The guys that jetted their carbs too rich would have several in their pockets by the end of a days ride. We would throw them in the campfire and drink beer. In the morning we would pull them out and wash them off and start all over. I think you can heat them with a propane torch or throw them in the charcoal next time you fire up the grill! | ||
| Paralegalpete |
I don't know the answer, just that it's a brand new plug that was working fine in Feb and after re attaching the coil wire, wiping the plug dry, it still didn't fire where as the old one did. I might let it sit for a while and try it again later, just to find out. It wasn't fouled just wet with gas (Message edited by paralegalpete on March 30, 2011) | ||
| 7873jake |
I've shot them with carb cleaner and/or fast drying electrical contact cleaner and had them work again. Both are super fast evaporating though so they get in and displace the gas pretty rapidly with little to no residue left behind. The only place I've ever been able to make a wet plug fire and work was in a dual plug head like a newer Ford Ranger or my neighbor's Honda VTX 1300. I think, because the other plug, as long as it hasn't been wet, will fire and generate heat in the combustion chamber that the other plug eventually gives up resisting work and starts sparking. I could be totally wrong. Many empirical observations are... | ||
| Etennuly |
I learned a lot about this subject back in my dirt track race car days. My car had high compression, high profile cam, ported heads, big carb, 103 octane gas, high rpms, running hard. If a new plug got fouled even a little bit one time, it came out, and if it could be cleaned to where it would run, it went in my street car. From my experience of why they never work the same after being wet fouled, I have deduced that the center electrode that carries the high voltage to produce the spark, fires at such a high energy output that the electrode's surface and microscopic pours become coated with an unburned unseen hard coating of "coked" gasoline. I have done every measure to bring them back, even had a spark plug sand blaster back then, but never had true success. It would usually be subject to fouling again while firing up a cold engine, even though my race car never idled below 2000 rpms. I have put them back in a warmed up engine to have them seem to run normally but still produce a miss at high rpm loads. I have had many Honda motorcycles over the years. My then new 1979 CB750F would not run anywhere near close to right if a plug had been fouled, properly cleaned, even torched, then reinstalled. I always have run four stroke dirt bikes and found the same to be evident, even though it may run again, it is never as good as a new one, or even an old one that had not been wet. |
