1981 kz650csr. White smoke and then cold header

Hello all--back again,

Was riding today with some friends and got my CSR to about 80 down a hill, when i let off of the throttle, a massive amount of white smoke emerged from my right exhaust. It was so dense that the guys behind me couldn't see me on the other side. Of course, after this I noticed the throttle didn't have as much umpf. When i got home I just touch tested the heat from the headers (with my gloves on) and I noticed that my 3rd cylinder header pipe was noticeably colder. Worried it's a big fix, but hoping for the best! Thanks in advance for your help.

Do a leak down or at least check compression. Could be a ring.

Have yet to get my hands on my buddy's compression tester. However, today I discovered that the cable to my 3rd spark plug was, in fact, severed, and pulled off easily with touch. I am thinking that my earlier problem may have been a few factors converging at once: 1) overfilling my bike with oil, causing oil to get into my cylinders? 2) losing spark on my 3rd plug 3) oil being burnt up in my exhaust rather than mostly in my 3rd cylinder? As I said originally, the white smoke came out of the right side exhaust. Not sure if my guesses are correct, but I think that I am on to something for sure!

My question now is: what is a good method of replacing ignition to spark plug cables? I have read of the NGK splicing and am leaning toward that--I don't really have the funds to invest in Dyna coils right now, although I plan to at a later date.

Thanks so much--I am very grateful for this forum/community

Click on link below. Good luck!

www.z1enterprises.com/ItemDetails.aspx?i...licer&item=TU38-1024

Thanks! Am I correct in thinking that this "splicer" is something that will permanently stay on the conjoined wires? So, for my 4 cylinder I will need 4 splicers? Or is the splicer simply a tool to be used to aid in the process?

Was thinking that the splicer could be used to fix your #3 wire temporarily to get you going, although if the wire pulled out of the spark plug cap, you can cut a 1/4 inch or so off the end of the wire and it just screws on your old cap. That is the cheap, no cost fix.

I'm going to call z1enterprises.com tomorrow, but I also thought I would ask here. What gauge of wire is needed for an 81 kz650 csr? From what I have gathered from the z1 website, I would want to go with the 7-8mm suppression core wires?

Also, if anyone wants to offload a kz650 stock exhaust (4 into 2), I'd be interested in hearing from them...

thanks again!

You can cut 1/4" off the ends for a good connection. I used blue swamp cooler 1/2" hose to insulate the wires until I could get new coils. I'd use the solid copper stranded wire to replace them.
Steve

Get 7mm copper core spark plug wires. I wouldn't mess around with a splice. The spark plug wires can be separated from the coils by unscrewing the ribbed compression boots. There are little o-rings n stuff you may need to transfer to the new spark plug wires.

If the engine was overfilled with oil, you should check the airbox & air filter for oil contamination, as the excess can get blown out the crankcase breather & into the airbox via the breather tube.

Exhaust system. pm sent.

Update: I got spark to come from all 4 plug wires. Bike fired right up and is at a good idle, however, my 3rd cylinder is still cold to the touch. Guess I will need to check compression after all. I even switched my 4th and 3rd plug wires (because #4 was in fine condition) which now has me thinking that the problem is indeed not electrical but mechanical?

Edit: spark plug is wet and smells like gas
Edit 2: I tested the plug by connecting it to the wire, pulling it out of the cylinder head, and grounding it on the engine, to which it sparked quite well

Sorry for all the updates! Got the third pipe to be hot--think it just needed some warming up. Now, if I could just get my hands on a replacement exhaust?

Valve adjustment. Pics of plugs?
Steve