Troubleshooting A Wet Motorcycle (Won’t Start/Run)
1. When motorcycles get wet, many things can happen to prevent normal starting and running.
2. Ignition coils, due to their mounting location under the gas tank, can overheat if sufficient air flow is not provided causing minute cracks for moisture to get in shorting the coil.
3. Sparkplugs wires and caps need to be replaced as the heat from the engine makes the wires(High Tension Leads) get brittle causing the insulation to fail. The caps contain a resistor to limit the RFI(the snap and pop heard on radio’s) that will fail, again from heat/age.
4. Most Japanese motorcycle electrical connectors are open at the rear, letting in moisture that will collect on the male and female pins/sockets,causing a short, blowing a fuse or creating a corrosion limiting current flow.
5. I recommend buying a spray can of “De-oxit” electrical contact cleaner/preservative available at Radio Shack Stores in the U.S. or any other electronic supply store.
www.deoxit.com
is their website.
6. I’d advise not using WD-40 on any electrical connection/fuse clips as it over time becomes a non conductor(more like an insulator).
7. If the popular “Pods” type air filter is used and gets wet, it will act like having the choke on causing a very rich condition. The only repair for wet pods is to remove them and either using an oven set at 250 F, a wet/dry shop vac to vacuum the moisture from the filters, or a air nozzle at low pressure to blow the water away.
8. Use caution when using an air nozzle as at high pressure, the fabric of the filter medium may tear making the filter unusable.
Cleaning Motorcycle Electrics
Get some of the De-Oxit electrical contact cleaner and figure on spending a good day going from the front of the bike to the back. It’s a plastic safe cleaner/preservative.
www.deoxit.com
is their website.
On the older Kawasaki's, a majority of electrical connectors are inside the headlight housing requiring removal of the headlight, then the fun begins.
Do one set of electrical connectors at a time to avoid mixing up what connects to where. Usually disconnecting, spraying with De-Oxit and reconnecting is about all you'll need.
However, when encountering the green crud of corrosion, a brass wire brush may be needed on the pins you can reach.
Some 400-600 grit wet and dry sandpaper strips rolled into a tube should reach the male and female pins in the more difficult to clean connectors.
Smoker’s pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and wooden toothpicks work as cleaning aids.
Really small electrical connectors may require the use of a welders tip cleaning tool assortment.
Most pins in the connectors are coated with a thin plating of tin, and others may be nothing more than copper or brass.
If moisture is added, the resulting corrosion lowers the voltage/current being carried causing dim lights, slow engine cranking, slow turn signal responce and lower input voltage to the ignition coils resulting in weak spark.
The left and right handlebar switch pods will need attention too as they have circuit functions like turn, horn, run/stop, and start.
Usually a spritz or two with actuation of the switch is about all needed for these switches unless corrosion is detected and then careful disassembly is required.
The ignition switch may or may be not sealed to allow spraying the internal contacts. I urge caution if attempting to open this up as springs, and ball bearings may fly out never to be seen again!
If your bike has the older style glass tubed fuses, I suggest replacing them as vibration can cause internal failure. AGX is the type used, and most auto parts stores can get them for you.
Clean the fuse holder clips, looking for signs of overheating(discolored insulation, signs of melting).
I use metal polish on a cotton swab, followed by spraying another clean swab with the De-Oxit and then rubbing the inside of the fuse clip.
All battery cables must be clean and tight for maximum current transfer. Check the cables going from the Negative(-) battery terminal/post to the engine mounting bolt
Also the one going from the Positive(+) terminal to the starter solenoid and from there to the starter motor.
If any battery cable feels ”Crunchy” when flexed, replace it as possible corrosion is inside the insulation.
Each "Bullet Connector" will have to be sprayed to ensure good connectivity, especially the ones going to the energizing coil of the starter solenoid.
The alternator output “Bullet Connectors” are usually behind the engine sprocket cover and will need inspecting and cleaning too.
The turn signal light sockets will benefit from a spritz from the contact cleaner along with the tail light/brake light socket.
Some brake light switches can be sprayed on the actuating rod, with the spray running down inside to the electrical contacts, others may be sealed requiring replacement if the switch is intermittent in operation.
Some people put the Di-Electric Grease on cleaned terminations/connectors, I don’t, as I’ve read/heard it can cause problems when it gets hot, actually insulating the connections, so the choice is yours to use or not.
I think I've covered about all of the electrical systems on the bike.........
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