G
GateKeeper
Guest
Do these plugs tell me anything ? And if so what ?
?
?
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7
7981GS
Guest
This should help: http://www.ngk.de/fileadmin/templat..._in_download_area/ngk_zuendkerzen_code_en.pdf
Eric
Eric
G
GateKeeper
Guest
Thanks......
that much I actually knew, I wanted to know if the color of the plugs, and the look of the electrodes, etc, are actually telling me anything
.
that much I actually knew, I wanted to know if the color of the plugs, and the look of the electrodes, etc, are actually telling me anything
.
7
7981GS
Guest
1 & 4 are running rich?
It could be any or a combination of things.
Coil weak for those cylinders, rich fuel adjustment screws, plug boots not making good contact, etc.
Some thoughts anyway.
Eric
It could be any or a combination of things.
Coil weak for those cylinders, rich fuel adjustment screws, plug boots not making good contact, etc.
Some thoughts anyway.
Eric
G
GateKeeper
Guest
Thanks.....now that is telling me something.....
only problem, I don't know which one came from which cylinder.....dohhhhh
but the gaps are off on 2 of them, and they are not what the manual calls for...
so today I actually purchased new plugs, and installed them, and made sure the gap is set correctly.
I will run the bike a bit tomorrow, pull 1 and 4 and see what they look like
I am having a bit of a hard time getting the bike started, and to hold and maintain idle, today it stalled 2 times on the road, so something is going on.....
.
only problem, I don't know which one came from which cylinder.....dohhhhh
but the gaps are off on 2 of them, and they are not what the manual calls for...
so today I actually purchased new plugs, and installed them, and made sure the gap is set correctly.
I will run the bike a bit tomorrow, pull 1 and 4 and see what they look like
I am having a bit of a hard time getting the bike started, and to hold and maintain idle, today it stalled 2 times on the road, so something is going on.....
.
7
7981GS
Guest
I only said 1 and 4 by the order in which you placed them for the last pic.
Disregard the coil being in question on those then.
Waiting on new results in correct order.
Eric
K
koolaid_kid
Guest
Gatekeeper, just for future reference, both Ed and Eric had valuable information on posting plugs, so if I may assemble it so we can be of better assistance:
When you post plugs for colour, please put them in order, left to right, 1 to 4. That way we can correctly diagnose them for you. The next to last pic is exactly what we need, and the last one is helpful but not required.
Ed's question has relevance for this reason: If you are running straight copper wires, then you can run resistive plugs. If you have the factory-style resistive caps, then you do not want to run resistive plugs. That is why his question is relevant.
Best of luck.
When you post plugs for colour, please put them in order, left to right, 1 to 4. That way we can correctly diagnose them for you. The next to last pic is exactly what we need, and the last one is helpful but not required.
Ed's question has relevance for this reason: If you are running straight copper wires, then you can run resistive plugs. If you have the factory-style resistive caps, then you do not want to run resistive plugs. That is why his question is relevant.
Best of luck.
Steve
GS Whisperer
Note that there are THREE areas of concern. :-k
The wires can be "solid" or "suppression-type".
The caps can be "solid" or "resistive".
The plugs can be "normal" or "resistor".
You do not need more than one of them to be of the "resistive" type.
Actually, you don't "need" for any of them to be resistive, it will just keep your bike from affecting radios in the general vicinity.
If you still have stock wires, they are "solid".
If you have stock (or NGK) caps, they are "resistive".
Your plugs are "resistor" types, evidenced by the R in DR8ES-L.
By the way, the "L" is probably not necessary, either.
Since you probably still have resistive caps, get a set of new, proper plugs, DR8ES and start over.
Do some proper plug chops so you know exactly which carb circuit is coloring the plugs.
When you take the pictures, put the plugs next to numbers that show which one they are.
.
To emphasise a couple points that has been mentioned before:
- what folks will want to see is the color of the ceramic insulator that is around the center electrode. Will want to see the very end, and will want to see up into the plug a bit. SO position plugs and camera so that the light (Flash) can go up into the end of the spark plug, yah, like your next to last photo.
- and will want to know which plug is from which cyclinder, so keep them in some order, and maybe mark 1-2-3-4 nearby or something.
.
- what folks will want to see is the color of the ceramic insulator that is around the center electrode. Will want to see the very end, and will want to see up into the plug a bit. SO position plugs and camera so that the light (Flash) can go up into the end of the spark plug, yah, like your next to last photo.
- and will want to know which plug is from which cyclinder, so keep them in some order, and maybe mark 1-2-3-4 nearby or something.
.
G
GateKeeper
Guest
Hey guys....
Sorry about the way I took the pictures, it was more of an after thought, and I should have taken care to pull them, mark them, and know which one was from what cylinder. I only pulled them, as they were the ones in since I parked the bike many years ago, and did not change them after I did the rebuild, I have been having a bit of trouble starting the bike, holding idle, and she will stall at times while out and about riding, unless I keep an an eye on things and blip the throttle a bit while at a light, or coming to a STOP sign etc,,,,while the bike is in motion there are no issues.
So I have changed the plugs, purchased new ones, hopefully I have the correct ones, and added about a 1/4 of a can of seafoam to a full tank of fresh gas, and will see if any of that helps and or gets things to a better state.
coils are original, caps and wires are original, and all seems to be in good condition, I did try to order new caps, but no one had the long ones as the originals so I had to stay with what I had unfortunately, and yes the caps are NGK marked
a few pics
if the combo of plugs and seafoam don't do anything to improve, well it's time for other avenues of diagnosing and trouble shooting, I will be all ears.....
Thanks
DAn
Sorry about the way I took the pictures, it was more of an after thought, and I should have taken care to pull them, mark them, and know which one was from what cylinder. I only pulled them, as they were the ones in since I parked the bike many years ago, and did not change them after I did the rebuild, I have been having a bit of trouble starting the bike, holding idle, and she will stall at times while out and about riding, unless I keep an an eye on things and blip the throttle a bit while at a light, or coming to a STOP sign etc,,,,while the bike is in motion there are no issues.
So I have changed the plugs, purchased new ones, hopefully I have the correct ones, and added about a 1/4 of a can of seafoam to a full tank of fresh gas, and will see if any of that helps and or gets things to a better state.
coils are original, caps and wires are original, and all seems to be in good condition, I did try to order new caps, but no one had the long ones as the originals so I had to stay with what I had unfortunately, and yes the caps are NGK marked
a few pics
if the combo of plugs and seafoam don't do anything to improve, well it's time for other avenues of diagnosing and trouble shooting, I will be all ears.....
Thanks
DAn
G
Guest
Guest
Ed made a very important point here, resistor plugs, if you have resistor plugs and resistor type caps (500K ohms stamped on the cap) that's allot of resistance and voltage drop. Surely could be affecting the spark which I think would me minimized somewhat at least.
7
7981GS
Guest
I believe that I have read several members stating that the OEM caps can also be unscrewed and a short section of wire trimmed and re-install the caps for better spark?
Is this a fact or just copying what has been written by a previous poster? (Here-say)
Eric
Is this a fact or just copying what has been written by a previous poster? (Here-say)
Eric
7
7981GS
Guest
Thanks Ed. Now, I KNOW it to be fact.
I have never messed with them myself... yet.
Eric
I have never messed with them myself... yet.
Eric
Steve
GS Whisperer
If you need corroboration, Eric, I have also done that to several bikes. About half of the bikes in my stable have had their wires trimmed a bit, and I have done it to several of the many that I have worked on in my travels.
By the way, the NGK caps screw on, just like the stock ones do.
Sedelen, I hope none of your caps have 500k ohm resistances. The resistance specification for a stock setup (which is from one cap to the other, through the coil) is only about 30k, and that includes both caps. Those caps should only be 5k, not 500k ohms.
.
By the way, the NGK caps screw on, just like the stock ones do.
Sedelen, I hope none of your caps have 500k ohm resistances. The resistance specification for a stock setup (which is from one cap to the other, through the coil) is only about 30k, and that includes both caps. Those caps should only be 5k, not 500k ohms.
.
Done it. Helped immensely with a weak spark issue I had before I got new coils.
G
GateKeeper
Guest
OK,,,,so I clipped one of the wires about a 1/4 inch, had a biatch of a time getting the boot back on, certainly is not easy to screw it back on, that is for sure....
too the bike out for a spin, noticed no difference, but tomorrow I will clip the other 3 and struggle putting the caps back on, but I will get it done, take a spin, and report back.
If no change, I will add a bit more seafoam, and run it a bit more, and see.....
Bike runs fine otherwise, however coming up to a stop sign or lights, the rpms will dip and a good chance of it dying, so I either hold in the clutch, or drop to neutral and blip the throttle ever so slightly to keep her going
I am not liking this......
ohhh I will take a few pics of the snipping of the wires tomorrow....
.
too the bike out for a spin, noticed no difference, but tomorrow I will clip the other 3 and struggle putting the caps back on, but I will get it done, take a spin, and report back.
If no change, I will add a bit more seafoam, and run it a bit more, and see.....
Bike runs fine otherwise, however coming up to a stop sign or lights, the rpms will dip and a good chance of it dying, so I either hold in the clutch, or drop to neutral and blip the throttle ever so slightly to keep her going
I am not liking this......
ohhh I will take a few pics of the snipping of the wires tomorrow....
.
K
koolaid_kid
Guest
After you clip it, you should see shiny bits in the core of the wire, this is fresh, clean, un-oxidized copper. If you do not see shiny bits, clip it a bit more. This is crucial. You must see shiny bits.
When you go to screw the cap back on, keep in mind the first thing you have to do is pierce the inside of the wire core with the point that is in the plug cap. Just a couple of hints, hope they help.
When you go to screw the cap back on, keep in mind the first thing you have to do is pierce the inside of the wire core with the point that is in the plug cap. Just a couple of hints, hope they help.
G
GateKeeper
Guest
Good points Thanks....
I did see nice shiny bits on the one I cut, so that is a good thing, I finally did screw on, but it did take some twisting on and on and on....and it finally grabbed and it was OK.
By the way, I do think the seafoam is doing at least something, I can see some smoke out of the tail pipe, I did not have this before so something is happening, burning off, cleaning up etc....
.
I did see nice shiny bits on the one I cut, so that is a good thing, I finally did screw on, but it did take some twisting on and on and on....and it finally grabbed and it was OK.
By the way, I do think the seafoam is doing at least something, I can see some smoke out of the tail pipe, I did not have this before so something is happening, burning off, cleaning up etc....
.