Frustrating rain issue

Fellas,

Question about rain performance. It has been a long time since I rode in any real rain, although I have done it in the past with no real issues on this bike. I know that performance in the rain should probably be identical to performance not in the rain, but I have also heard some people on the site talking about having issues when their coils get wet.

Today I had a very frustrating (and kind of dangerous) issue. It was not particularly cold this morning (maybe 55F), and anyway last week my bike started pretty much fine in about 35F weather. Not perfect, but reasonable, requiring only a few cranks to fire up with the fuel enrichment on. Today, it also started up fine.

I began to ride in moderate rain, with no issues. Then, when coming to a stop, once the bike and I were pretty wet, and heading up a slight hill, it died fairly suddenly. I figured it was random and cranked it, but to no avail. Cranked it a few times and it seemed pretty dead. I pushed it off to the sidewalk, waited a minute, then jammed a tool in the spark plug wire to test the spark---of course it started relatively normally as I was testing the spark, so I got on and annoyedly drove off again.

About 5 minutes later, different hill, same story---slight uphill, slowing down, engine cut out, seemed dead. Pushed it again, and this time it really didn't want to start, but after waiting a few minutes again, it started more or less fine and I drove off.

The only similar issue I have had was when I was having poor alternator output due to corroded wires going into the diode. I have not yet checked this, but I fixed it fairly recently, haven't ridden much and I keep the bike covered. One possibly relevant detail is that the tach recently started bouncing, and I haven't debugged it yet. This I believe is indicative of a bad connection somewhere, since the tach on this bike is connected to the 2/3 ignition coil. Perhaps related?

Anyway, any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated. Hoping there's not an issue when I have to head home.

 

my first idea was cracked coils, but usually it takes longer than 5 mins for them to dry out to start again.

 

I don't think cracked coils would mess up the tach.

I had a similar issue on my Venture, but only after washing, I try to avoid riding in rain. Ran poorly and the tach was erratic. I never tried to fix it (it always dried out fast). I haven't tested for it specifically but I haven't noticed a problem since I replaced the ignition module for another reason. I've ridden in some pretty nasty rain since the new module went in.

On the Venture the components in the module are exposed, where I think the ones in your TCI are potted. I'd look for connection problems for the pick up coils and at the TCI. If all that looks good I'd be tempted to crack open the TCI and look for indications it's been getting wet.

 

You have either a coil that has developed a crack in it and is allowing at least a tiny drop of moisture to get in, or you have moisture getting into your connections down by the TCI and the regulator, where the wires come out of the alternator/stator.

This is VERY COMMON issue with these bikes. The coils are known for developing cracks between the leads. This lets water in, which will kill a spark instantly. If you're lucky, the coil will be warm enough, and the drop of water will be minute enough that the heat will evaporate it quickly. If too much gets in, you're not going anywhere til either it dries out, or you chase it out with enough WD40.

The harness connections are also prone to water, considering where they sit. The spray from rain and the road can soak them. If they are getting corroded, you will have issues, especially when they are wet. You can also burn up your ignition system if the connections are corroded.....too much heat and resistance can burn out your stator. So, the solution is to clean the terminals and stuff them with di-electric grease when you do your regular maintenance stuff.

You can also relocate the CDI and the regulator to a drier location that still will stay cool. That will be a big help, but the wet coils is still an issue. For that, I'd recommend upgrading to Dyna-Coils.

Dave F

 

You can also coat the cracks with a solid based ruberized coating.