one cylinder died in snow

[peter]

Hi, this is my first post - please be gentle!
so I bought a gs5 (after having a cg125) and love it

I searched and found a few threads on this subject but just wanted to check

I've carried on riding it in the snow we've had in the uk midlands in the last few days but I think some of the electrics have got wet or something as the left cylinder cut out.  It occasionally came back alive causing me slight concern in the traffic! 
after a couple of hours in the dry at home it was running on both cylinder.
by this erratic behaviour should I assume it's something electrical?  I've taken the plug out and cleaned the deposits off and sprayed the ht leads with gt85.  I'm worried it might happen again.. should I take off the tank and look at the coil?

Would I have any damage riding it on one cylinder (about 14 miles limping)?

Also, when I bought it, it was overfilled with oil (like an inch on the dipstick).  I rode it like that for couple hundred miles (a bit naughty!).  Instead of cracking the drain plug I just lent the bike on it sides and got about 1/2 a litre out and it now shifts a lot better and can get into netraul more easily.  It's still nearly a cm over the mark though - should I just open it up and put new oil in now (prev owner said he'd just changed oil) or will it be okay for another few hundred miles.  I've got a new filter ready.

Could my leaning on its side have caused the problem of it not firing on one cylinder? 
(to confuse things, it was Thursday both when I tipped the oil out and when the problem in the left cylinder started)

thanks in advance.. here's to lots of happy miles
peter

[Affschnozel]

Hello and welcome to the GS family,great people from all around the globe 
I've heard that Britain haven't seen snow like this in ages  those greenhouse gases!
Anyway, you are right on the problem,happens to me in heavy rains,condensation gets to
spark plug cap and it stops it from firing. So spraying directly into the cap with gt85(I assume it works like wd40? )
to repel moisture will help. Also check the HT wire for looseness(it is screwed into the coil body)
I guess there are caps that keep moisture out better than others.
I have NGK caps and occasionally in heavy rains I get the same problem so I always carry wd40 with me...
Riding on one cylinder for short distances isn't that bad, but I'll advise you to go ahead and change the oil and check if plugs are OK
Ride safely

[rob1bike]

+1

Welcome!
Trace all the connections on that side out....see if somethings not whacked.
And just change your oil, over filled oil isn't horrible but its not good either, good luck!

[Egaeus]

Get some dielectric grease and use it to "seal" the plug wires.  It keeps out condensation and helps prevent corrosion. 

[makenzie71]

^ditto.  Same problem with my TL...it can just get cloudy and the front cylinder goes apeshit on me.  When it's raining the transition between 55hp and 127hp is so violent and severe than your heart stops and you pee a little.

Pull both plug boots out, cram the plug hole full of dielectric grease, put the boot back on.  Solves other problems, too.  I've started using the stuff on all my electrical connections and my charging system has been steadily improving.

[peter]

thanks for being so friendly and helpful guys.  I've read and learned a lot but even after a lot of fiddling I'm still having problems when it's very wet (sorry to resurect this thread, have looked through old threads honest)

• I removed the pulse generator cover and someone had done a shockingly poor job of soldering the wires to the left hand pickup (i.e. melted part of plastic, pretty dry joint, wire came away with a gentle tug) so I've resoldered that this morning and it's running okayish (definitely not good and haven't tested in wet).  To be honest it looks like someone has fiddled with it.  Bike has only done 11k but looks like it may have been down on its RHS.
• resistance for pulse generator coils are 225 and 230 ohms, i.e. both below Haynes Manual spec.
• resistance over primary ignition coil about 1 ohm on each side! well below spec.
• secondary coil resistance okay, about 23
• unscrewed ht leads, snipped off ends and rescrewed.  LHS does look a bit corroded.. worth replacing?
• generally weak spark, a bit yellow and both plugs fouled (there was even a bit of oil on the RHS one - not good?!)
• really struggles to get much above 80mph

new spark plugs on their way
fleebay has some coils off a 2004 (K4).  They look the same as mine (K2).. would they be worth a shot?  basically I'm wondering if my resistances are so really so far out? surely coils that are so new and done so few miles should be fine?

i just want a nice fat blue spark in all weather

thanks again,
Peter