Yesterday I was riding under hard rain like I never do because I think its very risky :x , the problem was that I had nowhere to stop so I had to keep on. After a while the bike began to lose power and the engine began to fail :guns: . Nothing to do, I stopped and dried my bike and an hour later it started again and seemed to run fine. I never knew what happened.
Does anybody hava a idea about my problem? What can I do?
I appreciate any help on this problem...
Problems in the wet are almost always electrical. The high voltage stuff is the best place to start.
Carbon tracks or leaky wires can get worse in the wet. Replace the spark plugs and the plug wires. Clean the area on the coils around the high voltage spark plug wire very thoroughly - rubbing down the whole area with an eraser sometimes works too. Make sure you have maximum clearance from the spark plug wire to the other connections on the coil.
Those steps may fix it. If not, you have to start cleaning all the connectors and re-greasing them, especially anything to do with the ignition. Check all the wires for cracks or abrasion and fix as appropriate.
i got poured on the other day for a couple miles and my bike ran fine
Also water in the air fiter will effect power
Not sure how hard, it would probably take a mansoon....not up on bike performance in the rain.
Engines love water. I have never heard of water in an airfilter affecting an engine. My BMW used to have K&Ns stiking right out there, and it ran fine in the rain. In WWII, the fighters used to use direct water injection with high supercharger boosts to cool the charge.
It will be electrical.
I'm almost certain like Kevin C is that its electrical. Unless you are getting water instead of gas in the tank... I know impossible...You can burn water even up to 10%...Of course you cant start it with copious quantities of water in the charge but once the temperature is up water will only make it smoke...but it will run fine...and make a little more power too if you can measure that. My $$ is on electrics as well...You are shorting/grounding the high voltage.
Cool.
Srinath.
I had a TVS Champ (60 cc 2 stroke) in india that would die as soon as I hit some water or if it was parked in teh rain.
The plugs would foul and the engine would need to be (kicked - well thanfully this thing had pedals) that I could try and get it started. If not your caught pedding those useless geared pedals home.
From what I understood water went into the carbs and also seeped into the cylinder via the spark plugs. I had those plugs replaced N times. Finally I used to put a plastic bag over the cylinder (one cylinder) to keep it dry in the heavy rain. However i still had to be careful of making sure of when i rode over a puddle.
The problem was as soon as I hit a puddle of water it would start to die, it would bog down and start to die, so i would pull the clutch and restart it and hopefully it would restart.. else I am back to pedelling.
It was a 2 stroke that had a motor that was lying down right behind the front wheel. Lots of opportunity for water to get everywhere.
Cool.
Srinath.
Quote from: seshadri_srinathIt was a 2 stroke that had a motor that was lying down right behind the front wheel. Lots of opportunity for water to get everywhere.
Cool.
Srinath.
I see your familiar with the TVS Champ. Some how the Kinetic Honda had a rain issue (okay so the damn thing will hydroplane at high speeds - all the weight on the back has to make that front might light) but it had to be kicked started if it had been sitting in the rain, I couldnt use electric start, an yes that was with an new battery. You kick it a few times and then hit the electric starter and she would fire up.. i never figured that one out.
It all has to do with the fact that water wont let you start it..it will short off the spark, it wont atomize in the carbs, it lowers combustion temperature, leans out the mix etc...once started it can take a bit of water and be fine. Kicking it a few times probably gets it a good cycle of air, so if that had the likelyhood of water entering the chamber/crank case but not the carbs it will help. Never owned it...So dont know. My uncle had a champ, I had a KB100.
Cool.
Srinath.
Just for you folks who dont know what a kinetic honda is..
(http://www.ebuyguru.com/images/products/2w/Kinetic/Honda.jpg)
Its a 2 stroke, 98cc, variomatic transmission (twist and go), electric and kick start, rear engined but forced aircooled. It had about 8hp or so @ 5500 rpm
Thing would overheat like hell sometimes. I remember if you do over 70kmph that thing would be straining.. I hit 80kmph once but that was the max (i hit a puddle of water and the front end got loose and i nearly dumped it - yes I was wearing squidly wear and NO helmet).
It was a fun bike though. I loved it.
Another pic:
(http://www.bharattraders.com/big/kineticdx.jpg)
The TVS Champ pics are yet to be found..
Oh well..
Hope you get your problem solved.. i am clueless.
QuoteEngines love water. I have never heard of water in an airfilter affecting an engine. My BMW used to have K&Ns stiking right out there, and it ran fine in the rain. In WWII, the fighters used to use direct water injection with high supercharger boosts to cool the charge.
water going through the engine in vapor form can help in the fact of :
1 cools things down, including the aircharge (think intercooler)
2 water is madeup of hydrogen and oxygen <-------key element
K&N's arent effected by water the way paper element filters are, the paper holds the water and in many cases the pleated paper swells. this will make things richen up enough to drown the bike.
keep inmind, the tank catches water and it slides down the back between the seat and "SEEMS" to drip into the area of the intake snokle of the filter, the vacume pulls the water in and it soaks into the paper, at first it will seem strong, but will die off soon if the amount of rain doesnt lessen.
QuoteIn WWII, the fighters used to use direct water injection with high supercharger boosts to cool the charge
this was needed to keep the air temp down as to lessen detenation in the cylinders. Compression alone heats the air, compressing, the incoming aircharge raises the compresion ratio very high. diesel engines function in this mannor, fuel is sprayed into the chamber in a fine mist when the piston reaches a few degrees BTDC the heat from compression ignites the fuel. Av gas has a lower flash point then diesel, so inorder to run the superchargers the end effect higher compression, the water injectors were to help cool the air below the flashpoint temps. Nitrus was developed for use in the planes aswell. only it was ment to be a solid state supercharger, for thin atmosphere. i will have to find my notes on this.
I'm not sure I understand your points Blue Knight. The oxygen in water is not getting burned - the water molecules don't dissassociate at the temperatures in an engine.
I suppose it is possible for the paper element to get wet, but I doubt it would dry in an hour. Never actually heard of it happening on a car or bike for that matter.
I learned a trick from my dad (GM dealer and aircraft mechanic) to de-carbon an engine when that was a bigger problem than now: pour a kettle full of water down the carb while keeping it running at fairly high rpm. The shock of the liquid water would break the carbon loose. Don't let it stall though, or it was a Buddha Loves You getting it running again. Point is, engines will happily drink a lot of liquid water.
It's an electrical problem anyway. GS's run great in torrential down pours with the paper filter and all. I thoroughly tested mine the day I picked it up.
yeah, i know of the trick, though you ask many mechanics of this old trick and they each tell you a different methode useing water. i use chilled water and a tukey baster. found on most cars i only need about 8-10 oz's, if its really bad then 16oz, i will sometimes disconnect the exhaust at the front of the converter to let the carbon out instead of pluging things up, sometimes.
may favorite, was draining the oil out of the engine, re filling it with diesel and letting high idle for about 20 mins. that one always made me laugh. i imagine it would clean the inside of the block, but, i wouldnt do it on the engines they claimed.
Yes water wont separate into Hyd and oxygen under heat...it will do so very easily under electrolysis...so a small bit will cos of the spark...and to de carbonize a engine I spray distilled water with a sprayer into the vaccum line with the thing revving 5-6K
Cool.
Srinath.