Checking plug caps and coils

[Guest]

Okay, I'm moving onto electrical in trying to figure out what's wrong with this bike. Any chance I can get a short tutorial on how to pull the plug caps off the wires so that I don't damage anything? I just don't want to be twisting when I should be pulling, or pulling in the wrong place or anything.

And shouldn't I be testing voltage too? Where should I stick the ends of the multimeter? 1 & 4, 2 & 3 for the caps, right? But what should the multimeter be set at?

Thanks,
~Mike

[chef1366]

They just twist off righty tighty-lefty loosey.
AAAAARRRRRRR

[louisciccoli]

And shouldn't I be testing voltage too? Where should I stick the ends of the multimeter? 1 & 4, 2 & 3 for the caps, right? But what should the multimeter be set at?

Thanks,
~Mike[/QUOTE]

The caps are tested for resistance (ohms). They may be marked as to how many ohms they should be rated for. I am only familiar with 5 or 10 K ohms. All you need to do for that is set your meter to ohms & put the probes in either side of the cap. I'm not sure if you can test for volts while the caps are connected to the wires or not.

[UncleMike]

They just twist off righty tighty-lefty loosey.
AAAAARRRRRRR

Ah, but where exactly? I don't want to be twisting the wrong part.

[louisciccoli]

There is a rubber boot to keep water out of the wire. Roll that back & unscrew the wire from the plug.

[UncleMike]

When I pulled off one of the caps, and set my multimeter to ohms 20K, it read at ~10.5L for a while, and now I can't get a reading on the cap. I'll stick the ends in and it will flash numbers only very briefly, and then not read anything.

Soooo frustrating.

[UncleMike]

Perhaps the multimeter just needs new batteries. Who knows.

I got the readings though.

#1 - 10.53L
#2 - 11L
#3 - 11.3L
#4 - 10.99L

This was with the multimeter set to ohms at 20K. Is this good?

Also, should I cut the plug wire back a bit to expose new copper? I can't even see any in some of the wires. Any special procedure?

Thanks for struggling along with me.

~Mike

[Nessism]

The caps screw onto the leads so you don't want to just wiggle and pull off. And yes, cut back the lead a smig so you get good clean contact.

Not sure what to say about the resistance but since all caps seem the same, either all are good (likely) or all are bad.

[UncleMike]

The caps screw onto the leads so you don't want to just wiggle and pull off. And yes, cut back the lead a smig so you get good clean contact.

Not sure what to say about the resistance but since all caps seem the same, either all are good (likely) or all are bad.

Thanks. So that difference between 10.53 and 11.3 isn't something to worry about?

And is there any special procedure to cutting back the lead? Just use scissors?

Thanks again,
~Mike

[mark]

Thanks. So that difference between 10.53 and 11.3 isn't something to worry about?

And is there any special procedure to cutting back the lead? Just use scissors?

Thanks again,
~Mike

I wouldn't use scissors, or tin snips you probably won't get a clean cut and you need a nice flat surface with the wires snipped cleanly to rescrew in your plug cap. Use a good wire cutter.

[louisciccoli]

I agree with the other gents. You only want to take off a SMALL amount, that way you do not shorten the wire too much. I would look at the end of the plug wire after you cut it to ensure that there is no corrosion. That can weaken the spark alot. If you see more after you cut it, you may want to consider cutting a bit more. But again, becareful how much you cut or you may end up buying a new set of coils unless your wires are able to come off of them. But unless they are aftermarket, they probably do not.

[UncleMike]

Sweet, thanks.

Just checking, but are my plug resistance readings okay? I'm a moron when it comes to electronics.

[louisciccoli]

They seem to be fine to me. My only experience with them being bad is the resistance drops, so as long as they are where they are they should be fine.

[UncleMike]

They seem to be fine to me. My only experience with them being bad is the resistance drops, so as long as they are where they are they should be fine.

Meaning the resistance would drop while checking them?

Thanks again,
~Mike

[louisciccoli]

No meaning that they would be lower than they are supposed to be overall. Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, I was just got back from AZ this afternoon.