Damn it! Misfire & Lost power...time for new plug, but exhaust blued...

[TimmyTheHog]

Okay...

guess when lighting strikes, it strikes hard...this is my story yesterday for my 2015 V7 Stone.

Basically was going home after a long day of work, and all the sudden, I start to have surges as something was pushing my bike....

Then all the sudden the bike stalled as I was downshifting to stop...thank god the truck behind me had a decent distance and saw me. So I pushed to a near parking lost...wait a bit, then fired her backed up.

At this stage, my bike is misfire and backfiring HARD from the right cylinder...So I called the tow truck company to see if I can get  tow...it told me please wait for at least 2 hours before they will get to me...

Since I was only about 10 miles from home, I decided to limp my way thru the back roads to avoid the high speed traffic...

I feathered my clutch all the way home.

Now the bike would want to die if I left it drop below 3000 RPM and doesn't matter how much I try to rev, it would not get past 4000 RPM...and continued the chugging and pulsing all the way thru...It was challenging and fun when trying to go uphill...

As I got home, I read somewhere and recalled the faulty plug/cap might contribute to this issue, so I finally ordered the plugs/spark (my own fault for delaying)

However, now my right exhaust pipe blued from all this misfiring/backfiring...





Now my questions are:

• is this exhaust pipe still okay to use or is it shot? Really try to not spend more money if have to
• Since I am currently running the beetle stock V7 single TV map, once I replaced the plug&cap, can I still use that map?
• do I need to get back in the Guzzidiag and relearn the parameter/throttle reset?

Thanks for listening to my rant...waiting for my parts to come in and hopefully soon...

[Toecutter]

Your cat is fried. Good time to go aftermarket on exhaust, perhaps? you can ride it as is, I did it for months waiting for my replacement.

The plug caps are almost certainly to blame.  Go with XB05F boots/ CPR8EA-9 plugs.

[TimmyTheHog]

Your cat is fried. Good time to go aftermarket on exhaust, perhaps? you can ride it as is, I did it for months waiting for my replacement.

The plug caps are almost certainly to blame.  Go with XB05F boots/ CPR8EA-9 plugs.

Now, the question is with the fried cat...(sounds nasty), can I still ride with it or is it a "bad bad bad never do it or die" thing?

and ya, likely the cap/plug is the culprit...I ordered XD05FP and the CPR8EA-9 plugs as those were the only one available to my area...stupid Western Canada

[TimmyTheHog]

So...quick update of what happened.

Wednesday, my new plugCPR8EA-9/capXD05FP AND the awesome "new old" pipes from a fellow WG member has arrived!...
so I "booked an evening off" from the zee wife and the kid for Thursday night so I could put them on!



Just a comparison...my burnt pipe to the left, the good one to the right.

As picking mine up and shook it, I was able to rattle it like a baby rattle toy...all the cat parts had disintegrated within the pipe. ya, it was done.

As I was pulling the caps off, they were loose but not busted...HOWEVER, I was able to wiggle both caps while they are on the plug quite freely.

So off to start with the RIGHT SIDE as it was the side that was popping and pooping



You can see the contact node is quite dark and covered up with carbon...looks like it has been arcing a while and causing it to carbonized which caused me to loose connection.



Inside of the old cap...somewhat carbonized...



The actual sparking area looks okay to me (it looks white because of the flash, but it is not)

Now onto the left side, which is the "good side"



the node is quite shiny and mostly carbon free.



Inside of the left cap...you can see it starts to gather some small carbon residue in there



same thing for the left plug...looks okay, clean and NOT WHITE (stupid flash)

So anyway, onto installing the new plugs.

I checked the gap and they were just over 0.034" (0.86mm) and slightly under 0.035" (0.89mm)...I left them how they were.

Snipped about 1/4" off of the end of the wire and fan out the wires as best as I could...which was pretty shitty IMO 

the cap screwed on nicely..the first few twists required to be PUSHED ON before it starts want to bite into the wire....

The rest are history...torqued the plugs to 11.5NM...doubled check with two different torque wrenches.



Before


After...

looks proper to me now...and they don't wiggle...well, does wiggle very slight according to the wife...which has more sensitive hands 

The caps pushed in snug but not tight...with a bit of nudge, they went on nicely...

Anyway, nothing fancy and new for most of you, but figure I would share my experience...

The bike fired up nicely but I couldn't take a video as it took me a lot longer to install everything as I was being cautious. I will do so tonight!

It was past my wife's bed time and anything longer than 2~3 mins idle running will make her switching the door lock on me LOL...

Thanks for listening my little rant/experience :P

[Huzo]

That is good work you have done Timmy.
Just to be sure, 0.035" sounds a bit wide historically for a plug gap to me, but could very well be correct.
Hope all goes well.
Huzo.

[TimmyTheHog]

That is good work you have done Timmy.
Just to be sure, 0.035" sounds a bit wide historically for a plug gap to me, but could very well be correct.
Hope all goes well.
Huzo.

Thanks Pete,

ya, I left the gap that wide is because that is what NGK recommend...I will see after I do a bit of test run this weekend...if I find myself loosing power, then I will close the gap.

[malik]

 

[Kev m]

Meh, I promise, I'll change out those plug caps soon... What year is it. 18' ok, they've been there since 13....soon...

[Spokane2303]

You're tempting fate! 

When they go it it takes only a few minutes for your exhaust to become brown toast.

[Kev m]

You're tempting fate! 

When they go it it takes only a few minutes for your exhaust to become brown toast.

But they don't just "go" do they?

I mean they have to come loose enough to start misfiring, which in and of itself is an indication to pull over and check it out. That doesn't happen without symptoms right?

And even then they have to actually come loose and separate to arc or misfire. So there's an element of luck, but also an element of how they've been treated/handled.

I'll be sure to schedule it at the next spark plug change/valve clearance check (unless my bike has a different plan).

[TimmyTheHog]

But they don't just "go" do they?

I mean they have to come loose enough to start misfiring, which in and of itself is an indication to pull over and check it out. That doesn't happen without symptoms right?

And even then they have to actually come loose and separate to arc or misfire. So there's an element of luck, but also an element of how they've been treated/handled.

I'll be sure to schedule it at the next spark plug change/valve clearance check (unless my bike has a different plan).

The browning of pipe does take a few mins to happen but the lost of power was instantly for me.

I was lucky as I was just abt to take off from a stop, but it could happen anytime once the connection is lost.

The new plug is a lot tighter and doesn’t move as much due to the rubber caps.

I mean it’s all up to you...I tempt faith but I lost...

[Kev m]

The browning of pipe does take a few mins to happen but the lost of power was instantly for me.

I was lucky as I was just abt to take off from a stop, but it could happen anytime once the connection is lost.

The new plug is a lot tighter and doesn’t move as much due to the rubber caps.

I mean it’s all up to you...I tempt faith but I lost...

Tempting it since 2013...

I mean I hear you and understand the risks.

Acknowledged, accepted, will pull over and reseat the f'n caps if it bucks or surges. [emoji6]

I also ran the half plastic filter for most of that time.

Who knew I should have checked the charging output sooner.

[Dharma Bum]

I run a. 026" gap on my '04 Breva according to factory specs. Are the later models that much different?

[TimmyTheHog]

I run a. 026" gap on my '04 Breva according to factory specs. Are the later models that much different?

Well V7 first gen manual said the same, but since the NGK plug manufacturer spec says 9mm otherwise and some of the members here who changed the plugs also run it @ 9mm with no issue;therefore, I choose to leave it at 9mm

Running wider gap burns cleaner HOWEVER woth more prone to misfire @ higher RPM if gapped too wide. Running tighter gap will ensure better spark connections but risk of burning electrodes.

So if it doesn’t misfire today when I go for a ride, I will leave it. If it does want to pop pop pop, I will just shorten the gap.

The original plugs I pulled out were @ 0.032~ gap

[Huzo]

9 mm ?

[TimmyTheHog]

9 mm ?

Oops lol I mean 0.9mm...

Lol...it’s the weekend, brain not working lol

So far she runs beautifully...not a miss beat

[Huzo]

Hmmm..
10 mm is about 40 thou'
9 mm just "sounds" too wide. But if that's what it says...