Water in Plug Wells - Prevention, a possible solution

SparrowHawkxx

Active Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2012
Messages
203
Location
Oklahoma
Here in Brazil we are starting to try this:
using an o'ring with 18mm x 1.78mm
and an Self locking cable tie(I have no Idea if it's the english name of this )
The image below ilustrate how to instal

we test with a high pressure washer, and keep it dry.
Good input, Thanks!
Yes, those are normally just called cable ties or zip ties.

Good to see that you did some testing to see that it worked.

Were you having water ingress problems in the plug holes from riding in the rain?
If so, it would also be good to see some test results after you rack up some miles riding in the rain.

Just curious about the larger O-ring.
Are you no longer using this? Is this something you tried but did not work, so you took it off?
 
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diego.ehmke

New Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2018
Messages
16
Location
Jaraguá do Sul - SC, Brazil.
Hi SparrowHawkxx, it's not mine picture, here in Brazil we have a Whatsapp group about the Super Tenere, there I said about the idea of the o'ring I saw here,

one member, go for the O-ring and took the picture.

he bought both orings, but the larger don't fit well, so he don't used this one, only the small.

we face the problem when Wash or riding in the heavy rain too.
over time, infiltration begins and corrosion occurs.
here we try to isolate using grease, and another things.
but the idea of the o'rings and the zip ties makes more sense.
when i had time to change i will try the o'ring and the zip ties too.
this idea was really recent (a few days to be sincer), only the time will say if it works.
 
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SparrowHawkxx

Active Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2012
Messages
203
Location
Oklahoma
It is notable that our coils get corroded due to water entering the plug wells and being retained. Here is one possible solution, after trying it for 8k km in a tropical weather with thunderstorm weather and running through flooded streets....multiple times.

I have checked both most left and most right plugs and coils and no sign of corrosion or even water marks. These 2 plugs are the most notable for water ingress. As a reference, prior to this Orings, I did discovered my right most has water ingress, with brownish marks indicating water retention, plus a badly corroded HEX on the plugs.

Using O-ring to place in between the engine's wells opening and plug coil's "umbrella" (i hv no better word to describe). Shown below is the Oring in a pre-installed manner.
(pic deleted)

Below shows as installed.
(pic deleted)

The Oring is Viton material. Recommended to grease the Orings with high temp grease for better sealing. In my case use Krytox grease.

Dimensions: OD 33mm, thickness 2.95mm, ID 27mm ( measured with a caliper which is not the best tool for flexible things)

Oring info, commercial: http://www.rubberstore.com/catalog/as568-orings-chart.php
Select "914". AS568 number.
It's been a couple years now since this was posted, hopefully you've got a lot of wet weather riding in since installing this fix.
Just curious what your thoughts are now about this solution.

I never had the water ingress problem on mine until an Alaska trip in June 2018, when I had many hours of constant rain.
Last summer I installed this O-ring mod but have not done enough wet weather riding since then to know how well it worked.

The other solution mentioned above, with the small O-ring between the 2 pseudo O-rings on the rubber boot and zip ties at the top of the boot also looks like it may be a good solution.

If would be good to hear from anyone that has long term test results with any "possible solution" to this problem.
 

Tommy Tickle

Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2017
Messages
38
Location
Rawtenstall Lancs
All sorted now, I did as on video ans used rtv silicone around tops of coils, shouldn't have any problems again with water ingres, thanks to everyone who helped me sort it.
 

RCinNC

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Joined
Aug 30, 2014
Messages
2,816
Location
North Carolina
I figured I'd report back on my experience with the O-ring method too.

I installed the O-rings on my coil sticks back on 04/02/20, when I had 66,893 on the odometer. In addition to the O-rings, I put a bead of Bel Ray waterproof grease on the underside of the rubber cap that fits on the shaft of the coil stick. The O-ring fits into a groove on the underside of this cap, and the bead of grease went on top of the O-ring.

Today I pulled the old plugs at 78,657 miles on the odometer. That's a little over a year, and 11,764 miles. This is what the plugs looked like:



The Number 1 plug on the left is the one that usually shows the most corrosion, since it's the one that is on the downward angle on the bike when it's on the side stand. The plug had almost no corrosion. That's a big departure from the way that plug has looked on prior changes, when it was very rusty. I ride year round in all kinds of weather, including some pretty good mud and water on part of the MABDR last summer.

These are what the coil sticks looked like:



The one on the left is the one that's installed in the usual problem spot on our bikes. There's no rust or corrosion on the steel reinforcing collar that goes around the coil stick. All four coil sticks came off the plugs with little effort.

This is a link to the o-rings that I used: https://www.grainger.com/product/GRAINGER-APPROVED-O-Ring-1WHP3

I'm going to file this method in the "success" column.
 
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Kruzzin5

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Joined
Oct 14, 2019
Messages
415
Location
Newmarket, Ontario
I replaced spark plugs and K&N filter after 45,000 kms. Surprisingly, no water had gotten into the plugs. Factory seals were doing there job.
 

Mak10

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Joined
Aug 20, 2018
Messages
2,567
Location
SE Idaho
I replaced my plugs at 27,000 miles. No water intrusion. I live in an arid desert and rarely ride in the rain.
 

Boris

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Joined
Dec 21, 2013
Messages
2,051
Location
midlands. UK
I know not everyone does Facebook but on the Facebook Super Tenere USA group page, Paul Pelland posted he had a similar problem and he found that a good fender extender solved the problem.

Here is a link to his Facebook post:

I’m with this school of thought.

I’d noticed that a lot of road debris ends up atop the cam cover, which I believe is caused by spray from the front tyre. On my bike this has clearly led to water ingress to plug wells 1 & 2, as evidenced by slightly rusted plugs and discoloured coils. I fitted a fender extender around a couple of years back, to see if it improved matters. Over the weekend just gone, I removed the coils and plugs and there was no sign whatsoever of any water ingress. The cam cover was also noticeably cleaner.

The fender extender appears to have solved the issue for me.
 

WJBertrand

Ventura Highway
Joined
Jun 20, 2015
Messages
4,516
Location
Ventura, CA
I think Long Haul Paul documented the fender extender prevented ingestion of water into the air box as well.
 

magic

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Joined
Jul 6, 2015
Messages
743
Location
WISCONSIN
I recently changed my plugs for the 3rd time. I have been coating the coil sticks and especially the o-rings with dielectric grease and have not seen any water in the plug wells. Fender extenders can catch on some skid plates and cause some real problems.
 

gunslinger_006

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Joined
May 21, 2016
Messages
961
Location
Seattle, Washington
I recently changed my plugs for the 3rd time. I have been coating the coil sticks and especially the o-rings with dielectric grease and have not seen any water in the plug wells. Fender extenders can catch on some skid plates and cause some real problems.
Yeah i had to remove mine when I installed tabascos plate. Good news is the plate seems to do the job of blocking water.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Joined
Jun 26, 2019
Messages
92
Location
Manchester UK
I’m with this school of thought.

I’d noticed that a lot of road debris ends up atop the cam cover, which I believe is caused by spray from the front tyre. On my bike this has clearly led to water ingress to plug wells 1 & 2, as evidenced by slightly rusted plugs and discoloured coils. I fitted a fender extender around a couple of years back, to see if it improved matters. Over the weekend just gone, I removed the coils and plugs and there was no sign whatsoever of any water ingress. The cam cover was also noticeably cleaner.

The fender extender appears to have solved the issue for me.
Don’t go to all year biker, the UK based franchise, to get your bike pampered and the coated with acf50. My bike wouldn’t start after the treatment (had to get breakdown out) owing to water ingress. It’s such a failing on the tenere as I know plenty of others who have been and no such issues. Live and learn.
 

Tenman

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Joined
Dec 7, 2013
Messages
2,102
Location
Natchez Ms USA
ACF50 has been around a long time. Proven in aviation. It's used on vintage airplanes. I've been using it for years. I've got a 25 yro cr500 that I've been using it on. It's had the shit beat out of it. It's been put away muddy and still cleans up good. IMG_E0003.JPG.
 

PavlosXTZ

New Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2018
Messages
8
Location
Hellas (GR)
hello Guys and good evening from Hellas (Greece)

18 months ago, i made a movement by changing all the ignition coils....especially the 3 of them
1 was good but not very new in my eyes pic 3.

The bike had then 20000km with extremely hard working conditions.
The owner had a big farm and he ride it with this bike

3.jpg
4.jpg
5.jpg
So when i bought it i decide to make a "surgeon" and see all electric diagrams, groundings and much more
Before i write more i want to refer that the last onwer always cleaned the bike with a pressure water machine and some chemical liquids that i dont really new about them.

So today after 2 1/2 years i have 56000 km (cause of covid i didnt make any big trips)
I discover a little secret to protect all the coils and the spurks from rust

first as you can see in the 3 new ignition coils i bought (mitsubishi)
code: IGN-218P -------------------manufacture code: F6T-56772----------------------Yamaha code: 23P-82310-00
i put some lay of copper paste but little not to much and see the result
0-02-05-e4a.jpg

the 4th ignition coil which was not bad and not new..... went off
0-02-05-1188e.jpg

of course i put the new ignition coil that i ordered and and apply new coating of copper paste i installed the spurk plugs (new ones of course)
now next year on 5 June 2023 i ll make a check again and see the progression

0-02-051.jpg
Also i put some paste (copper) in the arrows above and when the ignition coil entered it seals ok!!!!

Notice: Dont put much copper paste just a thin layer

Thank you guys this is my personal story about the ignition coils. Also last year i put the extension in front wheels so water is not going to the head engine panel where ignition coils are.
 
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