Crankcase breather hose and ignition leads...

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ok so i went about replacing my fuel filter and spark plugs today in my garage...i.e. on the main road i live on, luckily it was a rain-free day

managed to dig my way into getting the fuel tank and airbox off...all good, as i was putting the number 1 ignition lead back into the engine it fell out...along with several bits of broken bits of wire...not good.

Here isa diagram of what i mean (not the exact leads i have, but you get the idea):-


so i have removed about 5-6mm of wire (anything more and it would be too short) to reveal about 5-6 good copper wires, i have not been able to remove any plastic from around these, instead i just pushed the top part of the plastic bit that attaches to the spark plug (it has a small coppery coloured "screw-point" like bit in it) into the jumble of fresh wire, pushed the small rubber cover over it and started the bike up.

now the engine fires up and "sounds" ok, power seems to still be the same, but i want to know if i have done the right thing, or should i have tried to wind the copper wire around the "screw-like"point in the plastic connector that came off, or do i need new ignition leads?

also i noticed a bit, say a few large drops, or water in the top of the crankcase breather hose, where it joins the airbox, it was -2C last night, and was still pretty cold thismorning so is this normal? the inside of the breather hose smelled slightly live vodka, there was a mixture of petrol and water, again is this normal? and finally the inside of the hose did look slightly corroded, not blocked, but the plastic/rubber, whatever its made of, was flaking slightly...again, normal, or replace?

i think cradley kawasaki is shut for the night, being almost 6, if they are open tomorrow i might give them a shout if i need new connectors/pipes. also if i do need new ignition leads should i replace the set, or just the one thats a bit dodgy?

sorry for the long post, but as i have 0% experience of doing any kind of maintenance i was pretty pleased with myself that everything went back together, mostly, and there were no "spares" left over at the end

PS. does the ignition lead come with the plastic spark plug connector on the end of it, or are they two different bits that you connect together yourself?

[Mori Man]

Where the HT lead goes into the spark plug cap there is a screw post in there. You cut the HT lead with snips and leave as is, push it through the rubber boot and when it stops start turning the cap clockwise to make the screw post "tap" into the HT lead after several turns it will stop again - job done.

Where the sparg plug goes in - if you look in you'll see a flat head screw in there, if you remove that there is a resistor behine it, if these are corroded it's worth while cleaning them up - but if you bike is running fine don't bother touching them.

The emulsion in your breather pipe can be normal in small amounts if you've been doing short cold riding , a blown head gasket can cause it but your more likely to see plooms of steam coming out of your exhaust another cause is oil being burnt off and user continually topping up the level ( You should remove the oil filler cap on a car and see if it has emulsion on it for this reason when buying 2nd hand ).

If any pipe has become brittle over time you should replace - if a crankcase hose becomes blocked from crud or collapsing you can potentially blow your engine up, you wouldn't be the first!

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cheers mori! that particular HT lead, for sparkplug 1, i will need to screw that in next week when i redo everything.

one question, turn clockwise when looking at what? do i have the lead coming towards me and turn the spark plug connector clockwise, or do i have the spark plug holder closest to me, the ht lead going away from me, and turn the spark plug connector clockwise then? i think its the latter, makes most sense to me, but the "handedness" of the screw thread might be different to what im used to...

for the moment its either making ok contact, or the charge is jumping the gap, either way it does not apear to be running on 3 cylinders.

i will take a video of the exhaust gas, i dont know if the gasket might be going, i do think i have a small amount of water in the oil (the oil level window seems to have "steam" on it that does not go away when the oil moves over it), might just be me, or these cold mornings (about 0C), but when riding the exhaust gas does leave a shadow that i can see when riding...i will investigate further. also the bike is mainly used for short hops (only 3 miles to work) so that might be it.

as for the hose, its more of an internal cracking, it doesnt seem to be "shedding" anything, but i only looked at the top part, i might have a go at removing the whole hose and checking it at the base, ill also see how much a replacement is.

EDIT:less important, but i also noticed that i am lacking the hose that goes from the airbox-drain opening, so anything that leaks out of the drain port just goes onto the side of the engine...again would you recommend getting that hose, or is it really not worth it? i imagine that its onlt water that comes out of that hole, but i dont know if having the hose on acts as a sort of vacuum once the bike is moving, sucking stuff out of there??

[Mori Man]

It will be aparent as it wont tighten doing it the wrong way but the later does sound right

If I have the HT lead in my left hand and cap in right, the cap is closest to me and I am turning it clockwise with the length of the cap looking like an hour hand.

Even swapping hands it is the same as long as the cap is toward you. Hope that helps.

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Cheers MM, if you are ever in the neighbourhood i owe you a pint

[Tirpitz]

HT lead is that cheap it's not worth messing about with old ones. You need a metre to replace those on the ZXR and you can get that from any auto shop for a couple of quid, don't waste money on OEM. Take off the old ones in turn and cut the new to matching length (add a bit on to the one you butchered). You will need to pull off the rubber grommet from the old ones which is sitting in a narrowing near the coil cap end. Push that onto the new one at the same distance from the end so that it forms a seal when you tighten up the coil cap. Then just label the leads up with some gaffa tape wrapped round each one numbered in permanent marker / biro etc - job done.

BTW, you're going to totally wreck your engine in a very short time using it for 3 mile trips, it is totally unsuitable for that use and you have got lots of condensation in your engine. A bike like this needs a minimum 10 mile run when started up to get hot and burn off moisture. Regular use for sub 10 mile hops in the UK climate will be the kiss of death. Use a pushbike FFS

[banner001]

HT lead is that cheap it's not worth messing about with old ones. You need a metre to replace those on the ZXR and you can get that from any auto shop for a couple of quid, don't waste money on OEM. Take off the old ones in turn and cut the new to matching length (add a bit on to the one you butchered). You will need to pull off the rubber grommet from the old ones which is sitting in a narrowing near the coil cap end. Push that onto the new one at the same distance from the end so that it forms a seal when you tighten up the coil cap. Then just label the leads up with some gaffa tape wrapped round each one numbered in permanent marker / biro etc - job done.

BTW, you're going to totally wreck your engine in a very short time using it for 3 mile trips, it is totally unsuitable for that use and you have got lots of condensation in your engine. A bike like this needs a minimum 10 mile run when started up to get hot and burn off moisture. Regular use for sub 10 mile hops in the UK climate will be the kiss of death. Use a pushbike FFS

...thats not an option, unless i want to purpousfully go a longer way to work, there are 3 other guys who bike to work from a similar distance, it should be ok.

ive just put a deposit on a slightly further-away house, so now ill be doing 4.5 miles to work and the same back again, plus its all 40 and 50mph roads to get there, seems to warm everything up fine, and my bike will finally be garaged so hopefully it wont be "sitting around" in the rain/outside air too much longer.

doing a longer commute isnt really practical, i go into work 10 times a week as it is, extending my journey diatance by 3.3x would increase my fuel bill by the same amount...not a luxury i can afford to take im afraid. plus im a lazy giraffe, and i look god awfull in a lycra bodysuit, so no chance of me getting on a pushbike anytime soon

[Mori Man]

plus im a lazy giraffe, and i look god awfull in a lycra bodysuit, so no chance of me getting on a pushbike anytime soon

Member #2 of that club mate

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i rang cradley the other day to check about the breather hose, they have it on order for me, ill get them to chuck in the 1M of HT lead at the same time