K3 - Black Smoke - Will not idle - Checked Plugs

Ok, got a late 2003 K3 which to be honest has hardly been used in the last year or so.

Uncovered it after about 11 months, 2 or 3 weeks back, and took her out for the day and all run perfectly. Hasd pump the tyres, fuel, chain usual stuff first!

Now, got a new job Monday in London, jumped on the bike and headed off up the M40, all going great apart from the rain, until I hit traffic on the Marylebone Road, at which point the bike just cut out on me - back wheel locked up by no big problem. started her back up and had to keep her revving around 2-3K all the way in.

So parked up and left the bike all day (6 hours) and jumped back ona nd went home.. All fine until about 5 minutes from home when it started raining again!

Tuesday, same thing really but this time when I got home gave the bike a bit if a service after reading some post of this site about water getting down the front spark plug... So new plugs (gap 0.7mm) new oil filter and oil, kicked her over fired up straight away and purred away quite happily. Great problem solved.. or so I thought!!!

Wednesday, dry day, not a problem in or out of London!!

Thursday, fine all the wayt in again until I hit the Marylebone Road... had to rev taround 2-3k all the way to work again!! Pleanty of black smoke coming out of the back, running really rough like only on one cylinder. Left her all day, same thing when I started her up!

So, got down to the BP on the A40 after Hanger Lane, low on fuel so thought I'd stop and fill up... that was a mistake!! Could harly keep her running again!! So on the BP forecourt I had all the plugs out, sprayed some WD-40 in the leads and flushed out the front cylinder around the plug and the drain hole (basicly filled it with WD-40 with my finger over the drain hole and then let it run out a coupple of times. No difference what so ever, managed to keep her going to get back home.

I have had the plugs and leads off again, cleaned the plugs up as the were completley black (2 days old), reset the gap..

Still same problem,

1. she will not idle (maybe for a few seconds).
2. black smoke out the back
3. running lumpy
4. revving her up judders to start with then just bits up, but is still lumpy when revving
5. black, sooty plugs after two days
6. checked the air filter looks ok
7. checked coil cables - look ok!
8. Silicon greased around the front lead to seal it up, and has been WD-40'd
9. Drain hole is completley clear

If anyone has any idea what I can do next, please give me a hint as I desperatley need the bike for work, and none of the bike shops round here can do any work for weeks!

I was wondering if water might have got in to the fuel! Would this cause these problems? The bike lives outside as I do not have a garage or shed! How can I flush the tank through, and do I need to do anything else since it is fuel injected rather than carbs?

Could it be an electrical problem? Any suggestions please?

Cheers for any help you guys can give.

might i point you to this thread

could be a possibility

http://forums.sv650.org/viewtopic.php?t=37490

[Biker Biggles]

Sounds like running rich..Don't know how you deal with it on the FI bikes though.

Ok, have tried everything in the thread, both plugs are sparking - arcing around a bit but not sure if thats supposed to happen.

One thing I did notice was that I could feel it off the lead every time it sparked...

Plugs were really fouled when i took them out - completley black all over! Cleaned them up and dried them out and put them back in - still same problem!

Originally Posted by robertwo

Ok, have tried everything in the thread, both plugs are sparking - arcing around a bit but not sure if thats supposed to happen.

One thing I did notice was that I could feel it off the lead every time it sparked...

Plugs were really fouled when i took them out - completley black all over! Cleaned them up and dried them out and put them back in - still same problem!

did you get a shock everytime if so i would assume there is a lot of damp in/ on your leads .

check back to the coils as well check the small wires and connections for dampness and condition

have you determined which cylinder is not firing ?

Sids water test

if yes have you tried swapping plugs over to see if fault transfers to other cylinder ?

if fault transfers then plugs are the problem if it doesn't then still on the water route if cylinder faulty is the front.

did it have the same petrol in it for 11 months ? if so how full was the tank (condensation builds up on the inside of half empty tanks) and after 11 months the petrol was probably shot anyway.

howevr i digress because your problem seems to manifest on wet days i still think there is water in the electrical sysstem somewhere, but do try the plug swap

Yer, I could feel the shock in my fingers everytime of the rear cylinder, not the front though!

I did the water test on the front pipe, but not the rear (stupid I know)... the front was fine! Will have to check the back!

One thing I did try was running the bike with one of the leads disconnected, rear first front second, sounded pretty much the same, didn't pick up or slow down the engine!

The plugs have been swapped round (also the are only two days old) and both sparked when I had them out! The front plug was quite wet though when I took it out, and the back dry!

Sorry, it had about half a tank, maybe less in it over the months...

I ran it the first time I took her out this year on that fuel, and topped her up with Shell Optimax twice that day! All was good, but left the bike uncovered from then until monday when I used the bike again to got to work, and we've had a lot of rain!

I did use the bike for 8 months when I first had it (31st December 2003), to communte to london, and never had a problem with rain.... and it rained a lot that winter

Originally Posted by robertwo

Yer, I could feel the shock in my fingers everytime of the rear cylinder, not the front though!

I did the water test on the front pipe, but not the rear (stupid I know)... the front was fine! Will have to check the back!

One thing I did try was running the bike with one of the leads disconnected, rear first front second, sounded pretty much the same, didn't pick up or slow down the engine!

The plugs have been swapped round (also the are only two days old) and both sparked when I had them out! The front plug was quite wet though when I took it out, and the back dry!

the front plug being wet would indicate thats the problem cylinder, and just cos the plugs are new does not mean you have not got a faulty one (it has happened to me about 5 times over 25 odd years ie. getting a duff plug.

if you got a shock off the back lead it surprises me (but by no means impossible)

there is a possibility i suppose of your injectors being blocked by crap petrol ( but that would not just manifest itself on wet days.

have you a fan heater or a hair dryer you can utilise on the plug caps / leads / coils (particularly the caps) try and get it really dry and see of the problem disappears.

I am prety much convinced its water ingress or plug problems , but vry hard to diagnose from 380 miles away

I'm with your thinking on the water problem, and maybe crap petrol... you think water from sitting around in the petrol would cause any of these problems? Would it not just get blasted through by the injectors, unlike sitting around in carbs? I have filled and emptied the tank, atleast 3 times this week and twice while I was out for the day!

Do the leads come off completley? Can I remove them easily and dry them out with a hair dryer and then leave them in a warm place to dry off some more overnight? Is it just a case of putting my had up inside and disconnecting them from the coil?

I'll spend the £10, and pop out tomorrow and get two new plugs, I see your thinking on the problem, could have run fine for the first day and then become faulty!

I will also re-try all the water testes and swapping the plugs about tomorrow and se what happens. One thing, i assume when I trace the leads back there are 2 coils one on each side of the bike mounted to the frame?