spark plug wires myth busted

[crzyddy]

This is for a 2001 FI 1500L Nomad only. I decided to take this winter and get my motor out to investigate a rear cylinder oil leak. Removing the motor really isn't that difficult. Beware, however, there is a ton of stuff that has to come off and you have to wrestle with the throttle linkages and about a million different electrical plugs and hoses. While taking the spark plug wires off, one of the boots fell off in my hand because the wire was split on the end and one of the other boots pulled off the spark plug with no resistance whatsoever, like the clip inside had fallen off or broken. Thus began my journey into rebuilding the wires. After searching the forums here, everything that I read said that the wires were molded into the coils and not replaceable separately. Not willing to go down without a fight, I looked a little closer at the coil and the attachment point of the wires. It looked to me like the caps were made to unthread from the coil. So, with a little, very careful persuasion from a pair of channel locks, I did discover that the caps are threaded and will unscrew from the coil, allowing the wires to be removed. With that knowledge I set out finding the rest of the parts to build myself a new set of wires. I'll list the parts below. Be very careful removing those caps from the coil. If one gets damaged in the process you might be out of luck. NGK makes a spark plug wire splicer that has caps similar that might work, but I did not go down that road. You will need 2) NGK LD05F caps, 2) NGK XD05F caps, some 7mm copper core (must be copper core for the screw in caps) silicone or non-cloth wrapped wire. I got 12' to be sure I had enough. Assembly is pretty straight forward the caps just screw on to the wire. When you remove the coil ends you will find a small rubber grommet and a small plastic washer. Make sure you save these to reuse. A couple of mine had a spot of glue on them that I carefully cut loose with a razor to save the grommet. I also re-used the mesh outer covering by cutting the tape on both ends and re-taping it on the new wires. I was going to use a heat shrink tube to attach it, but my lack of patience got the better of me and I just used some electric tape. Checked resistance to make sure everything assembled correctly and can't wait to get the rest of the motor work done to fire her up. After seeing the condition of the old spark plug wires and boots, I'm surprised it would fire at all. I paid around $20 for all four caps and another $12 for the wire. So, not too shabby.

[Sin City Stan]

Very useful information. Good Job!

[danimal2]

Not to take away from the spark plug deal, but what did you find out about the oil leak. I've got one on the rear cylinder too and it's not coming from the cam plug. Guessing it's the valve cover not torqued down enough, the gasket leaking or a combination of the two. It's not terrible, but annoying. Mine didn't really start leaking until I switched to a semi-synthetic oil but can't say if that had anything to do with it.

Read about a couple guys that found the bolts loose for the valve cover.

First photo shows where the leak is. This is after cleaning it up completely, then riding 10 minutes at around 40-45 mph.

Second photo shows the cam plug and my patch job. Absolutely bone dry. I cleaned the plug area real well and put two applications of high temp RTV on it. Applied and let dry, then applied again. Cleaned it all again and made a patch with a rubber washer and RTV'd that to the first two applications. Cam plug was definitely leaking, but not now. Still have this other leak though.

[crzyddy]

My oil leak appears to be coming from the front part of the rear rocker case. I think the gasket just gave up. Oddly, I don't think they sealed those rocker case gaskets with anything, silicone or other from the factory. The gaskets easily pulled off when I removed the cover and the '99 tech manual does not call for any sealant on that gasket, just on the lower one. The gasket appears to be soaked through in a couple areas, so I'm just going to replace both rocker case gaskets as well as the o-rings that are on the radiator hose necks. Not sure I want to get into the rockers and the cams to get to the cam plug. It doesn't appear to be coming from there anyway. Maybe I'll take another good look before deciding. Good luck!

[crzyddy]

I bought mine used a couple years ago and I know the dealer had just changed the oil with Synthetic. I'm sure that didn't help. The first oil change I did, I switched back to regular Kaw. 10w-40. I know the reaction with the seals was already irriversible, but I didn't want to make it worse. I'm going to stick with the non-synthetic. My bike runs and shifts just fine with it. And it's very reasonably priced for Manufacturer oil.

[kmaysob]

Originally Posted by crzyddy

I bought mine used a couple years ago and I know the dealer had just changed the oil with Synthetic. I'm sure that didn't help. The first oil change I did, I switched back to regular Kaw. 10w-40. I know the reaction with the seals was already irriversible, but I didn't want to make it worse. I'm going to stick with the non-synthetic. My bike runs and shifts just fine with it. And it's very reasonably priced for Manufacturer oil.

There's no reaction with the seals. Synthetic is a smaller molecule. If you have a leak when using synthetic, you would have had a leak using dino soon enough.

[danimal2]

Originally Posted by crzyddy

My oil leak appears to be coming from the front part of the rear rocker case. I think the gasket just gave up. Oddly, I don't think they sealed those rocker case gaskets with anything, silicone or other from the factory. The gaskets easily pulled off when I removed the cover and the '99 tech manual does not call for any sealant on that gasket, just on the lower one. The gasket appears to be soaked through in a couple areas, so I'm just going to replace both rocker case gaskets as well as the o-rings that are on the radiator hose necks. Not sure I want to get into the rockers and the cams to get to the cam plug. It doesn't appear to be coming from there anyway. Maybe I'll take another good look before deciding. Good luc

Thanks for your input. Did it seem like the rocker cover bolts were toqued to spec? Like I said, mine's annoying but I don't think I'll drop the motor for it at this time. Do you figure on using sealant on the gaskets when you replace them?

Again, thanks for your input. Much obliged.

Dan

[spoon059]

Originally Posted by kmaysob

There's no reaction with the seals. Synthetic is a smaller molecule. If you have a leak when using synthetic, you would have had a leak using dino soon enough.

You might want to try a high-mileage oil. They have special additives that cause gaskets to swell slightly, which usually solves the leaking gasket problems on older engines.

[crzyddy]

Originally Posted by danimal2

Thanks for your input. Did it seem like the rocker cover bolts were toqued to spec? Like I said, mine's annoying but I don't think I'll drop the motor for it at this time. Do you figure on using sealant on the gaskets when you replace them?

Again, thanks for your input. Much obliged.

Dan

All of the bolts seemed to be torqued properly. I think the torque spec is only 78 in/lbs anyway. Yes, I am going to seal the gaskets with something, either RTV or Permatex. My leak was just as you describe, annoying, It really wasn't leaking that much oil, but it would work it's way around to the exhaust header and give me an odor of burning oil on occasion. I'm planning a couple long trips this summer, so I wanted to get it as buttoned up as possible. I took another look at the "cam plug" area. I'm not seeing anything rubber from the outside. Looks to me like that is just a metal disc looking indentation in the 2001 motor. Could they have changed that from '99?

[ringadingh]

Thats great news about the plug wires, mine have been a problem on wet days for a couple years now. I'll be replacing them this spring for sure.

[VulcanE]

Originally Posted by crzyddy

I bought mine used a couple years ago and I know the dealer had just changed the oil with Synthetic. I'm sure that didn't help. The first oil change I did, I switched back to regular Kaw. 10w-40. I know the reaction with the seals was already irriversible, but I didn't want to make it worse. I'm going to stick with the non-synthetic. My bike runs and shifts just fine with it. And it's very reasonably priced for Manufacturer oil.

The thing about switching to synthetic oil on an older engine that has been running dino oil is that dino oil tends to create a little sludge around gaskets, and when you switch to synthetic, it dissolves the sludge, and if that sludge was keeping the gasket from leaking, then you will have a leak. Synthetic oil does not act upon gaskets.

Originally Posted by crzyddy

All of the bolts seemed to be torqued properly. I think the torque spec is only 78 in/lbs anyway. Yes, I am going to seal the gaskets with something, either RTV or Permatex. My leak was just as you describe, annoying, It really wasn't leaking that much oil, but it would work it's way around to the exhaust header and give me an odor of burning oil on occasion. I'm planning a couple long trips this summer, so I wanted to get it as buttoned up as possible. I took another look at the "cam plug" area. I'm not seeing anything rubber from the outside. Looks to me like that is just a metal disc looking indentation in the 2001 motor. Could they have changed that from '99?

There is no gaskets between the rocker cover and the head where it covers the cams. The two are a matched machined together part. That's why Kawasaki recommends replacing both if one is bad. A motorcycle mechanic friend of mine suggest using Permatex # 29132 very lightly in this application. Remember, this it what sets the clearances for the cam journals.

[kmaysob]

Hands down the best sealant I have found is permatex "right stuff" that's all ill use anymore

[crzyddy]

Originally Posted by VulcanE

The thing about switching to synthetic oil on an older engine that has been running dino oil is that dino oil tends to create a little sludge around gaskets, and when you switch to synthetic, it dissolves the sludge, and if that sludge was keeping the gasket from leaking, then you will have a leak. Synthetic oil does not act upon gaskets.



There is no gaskets between the rocker cover and the head where it covers the cams. The two are a matched machined together part. That's why Kawasaki recommends replacing both if one is bad. A motorcycle mechanic friend of mine suggest using Permatex # 29132 very lightly in this application. Remember, this it what sets the clearances for the cam journals.

I think I may not be describing the part that I'm talking about accurately. I'm talking about the chrome cover that is the top most cover on the engine. This is the cover that has the rubber dampers around the edge. There is a gasket under this cover. And, I agree with the preference for Permatex. I've used that stuff to seal VW jugs with no gaskets whatsoever and I've also used it to seal sprayer pump seals with no gaskets.

[Vulcan Bill]

Thanks for the spark plug wire info. I've kicked around the idea of replacing mine with some yellow accels but the 'wire molded to the coil' concept kept me from pursuing it.
Another project goes on the to-doo list

[crzyddy]

Originally Posted by Vulcan Bill

Thanks for the spark plug wire info. I've kicked around the idea of replacing mine with some yellow accels but the 'wire molded to the coil' concept kept me from pursuing it.
Another project goes on the to-doo list

Not sure accels have the correct core to accept the screw on resistor caps. If the wire is considered a "resistor wire" it may have a funky core, some almost look like a thread of carbon fiber with a single copper strand. The NGK resistor caps are made to work with 7mm copper core wire. You don't have to worry about using non-resistor wire because the caps themselves have resistors in them. I agree, the yellow color would look cool and you might still be able to find a yellow copper core if the accels are not. Good luck!