Waterproofing my KDX
Posted: 07:21 pm Dec 14 2015
Firstly just a shout out to say you guys are awesome and insanely helpful!
Skip to the bit in bold for the short story
Anybody following my posts knows I have a recurring problem with rain and my kdx cutting out.
After reading all the responses this is where I am at:
Tidied up all the wiring and re loomed it.
Silicon'd up any areas in the wiring water may get in ie spark plug cap and stator wiring grommet.
Replaced the HT lead plug and cap.
Rewired the crappy excuse for an indicator kit.
Reseated the exhaust and engine as the exhaust kept blowing or forcing the mounts to snap.
So... I am still getting trouble when it rains.
I believe water is getting in through the exhaust gasket. I deduced this because the bike has to be moving to incur the problem, runs happily stood in the rain, only cuts out when moving.
There was also rust on the spark plug.
To remedy this, I removed the exhaust, replaced the seals and copper washer and used the copper silicone as advised to seal the gasket. This worked perfectly for a couple of weeks (lets say 300 miles) and I rode in some horrendous rain no problemo, but the exhaust has started blowing again and guess what, it cut out in the rain :(
I checked the gasket and you can clearly see the remains of one of the rubber o rings sticking out, the silicone has let go of the exhaust and is clinging on for dear life.
Why oh why did it not stay sealed?
SO the question is.. how the hell do you keep the exhaust sealed? the rubber rings perish in a couple of weeks, the copper gasket is a wafer thin scrap of foil now. Even when new, whilst fitting the exhaust it never really felt like it was in all the way but just wouldnt go on/in any further. It didnt even feel like it married up to the hole in the barrel very well, I tired to find a sweet spot where it held itself in without springs but that wasnt gonna happen. Am I doing something wrong?
Skip to the bit in bold for the short story
Anybody following my posts knows I have a recurring problem with rain and my kdx cutting out.
After reading all the responses this is where I am at:
Tidied up all the wiring and re loomed it.
Silicon'd up any areas in the wiring water may get in ie spark plug cap and stator wiring grommet.
Replaced the HT lead plug and cap.
Rewired the crappy excuse for an indicator kit.
Reseated the exhaust and engine as the exhaust kept blowing or forcing the mounts to snap.
So... I am still getting trouble when it rains.
I believe water is getting in through the exhaust gasket. I deduced this because the bike has to be moving to incur the problem, runs happily stood in the rain, only cuts out when moving.
There was also rust on the spark plug.
To remedy this, I removed the exhaust, replaced the seals and copper washer and used the copper silicone as advised to seal the gasket. This worked perfectly for a couple of weeks (lets say 300 miles) and I rode in some horrendous rain no problemo, but the exhaust has started blowing again and guess what, it cut out in the rain :(
I checked the gasket and you can clearly see the remains of one of the rubber o rings sticking out, the silicone has let go of the exhaust and is clinging on for dear life.
Why oh why did it not stay sealed?
SO the question is.. how the hell do you keep the exhaust sealed? the rubber rings perish in a couple of weeks, the copper gasket is a wafer thin scrap of foil now. Even when new, whilst fitting the exhaust it never really felt like it was in all the way but just wouldnt go on/in any further. It didnt even feel like it married up to the hole in the barrel very well, I tired to find a sweet spot where it held itself in without springs but that wasnt gonna happen. Am I doing something wrong?