K11 Owners Group

[jhinds]

I've learned a lot here trying to fix engine miss problem. I ended up chasing electronic "gremlins that get in these bikes" as they age. To me the bike acted like it had a little water in the fuel - not at all unlikely these days in the U.S. I try hard to buy only from 'clean' gas stations that are very busy hoping, obviously, that at least the high octane fuel gets turned over frequently.

One thing I didn't find was recommendation to take the fuel filler cap off and visually inspect the bottom of the tank. The first thing I did was send my injectors to that guy in Oregon? His report indicated one injector was displaying a weak spray pattern but after cleaning they all performed well. After this procedure the bike ran much better but after awhile exhibited the same symptoms. So I changed the fuel filter and checked my plugs and plug leads, even taped the leads just to be sure.

Most of the threads get into cleaning contacts which is where I think I had some success. I started with the easy ones, the 'torpedo' shaped connector behind the right panel for the fuel pump. Then I did the motronic plug. This resulted in immediate success but having refilled the tank with new fuel I couldn't know whether it was dirty fuel or dirty motronic/fuel pump contacts. I ran the tank dry with no rough running issues. I'm now under the tank cleaning those contacts.

I'm using regular contact cleaner from the auto parts store which is likely just 99% alcohol with a few additives. So, take a connector apart, spray the cleaner in, let it dry, then apply dielectric 'grease' and reconnect. Also, cleaning all the grounds I find and intend to do the ignition connectors too, if I can get the wires to drop out of the bottom.

I'm almost done. Will also recalibrate the TPS since I've disconnected the battery.

This morning I found this. He's talking about switches but I think it applies to connectors too and thought it useful to post on the board:

http://www.machinedesign.com/archive/lubricating-electrical-switches

Quote: "Choose your additives wisely. Surface passivators and oxide retardants, for example, can enhance lubricant performance. Base oils can also be mixed with a variety of thickening agents to formulate switch greases. A thickener's efficiency depends on how much of it is needed to make a given grade (stiffness) of grease. The primary lubricating component is oil, so it's beneficial to have as much oil in the formulation as possible. But a lubricant should not be too viscous, otherwise it causes hydroplaning (an open-circuit condition), especially at low temperature. A thickener's ability to resist water is also an important consideration. Switches are generally protected from the environment, but humidity can condense inside them and displace the grease or become entrained and accelerate corrosion. Lithium-soap greases have good freshwater resistance, but poor saltwater resistance. Clay and PTFE generally perform well in wet applications. PTFE also lowers friction, especially on plastic components.

"Lubricants in large quantities act as insulators. So it's not surprising that some people mistakenly think that lubricants used on switch contacts need to be electrically conductive. Curiously, there is virtually no difference in contact resistance between lubricated and unlubricated contacts.

"To work on switches, lubricants must not interfere with metal-to metal contact. A switch's contacts may appear smooth, but under a microscope, they would resemble a landscape of tiny peaks (asperities) and valleys. Current flows only where the peaks touch. So, the actual contact area is considerably smaller than the apparent contact area, sometimes less than 1% of the apparent area. The normal force on the contact is distributed across these asperities, so the pressure is high, typically hundreds of pounds per square inch. This pressure easily forces lubricants out of the contact zone and lets the contacts make metal-to-metal connections."

Forgive the long preamble but, finally, I wonder if I'm doing this right, trading an improvement in connectivity now for more problems down the road, sooner rather than later. It seems to me that the grease will tend to attract moisture and dirt, for instance.
_________________
John
'76 BMW R90/6 >150K miles
'93 K1100LT >120K miles

[Flying Duck]

Even if this isn't' the root cause of your problem, you should still read the last post on this thread for 93 K1100s:
http://www.k11og.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12951
_________________
93 LT (x2)
94 RS
86-97 K75F(K75/100/1100 Frankenbrick)
86 K75C w/paralever, hi perf cams,TURBO!
91 & 92 K75Ss
91 K1
86 custom K100
14 WR250R
IBA #17739 (SS1K, BBG, 50CC)
Buy parts HERE

[jhinds]

[Flying Duck]

JMHO but I don't bother with dielectric grease because it's messy and just attracts/retains dust. Unless the bike is in an extremely hostile corrosive environment I see no need for it.
_________________
93 LT (x2)
94 RS
86-97 K75F(K75/100/1100 Frankenbrick)
86 K75C w/paralever, hi perf cams,TURBO!
91 & 92 K75Ss
91 K1
86 custom K100
14 WR250R
IBA #17739 (SS1K, BBG, 50CC)
Buy parts HERE

[jhinds]