10k mile service - DIY (also, Spark Plugs Not Tight & Wire Boots Not Pushed On!)

[Bosco15]

What a great post.
New to me 2020 R3R with 17K km, has a bit of a miss at idle. I'm betting that those plugs leads are loose.
Sure as sh#t! I get the tank, coil packs and carbon canister off and I can lift the leads out of the plugs recesses with no resistance.
Now, I understand that it may be an awkward job to seat them properly, but if you are being paid to be a mechanic, then do it properly.
I couldn't give a bike back to a customer, look them in the eye and tell him or her, "Job done", if I had just dropped the leads into the hole.
Poor form.

 

[Bosco15]

And whilst you have your tank off, take a close look at your loom, just forward of the battery nestled in the spine of the bike.
It's protected in a plastic tray and tape wrapped, but mine was showing signs of rubbing on the bottom of the tank mount.
A little bit of foam and some tape, has set my mind at ease.

 

[Bosco15]

Purring like a kitten, now that plug leads are seated correctly on the plugs.
If your bike has a missfire at idle, I would suggest spending an afternoon doing the plug lead seating operation.
An added bonus is that when leads are seated properly, their collar seals off the plug recess, very well, to stop water ingress.
Five out of six of my plugs were showing signs of corrosion where water had gotten into recess.

 

[Journeyman]

Purring like a kitten, now that plug leads are seated correctly on the plugs.
If your bike has a missfire at idle, I would suggest spending an afternoon doing the plug lead seating operation.
An added bonus is that when leads are seated properly, their collar seals off the plug recess, very well, to stop water ingress.
Five out of six of my plugs were showing signs of corrosion where water had gotten into recess.

First confirmation I've read of what I ran into, so not just my bad luck. No telling how many others out there also have loose wires.

I had a really hard time seating those plug wires. It was as if the covers for the opening were too high on the wires- had to push down really hard to get that necessary "click."

Next time I'll look out for those wires running under the tank- thanks.

 

[Journeyman]

Hey Journeyman! Did you replace the fuel pump housing gasket or did you reuse it?

Sorry for the late reply. Yes, I reused the fuel pump housing gasket and, in fact, just did so again at 20K. It's sealing tight.

 

[Journeyman]

Seeing some renewed interest in this post. Here's part 2 - the 20K service, including valve check and adjustments....

A look at the 2.5 Innards - DIY 20K mile service, including valve clearance check and shim replacement

Part 1 This includes valve clearance check and shim replacement. Also air, fuel, spark plug and coolant replacement, and bleeding the clutch. This is a work in progress, so edits and further information to come... Get the service manual here...

www.r3owners.net

 

[lotus]

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Journeyman - When replacing the plugs, did you have to remove anything on the left side?

Did you have to remove the brake distribution block? Only the coils and canister?

I've replaced the air filter and would like to change the plugs, but it looks ugly, getting all the stuff out of the way. Am I making too much of this?

Thanks,
Larry

 

[Journeyman]

Journeyman - When replacing the plugs, did you have to remove anything on the left side?

Did you have to remove the brake distribution block? Only the coils and canister?

I've replaced the air filter and would like to change the plugs, but it looks ugly, getting all the stuff out of the way. Am I making too much of this?

Thanks,
Larry

Hi Larry- no, just the coils. Be sure to download the searchable manual in Resources in the menu bar above. It walks you through those steps. Take pictures though to help with rerouting wires, etc. It's a PIA, but not that bad.

Also, I'd be curious to find out if your plug leads were securely pushed down on the plugs or, like mine, just resting on top. They are very hard to push on (use a tool for leverage) and think my factory person didn't want to give it a go.....

 

[Rufus Roughcut]

I've been meaning to add my experience to this thread, so here goes.
Firstly I found all my plug caps were loose, as with you guys, I found them literally just resting in the hole.
One of the plugs showed signs of arcing and a few showed signs of corrosion.

You can see some corrosion on a couple of them.

After replacing the plugs could I heck push the caps back on, they were way too wibbly wobbly (Probably why they weren't pushed home in the first place), in the end I cut a slot out of a ring spanner, the slot being just wide enough for the plug lead to pass through. This mod kind of 'concentrated' the downward pressure needed for the plug caps to click home.

and finally I also found the main loom had been trapped, almost to the point of the wires being squashed enough to show the wire.

 

[stingray]

Made in Thailand. They left spacers out of my ABS module mount causing all kinds of issues... I'll not buy another made in Thailand or China.