fault codes,not starting, cutting out in rain
 

Hi all
My first ever problem in 2 years
Recently the bike has been cutting out if riding in the rain, keep the revs up and it's ok and has always restarted
Now won't start if left uncovered, and refused to start this morning even though covered

Now would this throw up fault code on the dash, or do I have to go into dash somewhere to find the code ??

Also any ideas what to check first, I did have all the headlight surround off the other day and all connections looked clean and good, but of course it started that day

Had a quick look at ecu connector, that looked ok too

Fuel pump runs to prime as you turn the key as normal
Immobilizer light goes out as it should

When it starts, it runs perfectly, and like normal, unless it's raining then it stops, so spray getting in somewhere I'm guessing

I hate intermittent problems

fault codes,not starting, cutting out in rain
 

Start with the HT side of the ignition - coil, plug lead etc. There's also a lot of potential for dodgy connections and abraded wiring under the tank. Pop that off and check.

Update

Sure enough when I got in from work this afternoon it started, so got the water spray bottle out, and sprayed around carefully leaving it a while between sprays, to track the problem,

It seems to be where the ht lead exits the coil, sprayed it with wd40, and she started straight away, while running sprayed just that small area with water and it stopped,

So I've dried it off and popped some silicone around the lead exit from the coil
Will wait for this to cure and try again,

The water doesn't earth the lead though, and only a very small amount was needed to kill it

fault codes,not starting, cutting out in rain
 

When you get the coil/lead joint totally dry put a dollop of silicone grease around the joint to seal out future water ingress.

Cutting out in the rain
 

Hi bluecoup,

Could you please tell me if your mod worked? I am having similar problems with my XT660X cutting out in rain. On a friends suggestion i started carrying round a can of damp start (similar to WD40) and sure enough when it cuts out if i spray some on the spark plug and HT lead end it starts again!

I'm wondering about replacing the HT lead and spark plug, i use the bike for commuting and really need the realiability.

Any info would be appreciated ta.

I got caught in a shower yesterday, for 60 miles and can confirm it was fine no problems
Mine was just where the ht lead exits the coil for some reason
I did try the plug end but that was fine,
I used a silicone sealer (flexible bathroom type) as that's what I had to hand

+1. When I had the tank off my bike a while ago, I noticed the HT lead seemed, well, loose in the coil. So I did exactly as above and used marine silastic to (hopefully) seal that area. This is an old 'mod' shown to me years ago by a very experienced competitor in reliability trials, which my mate and I have applied religiously to almost every dirt bike we've owned.

Silicone has the added advantage of bracing that area where a tightish bend in the HT lead exists, such as on XT660s. There's little doubt that it's a potential issue for all of us.

good info guys. just yesterday while chasing a engine cutting out problem I looked at the coil and noticed where the lead comes out of the coil theres no rubber protector between the coil and lead. maybe its missing or the xt just doesnt have one there. Ill look through my bits and pieces and see if I have a spare rubber and fit it along with a heap of silicon just in case. Its rainy season here in asia and anticipate some wet riding so prevention is better than cure! (just have to get the bike going first!!!!)...