Your Bike/Motorcycle is not starting after a wash, is it?
Well, for starters, you are not the only one. It is a common occurrence that many people have faced and will face this issue with their motorcycles.
The most common reason why your motorcycle is not starting after a wash is that water has entered the electric components of your bike. A simple solution is to give sufficient time for your motorcycle to dry off. However, if the problem still persists, carefully examine for any wet connections in the motorcycle and address them.
Let’s first look into the possible reasons why your bike/motorcycle is not starting after a wash.
Reasons
The first and foremost possible reason that your bike is not starting after a good wash is because water has entered the electrical circuit of the ignition system. Water has seeped in and a part of your electrical system has got wet.
Second possible reason, water is getting into your engine through the air filters. Have you protected that open filter from water during your washing? If no, then it is highly likely that you are getting your air filter wet. Once the water enters the air filters, you are essentially starving the oxygen to the system. And since we are starving oxygen going through the filter, the bike is facing problems with starting and running.
Third possible reason, water has entered your bike’s starter system. The starting electrical system is wet due to all the bike washing. Too much water into the system may sometimes cause hydro-lock of the system. The engine will not start if the system is hydro-locked and will also cause tear and wear in the pistons and bore.
Another possible reason is water has come in contact with some of the other electrical components like battery terminals or its joining parts.
So, to sum up, these are the main reasons why your motorcycle is not starting after a wash.
- Water has entered the electrics of the ignition system.
- Water is getting into your engine through air filters.
- The starter system is wet.
- Contact with other electrical components like battery terminals.
Solutions
Now that we have some idea on why the bike/ motorcycle is not starting after a wash, let’s look into what we can do about it.
Dry It Off
The simplest solution is to wait for the water to dry off. Give it an hour or two. Or much better, give it a day. Let the drying process run naturally.
If, even after giving it a reasonable time to dry off, your bike is not starting it is time to look into the matter seriously.
Wet Electric Connections
First, you need to carefully examine all the electric wiring in your motorcycle. Look for any wet connections, loose connections, arcing connections, bare wires, and wires with cracks in the insulation. If there are any bare wires or cracks in the insulation you have to take the motorcycle to your mechanic, unless, well, you are the mechanic of your bike.
Another cause can be the wet connections themselves. If you have found them, we can try few things to dry them off.
If the water has entered the electrical components of the ignition system, we can use maintenance sprays. However, if the wet connection is near to the spark plug, avoid spraying directly to the spark plug.
If you have a drier or a blower, you can use them as well to dry off the wet connection. Dryers are effective specifically for spark plug and coil wires. They speed up the drying process of the wiring. Locate the wet area and use your dryer or blower to dry off.
Water into the Engine
If you suspect water has gotten into your engine through air intake, try pulling the spark plugs and see if water gets pushed out. If yes, you need to give some more time to dry out.
Summing Up
To summarize, here are the things you need to do if your motorcycle is not starting after a wash.
- Give the bike some time to dry off. A few hours to a day is reasonable enough.
- If the bike is not starting even after providing a reasonable time to dry off, we need to look into the matter seriously.
- Carefully examine the electric wiring of your motorcycle. Look for any wet or loose connections.
- If you find any bare wires or cracks in insulation, sorry buddy, you need to take your motorcycle to a mechanic.
- If the problem is wet connections, use a dryer (even hair dryer works!) or blower to dry off the connection.
- Use maintenance sprays if necessary, but do not spray it directly on the spark plugs.
- If you suspect water has gotten into your engine, pull out the spark plugs and dry them out.
Preventive Measures
Now that you have got your bike in running condition, we need to be mindful of few things while washing your bike for the next time.
- Cover the plugs and filter with alum foils, towel or even a grocery bag to prevent the water entering into the system.
- If you are using water hose to wash your bike, keep the pressure low, specially while watering the top parts of your bike.
- After the wash, use a dryer to get the standing water out of all the nooks and crannies of the motorcycle.
Conclusion
Let’s wrap up this post.
- The main reasons why your motorcycle is not starting after washing are – water has entered the electrical components of the ignition system; or into the engine through filters; or has come in contact with other electrical components like battery terminals; or your starter system is wet.
- What do you need to do? Firstly, give sufficient time for your motorcycle to dry off.
- Carefully examine your bike for wet connections next. Use an air hose, dryer or a blower to dry off the connection. Maintenance sprays work too if the problem is not the spark plugs.
- If you suspect water has gotten into your engine, pull out the spark plugs and dry them out.
- Here are the preventive measures you need to take while washing your bike the next time. Cover the plugs and filter with alum foils, towel or even a grocery bag to prevent water entering the system. After the wash, use a dryer to get the standing water out of all the nooks and crannies of your bike.
