This is how they start out looking or worse after years of running without the protection of dielectric grease.
By:Tony
Most electrical be it charging or ignition problems on motorcycles can be traced to dirty
corroded or burnt connections. When a pair of connecting terminals corrode, it takes more
power to bridge the connection and the power lost becomes heat that more often than not
melts the plugs. If your bike has a mysterious charging system or ignition problem, more
likely than not, it's in the connections.
On this page you will see me using copious amounts of dielectric grease while repairing these connections. While this stuff isn't cheap it's not all that expensive and has to be the best kept secret for protecting connections. If more manufacturers used dielectric grease on the connections from the factory, this problem would be virtually unknown.
If you take the time to clean all the electrical connections in your bike and properly pack them with dielectric grease, you will never have this problem again.
This connector is from an old Gold Wing, but the the principles apply to any electrical connector.
This is how they start out looking or worse after years of running without the protection of dielectric grease.
Push the wire you are working on all the way into the plug then
insert the release tool from the other side. Then push it all the way
in until it hits the stop
Now pull the wire out the back of the plug.
With all the wires out of the plug you can next determine if the
terminals are in good enough shape to reuse.
Now it's time to release the terminals from the other plug. Use a pointed
ended probe to push the locking tab in so the terminal can be removed.
Note: On the stator plug the order the wires connect is not important or I
would only do one side at a time.
It looks even worse out than it did to start with...
Slide the released terminal out.
This one is too melted in to be released.
A a tool like this one can be used crack the old plug open like a walnut.
Now the terminal can be removed.
There's not much chance of getting a good connection from this terminal.
To preserve wire length, cut the wire off between the grip points on the old terminal.This isn't always necessary but if wire length is tight, ever MM of wire counts.
This pic is a bit washed out but the end of this wire is corroded.
If there is enough wire length, clip off the worst of the corrosion and then
clean the end of the wire. Next cut the wires to the same length and strip the
ends to for new terminals. Also dab on a tiny amount of dielectric grease to prevent the corrosion from taking hold again before installing new terminals.
Crimp on new terminals.
This is an improvement that's hard to mis...
Coat the terminals with dielectric grease.
Be generous with the dielectric grease.
Now insert the wires into the plug, This is one case
were the wire order doesn't make a difference.
Much better looking than when this project began!
Now fill the back of the plug with dielectric grease to keep water out.
Smear some more dielectric grease around the terminals before plugging it in.
Now cut the terminals off the other side like before.
Crimp on new terminals.
Smear some more dielectric grease around the terminals before plugging it in.
Insert the terminals into the plug and like before the order is not important.
Pack the openings in the rear of the plug with
dielectric grease to keep water out.
Plug them together and it's another project well done.
Tony owns Oregon Motorcycle Parts. He's a great guy and patriot, and has some super prices on OEM Japanese motorcycle connectors.
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