Cover on electrical stuff

[sparky]

Here's a story...

I spent the night at my girlfriend's house one night like 5 years ago, and her dad was a bit tired of me being there every night, so he woke me up at like 4am and told me I needed to go home. I start taking these long, slow blinks while I was driving with no music on, and eventually those blinks kept getting longer and longer until I was driving with my eyes completely closed. Then BAM... I crossed over the other side of the road and hit a sign, then woke up to a busted windshield. I got out and noticed my corner light had popped out, and there was a hole in my hood that looked like I got shot with a .40 cal.

What's crazy is that there were two deep ditches on both sides of the road, and I happened to hit the only section of this 2-mile road where there was no ditch. Even crazier is that neither her family, nor I ever remember seeing any sign there. I wasn't wearing my seatbelt, and if I had started drifted any sooner, any later, or at a different angle... my head would have broken the windshield instead of this magical sign. It's pretty amazing that I'm still alive.

Anyway, whole reason I'm bringing this up is 'cause I had watched The Fast and the Furious a year or two before this happened, and I remember asking my friend why a Civic in the movie had no hood, and if you really needed a hood at all. He said "no, you don't need it", and I believed him. Eventually I was tired of people asking me why there was a hole in my hood, so I took it off. Everything was great 'til I got water in the distributor cap. I replaced cap & rotor and sealed it with water gasket sealant. It went a very long time without problems, but eventually the car started missing again because moisture was trapped inside and couldn't get out (just like Dax suggested above)... whereas before, it would only miss until the distributor dried out after 15~20 min of runtime.

Either way, water + electricity doesn't mix well. And if you ever wonder why cars come with a hood on them, it's because of (1) aerodynamics, (2) to keep electrical stuff dry, & (3) it does offer a slightly extra bit of protection in case of an accident. But no. 2 is the biggest reason in my mind because it's so hard to fight rusting wires, cap & rotor, etc.

 

[rogersverobeach1]

.I do not think that is a good idea. IF any moisture gets in there, it will be trapped, and eventually ruin your mag. If anything, you should drill a very tiny hole at the lowest part of the cover to provide a vent to keep the zone dry just in case anyting ever gets in there. Enjoy the ride....Sincerely..Duane at thatsdax

Not true.
When you run you're engine after sealing the mag. any humidity, water vapor, condensation,etc will burn itself up after reaching and running at operating temp.
drilling a hole........not a good idea.

 

[AussieSteve]

Duane is right - a (very) small hole at the bottom won't allow water in, but will allow condensation out.
Many years ago, we had to do it with our dirt bikes. Even during river crossings, no water got back up into the magneto.
In a cold, humid climate, it's surprising how much water condenses.

shoot I am going to tear one of these appart and start rewrapping them though I just don't have a uHenry reader for the new one yet but I will rewrap those rain tatered bad boys for spares. Thats my eye on the pie.

Hot_Dog_piggy_Tails, when you say 'rewrap', do you mean rewind, from the ground up?

 

[motorpsycho]

why bother?
the gasket is good enough.
it would have to rain a whole lot for any water to get in past the gasket.
any droplets of water that may enter the cover through the tiny hole where the grommet is, would be vaporized fast by the heat of the engine.
you would pretty much have to force water into the cover for it to do any damage to the mag. riding in the rain with just the paper gasket should be fine....unless you plan on riding through some REALLY deep puddles or take it mud bogging.
this is just my opinion and i have no proof that this is either a good idea, or a waste of time.

 

[AussieSteve]

Even if water doesn't get into the dizzy, water on any high-tension leads can cause arcing, then, the arcing can lay down a carbon track that will continue to rob energy even after the water dries out.
Throw some water around under the bonnet, (hood), then start the engine in blackness at night and check out the mini light show, but not for too long, as just mentioned.