Hi All.
I have a 2008 C14 with 43000km on it. On the first day of the COG Summer Solstice Ride my C14 broke down just north of Creston, BC. It died while riding and on the throttle at midrange rpm. There were no prior symptoms, it was as if I had hit the kill switch. With the help of my fellow Coggers we spent a lot of time and did all the roadside diagnostics we could think of. It would turn over and kick or pop a bit but not start. Special thanks to SISF – I called him from the side of the road and he gave us a half hour of his time trying to help figure the problem out.
A passing local biker came to the rescue. He went home and brought his truck and trailer to bring me back to Creston, where I got a one-way UHaul van to take the bike 300 miles back home to Calgary.
SISF suspected I may have broken valves, so on his advice I did a compression test. With my cheap gauge I got about 140psi across all four. I then took the valve cover and timing cover off to check the valvetrain. Some valves were a bit tight, out of spec. None were very loose. The cam chain tensioner and chain were intact and the timing marks lined up as normal, but…
The ignition rotor was missing four fingers. The crank sensor was bit banged up and the inside of the case had scratches from impact. I took the oil pan off and found all four pieces. With the oil pan, timing cover and valve cover removed I ran a magnet tool all over. I didn’t find any additional metal bits in there. I ordered a replacement ignition rotor and crank sensor.
I was planning to do a valve adjustment over the winter. Since I had to wait four weeks for the parts to arrive and the bike was taken apart, I went ahead and swapped out eight shims to get all the valves in spec. In the process I was able to confirm that both cams were ok. The VVT module was firmly attached, and the exhaust cam still had the two bolts and sprocket in place. There were no bolts or locating pins/dowels missing. I reassembled the essentials and waited for the replacement part.
A couple of weeks ago the replacement ignition rotor arrived. I installed it and my C14 started right up and ran as normal. The crank sensor is still a bit banged up, but works. My replacement hasn’t arrived yet.
I’ve put about 1000 miles on it since the repair and it’s been running as normal. I emailed pictures of the broken ignition rotor and matching bits to Boomer. He thinks it was a defective part.
So, has anyone else heard of an ignition rotor failing on its own? I can’t find anything that could have impacted it and broken it.
Cheers
Jesal