QuestionMr. Kingsmill - 1993 Suzuki VS800. Left hand side plug ass'y. I had trouble wit it stranding me in December & just got to be able to work on it. while checking the plugs, the boot came off the cable & felt a little loose on the plug as well. Called a buddy & found out to clip off a tad of the cable & screw the connector boot back on but I'll be darned if it will!! Is there a trick to it?? Thanks Much. Jim C., Atlanta, GA
AnswerI am not familiar with the specific caps on your bike, but if they are similar to the ones that have been on every bike I have had they consist of a hard plastic spark plug cap with rubber boots to seal out moisture where the wire goes in and where the cap goes onto the plug.
There's no great trick to putting the caps onto the wires: If you look inside the hole where the wire goes in you will see what looks like the point of a wood screw. If you look at the freshly cut end of the wire you will see copper strands in the middle surrounded by rubber insulation.
All you need to do is put the point of the screw into the copper and screw it in.
Sometimes it's hard to get the screw into the copper with the rubber boot in place, so I usually remove the boot from the cap and slide it a couple of inches onto the wire before I put the wire into the hole in the cap.
Just a thought: Although I have never herd of it actually happening, it is possible that some of the insulation from the original end of the wire or some other debris is in the hole and keeping the screw from penetrating into the fresh end of the wire far enough for the threads to grip. Take a close look inside the hole and remove anything that shouldn't be in there.
Also, how much is a "tad"? Maybe you didn't remove enough and the screw still isn't going far enough into fresh material to grip. You probably should have cut off about 1/2". When you look at the freshly cut end of the wire the copper strands should be fairly well packed together compared to the way the original end looked.
