As some may have read, recently my '02 started running poorly at light throttle and very low idle one night recently. The issue cleared itself up over the span of 100 miles and hasnt returned, but intermittently Im still noting that something may not be right...
The night it first happened, i caught it idling at only 800 or so at a stop light, and then briefly afterwards it was running poorly at lower speeds at light throttle. It felt like the 4500 rpm flatspot, only more severe and at any rpm. And, the normal 4500 rpm flat spot was much worse than normal. I continued riding it home and it eventually cleared up for the most part, but since then it seems that at times, the bike is lacking some throttle response, and just feels a bit low on power for the first 10% of throttle or so. This does come and go. But, the poor running and super low idle has not returned at all.
One thing that has seemed to aggravate it is "blipping" the throttle at times. If I give it a good rev, using most of the throttle movement, it will rev fine but then immediately die out. Not that i normally do this, but it was something i discovered while trying different things to induce the issue further. Also, when doing this...meaning giving it a quick 90% throttle to rev it, it sputters/hesitates for a second before the RPMs will come up and before it will rev.
Any ideas at all? My starter valves were done earlier this year after finding one of them suspiciously way out of adjustment, mainly to correct a poor idle. Wiring recall was performed in spring. Bike has 42k miles on it. BMC air filter installed, but everthing else is stock. No Power Commander or anything installed either.
BR....Im not as familiar with these engine management systems as those on cars....could there be a code even though I havent seen an FI light come on at all?
And when installing my top case and having the seat off, I did look at the 30a fuse at the battery. It does appear to be ok....wiring still nice and flexible, no signs of heat, etc....
Today I do plan to remove the air filter/box and take a look around for anything obvious. I may check the starter valves again for the heck of it, only keeping in mind how i found that one so far out of wack a few months ago after just doing them last year year. Dont think a starter valve issue would necessarily cause this extreme of an issue, but ive been wanting to check up on them anyways.
Back in July, my 03 was doing the same exact thing and it even stalled on me at a stop light while on my way home from a 600 mile trip. I stayed in a hotel shortly after it happened and as soon as I got to a gas station I added some FI cleaner and didn't have a problem... atleast til I battled a truck on Aug 1st.
The cpu should read pending codes but I am not the expert on that!!
[image: View Post]Adam30, on Sep 19 2008, 08:28 AM, said:
BR....Im not as familiar with these engine management systems as those on cars....could there be a code even though I havent seen an FI light come on at all?
Pretty sure it will store a problem code w/o a Fi light, but I would think a steady state issue would cause a light! Check the "Ref FAQ" section on pulling codes.
And when installing my top case and having the seat off, I did look at the 30a fuse at the battery. It does appear to be ok....wiring still nice and flexible, no signs of heat, etc....
Today I do plan to remove the air filter/box and take a look around for anything obvious. I may check the starter valves again for the heck of it, only keeping in mind how i found that one so far out of wack a few months ago after just doing them last year year. Dont think a starter valve issue would necessarily cause this extreme of an issue, but ive been wanting to check up on them anyways.
I also wouldn't think the started valves would be the problem here, maybe a vacuum line came off?
A bad/stuck injector or spark plug can cause symptoms like this also and show more at lower rpm's, like mentioned run a can of good injector cleaner in it to start. This would also help if you got a bad tank of fuel that had a bit of water in it.
Also check the main harness ground at the frame if the Dealer replaced the main harness too.
Watching this thread, as of late I've been having the same symtoms. Really low idle at intersections yesterday, and weird throttle response
at lower speeds. Started two weeks ago, when clipping along at 160k, there was some slight gasping and loss of consistent acceleration.
I'll do the FI cleaner and wonder if replacing spark plugs wouldn't hurt? I'm at 29,000 km for mileage. Getting ready to end the season here in another
month, so a good clean out, oil change and fall run sounds in order. Also will check the fuse and harness.
I shouldve mentioned some of these other items in my first post here...
I do run fuel injector cleaner in the bike on a regular basis....Chevron Techron to be exact. Every few thousand miles, including twice after the original poor running issue came up.
Spark plugs were changed this past spring just as maintenance, with OEM. That was about 12k miles ago.
I thought of the bad gas thing when it first happened, and topped off my tank with fresh stuff later that evening. It did get better, and the low idle issue hasnt returned, but at times im still getting the poor throttle repsonse thing, along with it dying after I rev it will nearly full throttle. The bucking/surging and low idle only happened that first night and hasnt returned, but the throttle response thing has been present intermittently ever since.
That original first instance with the low idle and choppy running was about 1000 miles ago, btw.
And I might have missed it, even if the FI light hasnt come on, could there still be codes in the PCM?
[image: View Post]Adam30, on Sep 19 2008, 11:49 AM, said:
And I might have missed it, even if the FI light hasnt come on, could there still be codes in the PCM?
YES!
From post 6
Pretty sure it will store a problem code w/o a Fi light, but I would think a steady state issue would cause a light! Check the "Ref FAQ" section on pulling codes.
Well, over the weekend i did check my starter valves again, and they were all perfect.....just as I had them in spring when i adjusted them last. Nothing else looked suspicious.
I then thought to check for codes, but realized that the ones that were in there were the ones set when doing the starter valve check. I cleared them, and will ride throughout the week to let any reset that may be related to the running thing, as it is still having the poor throttle response thing happening at least as of today...
ill post with any updates...
End of thread · 11 posts recoveredWayback Machine snapshot 12 Apr 2010