Engine turned off while riding

Okay, I will first state what happened:

I was going on fumes yesterday and stopped to fill up the tank. I rode about four miles and everything was fine. Then I got on the freeway and at about 85 mph, the FI light popped up at the same time that my engine seemed to go completely into 'neutral'. I lost 10 - 15 mph in a split second, as if I had completely rolled off the gas. It was only for a couple of seconds though and then everything was fine again. I took the feeder and after about another 5 miles, hitting an underpass, the FI light came on again, at the same time the lights went off for a second (may have gone off earlier but the freeway was well-lit, so didn't really notice) and the oil lamp came on, then the engine turned off. I had to roll off to the side with the engine off but the dash lights and the headlamp on. I got the engine restarted after a minute or so and it rode home fine the rest of the last 2 miles. It didn't run smooth, or it didn't feel like it at least (maybe my panicked imagination), but we made it.

So, I wonder if I got bad fuel and could that cause this? Then I came across the recall here on this site. Any chance this could be related to the recall? I never received the letter and wonder if that could be it: http://www.vfrdiscus...showtopic=35937

Anyone ever had this happen to them?

Patricia

Patricia, can you tell if there's a buzzing sound coming from behind your dash? It's possible that you got some bad gas, so draining your tank and putting some good stuff in couldn't hurt- much. Having the recall done wouldn't be a bad idea, in the meantime, you should check the condition of the blue connector that lives behind the top of the left side panel. If it shows any signs of heat or melting, get the bike to a dealer asap for the recall. My dealer replaced every piece of wire on my bike when this happened to me.

Good luck!

maybe ledt field, but if you were "on fumes", maybe the pump picked up some debris from the bottom of your tank and pushed it along to the fuel delivery system.

I didn't hear a buzzing sound but when I was sitting on the side of the road, my mp3 was blasting into my ears too. :-(

If bad gas can do this, then that would be pretty crappy. I will try to clean the fuel and see what that does. A blue connector, hm? I guess I could check that after I get home. I had the book out last night and it mentioned to take the fairing off and look at some wires. Maybe they were refering to the same? I was too tired to check and take the fairing off last night.

[image: View Post]SEBSPEED, on 10 November 2009 - 11:43 AM, said:

Patricia, can you tell if there's a buzzing sound coming from behind your dash? It's possible that you got some bad gas, so draining your tank and putting some good stuff in couldn't hurt- much. Having the recall done wouldn't be a bad idea, in the meantime, you should check the condition of the blue connector that lives behind the top of the left side panel. If it shows any signs of heat or melting, get the bike to a dealer asap for the recall. My dealer replaced every piece of wire on my bike when this happened to me.

Good luck!

What would I do in that case?

Sorry, I am really not a mechanic and have no clue. Replace the fuel fiter? :(

[image: View Post]timmythecop, on 10 November 2009 - 12:07 PM, said:

maybe ledt field, but if you were "on fumes", maybe the pump picked up some debris from the bottom of your tank and pushed it along to the fuel delivery system.

Patricia,

It is all too common a problem, the blue connector is a collection for most the ground wires on the front of the bike. It is a common failure - which prompted the wire harness recall. Usually a buzzing sound is emitted from the headlight relays when it starts to happen, not enough voltage to turn them on so they buzz. I believe the fi light comes on too since there is not enough voltage to drive the fuel relay either. Usually this is confirmed by no stored code in the ecm for a fuel issue, fi light comming on produces an error code that you can read by shorting out the diagnostic connector by the ecm and counting the number of blinks - people with the bad ground connector say they have no codes stored in the ecm after it happens. You should get the recall done at least, dont ride it till you get it fixed - it will strand you in that condition.

Usually vfrs are bullet proof but you have a 7 year old bike with a known issue, it can be fixed. I would also look into the vfrness, by tightwad - to beef up your charging system wire harness. There are plenty of topics on the ground wire issue if you feel like reading into it more, most are pinned in the sixth generation forum.

Thanks, will do. I'll try to get the bike in to the dealer as soon as I can then. Lately the bike has been my main transportation and this really bites.

[image: View Post]HispanicSlammer, on 10 November 2009 - 12:19 PM, said:

Patricia,

It is all too common a problem, the blue connector is a collection for most the ground wires on the front of the bike. It is a common failure - which prompted the wire harness recall. Usually a buzzing sound is emitted from the headlight relays when it starts to happen, not enough voltage to turn them on so they buzz. I believe the fi light comes on too since there is not enough voltage to drive the fuel relay either. Usually this is confirmed by no stored code in the ecm for a fuel issue, fi light comming on produces an error code that you can read by shorting out the diagnostic connector by the ecm and counting the number of blinks - people with the bad ground connector say they have no codes stored in the ecm after it happens. You should get the recall done at least, dont ride it till you get it fixed - it will strand you in that condition.

Usually vfrs are bullet proof but you have a 7 year old bike with a known issue, it can be fixed. I would also look into the vfrness, by tightwad - to beef up your charging system wire harness. There are plenty of topics on the ground wire issue if you feel like reading into it more, most are pinned in the sixth generation forum.

Hi and sorry for your issue!

All reply's so far are great and worth looking at.

Have you ever had any issue whatsoever like this before the gas stop?

Hopefully you may have just got a fractional amount of water or some other contaminant in that fuel stop that caused/causing your problem or somehow it got an air bubble in the fuel system from sucking a little air.

Unless you here that the fuel pump never primes or get the Buzz behind the dash, I would just try some Fuel Dryer/Cleaner first and see if you still have any further issues. :rolleyes:

I didn't hear any buzzing this morning but didn't know to listen for it either and when I started it in the garage, it was running fine but I turned it off and took the truck to work. I will definitely try the fuel cleaner, it is not a fortune and worth a shot. Thanks!

[image: View Post]Baileyrock, on 10 November 2009 - 03:28 PM, said:

Hi and sorry for your issue!

All reply's so far are great and worth looking at.

Have you ever had any issue whatsoever like this before the gas stop?

Hopefully you may have just got a fractional amount of water or some other contaminant in that fuel stop that caused/causing your problem or somehow it got an air bubble in the fuel system from sucking a little air.

Unless you here that the fuel pump never primes or get the Buzz behind the dash, I would just try some Fuel Dryer/Cleaner first and see if you still have any further issues. :rolleyes:

[image: View Post]Faylaricia, on 10 November 2009 - 04:51 PM, said:

I didn't hear any buzzing this morning but didn't know to listen for it either and when I started it in the garage, it was running fine but I turned it off and took the truck to work. I will definitely try the fuel cleaner, it is not a fortune and worth a shot. Thanks!

[image: View Post]Baileyrock, on 10 November 2009 - 03:28 PM, said:

Hi and sorry for your issue!

All reply's so far are great and worth looking at.

Have you ever had any issue whatsoever like this before the gas stop?

Hopefully you may have just got a fractional amount of water or some other contaminant in that fuel stop that caused/causing your problem or somehow it got an air bubble in the fuel system from sucking a little air.

Unless you here that the fuel pump never primes or get the Buzz behind the dash, I would just try some Fuel Dryer/Cleaner first and see if you still have any further issues. :rolleyes:

Seems a lot of pep's like "Seafoam" as a cleaner, I've used it in my Jeep�, works fine...

Cool, I will pick it up on my way home from work. Appreciate the tip!

[image: View Post]Monk, on 10 November 2009 - 04:03 PM, said:

Seems a lot of pep's like "Seafoam" as a cleaner, I've used it in my Jeep�, works fine...

[image: View Post]Faylaricia, on 10 November 2009 - 03:51 PM, said:

I didn't hear any buzzing this morning but didn't know to listen for it either and when I started it in the garage, it was running fine but I turned it off and took the truck to work. I will definitely try the fuel cleaner, it is not a fortune and worth a shot. Thanks!

Every time you turn the Key On w/ the kill switch in the On position, You should hear a 1-3 sec. buzz/hum from the tank. That's the fuel pump priming the system, it won't run again until the bike starts or you turn either the key or kill switch off & On again.

The Recall/Blue connector ground wire problem usually manifests itself as a No fuel pump/no engine run scenario, this is when you will Never hear the fuel pump prime and the engine will never start under that condition. :rolleyes:
Buzzing behind the dash is the other biggest symptom.

BR

fuel filter might be an issue I had to replace mine because of a simalar problem. It only cost about 8dollors and 30 min's of my time.

Although my bike's a 5th Gen, it had a very similar issue, and it's not the fuel thing, but an electrical issue. It would just randomly kill the engine (like flicking off the killswitch) while I was riding along. I didn't ever find out exactly what the cause was, but it was a connection in the wiring system. All it takes is one momentary break somewhere in the wiring between the ECU and any one of the sensors or EFI components, and the ignition can be cut.

I took it into the dealership last night to have them take care of the safety recall.

We did put Seafoam fuel cleaner in it and we tried to take off the fairing to check the connector before taking it in, but the stupid screw on the bottom wouldn't come out and already started stripping. I definitely have to get a better tool kit. :pissed:

I hope they can see if the recall issue caused the problem. If not, they said they will check out the bike and call me.

Thanks everyone for the great tips, I really appreciate it.

Here is the Blue Connector fix we're talking about:

http://www.vfrdiscus...ndpost&p=411780

Just to confirm I too had the exact same problem, only my lights/engine cut off whilst riding home at night WITH my girlfriend on the back :comp13:

After extensive advice from this site, I beefed up the wires around the battery harness and removed the earth block adding thicker wires and a seperate earth to the frame - you need to do all this otherwise once you have beefed up the wires the 30amp fuse might blow (like mine did)!

I am confused. If this was a recall, why not let the dealer take care of the issue? Wouldn't they do the same?

[image: View Post]vfr_steve, on 11 November 2009 - 09:37 AM, said:

Just to confirm I too had the exact same problem, only my lights/engine cut off whilst riding home at night WITH my girlfriend on the back :comp13:

After extensive advice from this site, I beefed up the wires around the battery harness and removed the earth block adding thicker wires and a seperate earth to the frame - you need to do all this otherwise once you have beefed up the wires the 30amp fuse might blow (like mine did)!

[image: View Post]Faylaricia, on 11 November 2009 - 03:45 PM, said:

I am confused. If this was a recall, why not let the dealer take care of the issue? Wouldn't they do the same?

[image: View Post]vfr_steve, on 11 November 2009 - 09:37 AM, said:

Just to confirm I too had the exact same problem, only my lights/engine cut off whilst riding home at night WITH my girlfriend on the back :comp13:

After extensive advice from this site, I beefed up the wires around the battery harness and removed the earth block adding thicker wires and a seperate earth to the frame - you need to do all this otherwise once you have beefed up the wires the 30amp fuse might blow (like mine did)!

Because Honda will not admit liability here in the UK so there's no recall :(

[image: View Post]Faylaricia, on 11 November 2009 - 09:16 AM, said:

I took it into the dealership last night to have them take care of the safety recall.

I hope they can see if the recall issue caused the problem. If not, they said they will check out the bike and call me.

Well, I wish I could say that the Dealer should take care of your problem. There are some very good Dealers & techs out there, they just seem to be far a few between. Hope you have a good one!
We've heard of many problems here after a Dealer did the harness recall because of poor/sloppy workmanship like loose connections, shorting wires(incorrect routing of harness causes it to rub on something it shouldn't and a wire shorts out on the frame), etc.
Not trying to be a downer here, just have little trust in the avg. Dealer! :dry:

Let us know how it goes. :rolleyes:

Oh, didn't notice that you were in the UK. Wow, that bites but at least you know you fixed it right!

[image: View Post]vfr_steve, on 12 November 2009 - 07:52 AM, said:

Because Honda will not admit liability here in the UK so there's no recall :(

[image: View Post]Faylaricia, on 12 November 2009 - 04:27 PM, said:

Oh, didn't notice that you were in the UK. Wow, that bites but at least you know you fixed it right!

[image: View Post]vfr_steve, on 12 November 2009 - 07:52 AM, said:

Because Honda will not admit liability here in the UK so there's no recall :(

It took me a while to figure it out and a few weeks without my VFR (which was horrible).. I wish I could challenge Honda UK in court but I won't be able to afford the fees and now that I've 'tampered' with it I wouldn't stand a chance, but like you say, touch wood it's sorted now anyway. Good luck with the same issue!! Let us know how you get on :fing02:

[image: View Post]Baileyrock, on 10 November 2009 - 04:28 PM, said:

Unless you here that the fuel pump never primes or get the Buzz behind the dash, I would just try some Fuel Dryer/Cleaner first and see if you still have any further issues. :rolleyes:

+1

[image: View Post]vfrsam, on 10 November 2009 - 06:35 PM, said:

fuel filter might be an issue I had to replace mine because of a simalar problem. It only cost about 8dollors and 30 min's of my time.

Wow, that's some quick work removing the fuel pump, changing the filter, then reinstalling. That'd take me a lot longer than 30 minutes.

[image: View Post]Faylaricia, on 11 November 2009 - 10:16 AM, said:

I took it into the dealership last night to have them take care of the safety recall.

We did put Seafoam fuel cleaner in it and we tried to take off the fairing to check the connector before taking it in, but the stupid screw on the bottom wouldn't come out and already started stripping. I definitely have to get a better tool kit. :pissed:

I hope they can see if the recall issue caused the problem. If not, they said they will check out the bike and call me.

Thanks everyone for the great tips, I really appreciate it.

If you're referring to the black trim clips that hold the two fairings together on the bottom, they will quickly fill up with dirt and become useless. I've had to break many of them to get the fairings apart. Stupid little plastic things cost over $3 at a Honda dealer, but if you go in the 6th gen forum, there should be a thread pinned with other cheaper options. I would guess it's not your tool kit that's the problem, but those stupid trim clips!