Member Contributer beigs Posted July 2, 2010 Member Contributer Share Posted July 2, 2010 I rode my '02 everyday this week without a hiccup, she rode beautifully. Today, I took her all over town without a problem...until I went home. After stopping off for a quick drink at the local pub, I was headed home (less than a mile from my house) and after taking off from a stop light, I twisted the throttle a bit on a straight away and the VFR stuttered quite a bit, almost like it was cold (temp was reading 178 f). Thinking I was in the wrong gear or something, I pulled the clutch, checked my gear (1st gear) and tried again...same thing. I pulled in the clutch and hit the throttle...it wouldn't go past 5000 RPM (sounded sick somewhere between 4600-4800 rpm). So, I limped her down my street and once in my drive way, tried again. Same thing and this time, the engine just quit on me. Started it back up, revved the engine twice and no problems, put it well over 5000 RPM. Rather than take er out again, I just pulled into my garage and turned it off, thought I better get some VFRD thoughts before I start it up again. Anyone experienced this or know of something in particular I should check into before the next trip out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer kaldek Posted July 2, 2010 Member Contributer Share Posted July 2, 2010 Start by looking at your electrical system - check your charging voltage and battery resting voltage. If those are out of whack it can mess with the ability to run the fuel injection system. Next, check your fuel - did you run it down close to empty? If you suck crap fuel into the fuel rails it can cause stuttering, or low fuel can mean inconsistent fuel flow and an inability to rev out due to not enough fuel in the rails to deliver larger quantities. My '02 has had only two occurrences of stuttering in its entire life (8 years, 130,000km). The most recent was two weeks ago, caused by my Autotune basically flooding the engine due to me stuffing with the tuning too much, and the previous one was in March, when my original 2002 injectors started to fail, and also practically flooded the engine. How many miles does the bike have on it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum CEO HispanicSlammer Posted July 2, 2010 Forum CEO Share Posted July 2, 2010 This happend a few time with me, turned out to be the PC2 I had, cycling the key off an on reset it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer beigs Posted July 3, 2010 Author Member Contributer Share Posted July 3, 2010 Start by looking at your electrical system - check your charging voltage and battery resting voltage. If those are out of whack it can mess with the ability to run the fuel injection system. Next, check your fuel - did you run it down close to empty? If you suck crap fuel into the fuel rails it can cause stuttering, or low fuel can mean inconsistent fuel flow and an inability to rev out due to not enough fuel in the rails to deliver larger quantities. My '02 has had only two occurrences of stuttering in its entire life (8 years, 130,000km). The most recent was two weeks ago, caused by my Autotune basically flooding the engine due to me stuffing with the tuning too much, and the previous one was in March, when my original 2002 injectors started to fail, and also practically flooded the engine. How many miles does the bike have on it? Bike has about 22k on it. I'm thinking, after reading your post and talking to a couple friends, that the gas could be a factor. The tank is nearly full, but my last fill up was at Mobile, and I once had a minor problem with my car after filling up at the same Mobile station. My buddy recommended that I use higher octane as well (I currently use the cheap stuff). Any thoughts on that? I won't be on it today, but plan on taking about an hour ride tomorrow, so we will see how it goes. HS got me thinking as well...seemed strange that the engine revved just fine immediately after a restart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer kaldek Posted July 3, 2010 Member Contributer Share Posted July 3, 2010 Don't bother with higher octane. The VFR won't make use of it. It can't self tune. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitie Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 Do you have both keys on the same keyring? My cb400sf used to spit n fart n carry on because the chips in the keys would interfere with HISS.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpd211 Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 Do you have both keys on the same keyring? My cb400sf used to spit n fart n carry on because the chips in the keys would interfere with HISS.. He is in the US so no HISS to deal with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer beigs Posted July 6, 2010 Author Member Contributer Share Posted July 6, 2010 Well, I didn't get her out this weekend like I had hoped, but took the VFR out for coffee this morning. On the ride down, everything seemed fine, but after the temperature got above 150f, it started again. Turned it off, removed the key, then back on and same problem. Stutters around 4000-5000 RPM and if I throttle it, the whole engine sound changes like it is going to die on me until I let go of the throttle. I had to limp her home at about 35 MPH because if tried to get the RPMs up to change gears, it sounded like she was going to stall on me. Something certainly more serious than I originally thought. There are only two things I can think of that are different since I took the bike apart for paint: 1) Exhaust Wrap 2) The ambient temperature sensor was never screwed back into the bottom of the front fairing, although it is still connected (I'm not sure why that would be a factor). And while those two things are different, I've had the bike out numerous times after the paint job without a problem...this issue is a recent development. I hate to take her in for professional help just because it would be financially painful right now, but will if I have to. Any thoughts of what specifically I should look at before I take that step? Thanks.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer beigs Posted July 8, 2010 Author Member Contributer Share Posted July 8, 2010 Had two more thoughts: First, I was thinking about replacing the fuel filter (or at least checking it). Since the tank was off for paint, I'm wondering if something got in there that is screwing it up (even though I did have all the holes taped and sealed). Is this worth checking and if so, should I just go ahead and replace it? Also, even though I live in Michigan, the original owner of the bike bought it in California. I know that CA has some special emissions standards and am wondering if there is something 'Cali-Specific' that could be the problem or I should be checking...? Thanks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer beigs Posted July 9, 2010 Author Member Contributer Share Posted July 9, 2010 A couple more things, hoping someone here can help me out cause I'm still having this problem. First, I found that one of the wires next to the throttle (under the brake fluid container) was disconnected (it was one of a two wire set). I can't see where it goes to, but the best I can tell from the wiring diagram is that it is for the front brakes, so it's probably not related, but thought I would mention it anyway. Also, after doing hours of research online and coming up with almost nothing, I found that this guy was having a problem with a Susuki that is pretty close to the problem I am having, it won't rev past 5000RPM without falling flat. Now, I don't get the FI blinks like he got (mine just lights up and stays lit when I turn the ignition, then off after bike starts), but wondering if the TP sensor is something I need to look into. Also, on a nice hot and muggy day, what is a typical engine running temperature? Sitting at idle for about 6-8 minutes, with an occasional engine rev puts the temp at just over 200f. Oh, and one last thing. While I was running the engine at idol and checking the temp, I didn't have any problems, so this could be an issue that only occurs when the bike is under load. Any thoughts...anyone? Thanks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer beigs Posted July 9, 2010 Author Member Contributer Share Posted July 9, 2010 One more piece to the puzzle... I went ahead and removed the fuel filter and just checked it for obstructions. It looked clean. Put it all back together, and started it back up. She ran fine at idle for about 5 minutes, then slowly started getting weaker and weaker until finally...plutttt...she died. Started it back up and ran for another 30 seconds are so, then the same thing. I'm letting it cool for a little, but it's almost like the bike is either getting too much gas, or not enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
checksix Posted July 10, 2010 Share Posted July 10, 2010 Have you tried running with the fuel tank cap open? Maybe you have some kind of vent obstruction or hose kink that is causing a vacuum to develop in the tank. Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer beigs Posted July 10, 2010 Author Member Contributer Share Posted July 10, 2010 Have you tried running with the fuel tank cap open? Maybe you have some kind of vent obstruction or hose kink that is causing a vacuum to develop in the tank. Just a thought. You might be on to something. The last time I filled er up, it took me ten minutes to get the gas cap off...I had to pry it with a dime. I thought it was just a faulty cap, but your thought makes me wonder if there is a pressure problem. I don't see any kinks on the lines under the tank, but I'm going to try your suggestion and see what happens. Thanks for the suggestion... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer hondalover Posted July 10, 2010 Member Contributer Share Posted July 10, 2010 Sure sounds like a fuel tank venting problem to me as well, it really fits since you have and the tank off for paint work. If it's not a venting issue, does your bike have a Power Commander installed? Also all 6th Gens are 50-state compliant, so there are no CA versions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer beigs Posted July 10, 2010 Author Member Contributer Share Posted July 10, 2010 Have you tried running with the fuel tank cap open? Maybe you have some kind of vent obstruction or hose kink that is causing a vacuum to develop in the tank. Just a thought. Checksix...your awesome! I found that I could get the bike started and running normally if I pivoted the tank up. Upon further investigation, I found a small kink forming in the fuel line under the air filter box. It must have been exacerbated when I checked the fuel filter. I let her run at idle for 30 minutes without issue, and I'll take her out a little later today and see if I have any more issues, but I'm willing to bet that kink forming in the line is what started this mess. Correct my thinking if I'm wrong, but here is what I am guessing (or wishful thinking): The kink in the fuel line was small, so it was still letting fuel through, but as the engine heated up and the fuel pressure got higher, it became harder and harder to deliver the fuel with the throttle pulls. I'm also thinking that because it is fuel injected, the inability to deliver fuel at higher temperatures caused a higher pressure buildup in the tank? Anyway, I'm going to leave the topic open this week just in case the original throttle problem still exists, but thanks so much for the suggestion. I wish I had thought of that before researching TP sensors and fuel filters ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
checksix Posted July 10, 2010 Share Posted July 10, 2010 Cool. Hope that was it. Score one for vfrd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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