Bike hard to start/quits running....

Where do I start....

I attempted to go for a ride a couple days ago to check out some heated gear that I got for X-Mas. I haven't ridden the bike since October. I have started it a few times in the garage and ran it for a few minutes without incident. Two days ago I pull it out of the garage, plug my heated bib in and sit down on the bike and start it. Starts ok and runs for about two minutes and then dies. I try to start it again and it won't. Starter motor runs, fuel pump makes noise, but won't fire up. I neglected to treat my gas for storage, so I siphon out all but maybe 2 liters of the gas that's in there, run down the street to 7-11 and buy two gallons of new gas and dump that in. No go, the bike does backfire weakly once but that's about it. I put the bike back on the battery tender until today, when I clean and re-oil the air filter (hadn't done it for the winter, but it doesn't look bad) and try to re-start. Same as before, it tries but won't fire up.

I've taken the seat off and I'm looking at my Attitude programmer. When I turn the key for the bike, the second light blinks once and the first light blinks four times I think. Then when I press the starter button all the lights cycle in sequence and go off.

I manage to get the bike started by thumbing the starter and wiggling the throttle just the tiniest bit. I revved the bike a couple times then left it idling while I went in the house. It ran for about five minutes and then died. I went back outside and was unable to re-start.

I'm curious about my programmer, I thought it was supposed to cycle all the lights when you turn the key on, not when you press the starter. I may try disconnecting it to see what happens. Any other suggestions?

Jeremy

I'd be lost too, so I ain't got much. Go over what you've done. Recheck the wiring for the heated gear and make sure those battery cables are Good and Tight. That's a big deal with these bikes, maybe that's your trouble. Another thing, I've read we need to make a point to check the cap we put on the throttle body when we did the programmer install. I reckon those have a way of working themselves loose. Best of luck, I'm sure one of the wrenches will chime in directly.

Sarah

So I did some more troubleshooting yesterday. I pulled the fuel injector and tried starting the bike and got a little puff, puff, puff, puff of fuel from the injector. I don't know what it should look like, but it didn't appear clogged to me. I replaced the injector and pulled the spark plug. it looked like:

which is not the light tan color the manual calls for so I went and got a replacement. With the new plug in the bike started up pretty quickly, I revved it a couple times, then let it idle while I went inside. I came back 15 minutes later and it's still idling, I blip the throttle, the bike revs and then dies. After which I can't get it started again and I gave up for the day.

I tried starting the bike again this morning, no go. I pulled the new plug out and it appeared to be a tiny bit oily/wet...? I'm thinking I'll go over some of the electrical connections on the bike, but other than that I'm stumped. Any suggestions?

Check the battery cables. Pull them off, clean them up a little and reinstall tightly. My negative cable was ever so slightly loose last week and gave me fits--hard starting, weird check engine light flashing, stalled twice, etc. Give it a shot. Good luck.

How 'bout it??

Sarah

Yamahas do NOT like loose grounds. Check the main ground from the battery to the engine block and all the other grounds you can find. This bike relies heavy on good battery power to fire the injector and more importantly, the spark plug. All the juice going to that ignition coil is coming direct from the battery to fire that spark plug. A bad ground or weak voltage to the coil will give you shit fits every time.

mwakey wrote:

Yamahas do NOT like loose grounds. Check the main ground from the battery to the engine block and all the other grounds you can find. This bike relies heavy on good battery power to fire the injector and more importantly, the spark plug. All the juice going to that ignition coil is coming direct from the battery to fire that spark plug. A bad ground or weak voltage to the coil will give you shit fits every time.

Thanks for the tip. I redid the battery connections already and looked at the fuse block and a bunch of electrical connectors but so far no improvement. I'll check the grounds, but if that doesn't turn anything up I'm about out of things to try.

You checked the plug you put on the throttle body?

Sarah

I have not seen an Atitude Programmer, but if it has the same aftermarket plug as the FMF Programmer that connects to the factory injector plug, you might want to double check it to see if it's plugged in all the way. My FMF Programmer has a plug that looked like the factory plug but it did not snap into the the factory plug. I rubber seal in the FMF plug was too fat and wouldn't allow the plug to snap into the factory plug completely. I had to trim some of the rubber seal on the FMF plug so it would snap into the factory plug completely without pulling apart.

Something else to check maybe?

I've also heard of several people with loose ground cables where the main battery ground cable bolts to the rear of the engine block.

looks like its getting way too much fuel. rag in the air box?

Any word, Jeremy?

Sarah

The programmer sequences only when you fire it up. The plug-in is a direct fit on mine, no trimming was necessary. One thing I recall, someone had troubles with the bike not running or something to that degree. Check that drain plug for the spark plug, and make sure it's free and clear. I've heard that if it's plugged it can cause the bike to run like a sack of shit.

Maybe I missed it but have your tried removing the Attitude programmer and just running the bike off the stock programming?

#1 rule
Always back up through your modifications, if you put something on and your bike wont work remove it and try again
I would disco the controller and try it without
I always remember a guy who said, "My bike is gutless except when it rains, then it runs great"
Then I discovered where he stored his rain suit (blocking the air intake)
Most people overlook the obvious

KInda like putting your underwear on OVER your pants.

0007onWR wrote:

#1 rule
Always back up through your modifications, if you put something on and your bike wont work remove it and try again
I would disco the controller and try it without
I always remember a guy who said, "My bike is gutless except when it rains, then it runs great"
Then I discovered where he stored his rain suit (blocking the air intake)
Most people overlook the obvious

This bike has at least 1500 miles on it since any mods have been done, including a 1000 mile loop of Colorado where it was flawless. Unless you consider plugging a new heated vest into an existing, tested outlet a "mod".

I't's been cold here, I've been sick, and I started a new job so I haven looked at the bike in a couple of weeks. Might have a chance to this weekend. I've tried/checked pretty much everything that has been suggested on this thread with no luck.

Man, you've had a rough way to go. Be sure to check the airbox as was suggested above. Mine had a mouse condominium in it. Keep us posted.

Sarah

derm75 wrote:

0007onWR wrote:

#1 rule
Always back up through your modifications, if you put something on and your bike wont work remove it and try again
I would disco the controller and try it without
I always remember a guy who said, "My bike is gutless except when it rains, then it runs great"
Then I discovered where he stored his rain suit (blocking the air intake)
Most people overlook the obvious

This bike has at least 1500 miles on it since any mods have been done, including a 1000 mile loop of Colorado where it was flawless. Unless you consider plugging a new heated vest into an existing, tested outlet a "mod".

I't's been cold here, I've been sick, and I started a new job so I haven looked at the bike in a couple of weeks. Might have a chance to this weekend. I've tried/checked pretty much everything that has been suggested on this thread with no luck.

OK
What i mean is aftermarket acc are not as reliable as OEM parts
Just because your fuel controller used to work does not mean it always will, I know a dealer who has had Unbelievable failure rates with Pro logic controller's which are the grandfather of the attitude controller
Also I dont know where you wired your vest to, ground loops, melting a ground in the harness etc etc

*laughs* Yeah that reminded me of when I hooked up my battery tender, thinking it was the direct line to the battery. Turned out it was to the starter and I got wicked backfeed. Tapped into the wrong power source.

See
Girls dont know nothin bout motorbikes (Im Kiddin, i go to you for advice LOL!!)

That's what I call "Sunday school" we learn things on sunday while we work on our stuff in the back yard
Last spring I re created the light bulb and learned that some 12v relays are polarity sensitive

Success is NOT built on Success, it is built on failure

corn gas sucks,under 30 days and its junk. dump you fuel,change the plug,dont let you bike sit.

The other thing that is not good is starting it up momentarily in any environment, but especially in sub-freezing conditions whereby condensation occurs and coats the engine sleeve/components resulting in oxides (rust).

The bike is running again! I didn't do any work on it or change anything. Just let it sit for a week or two and then tried to fire it up again. Ran a little rough again and died, but it ran longer than the last time. Tried it again a couple days later and it ran well enough that I took it around the neighborhood a few times. The next day I used it to go visit a friend, and then buddy and I went and put about a hundred miles on our bikes and I had no problems. I've filled it up with gas again, and I put some Sea Foam in it in case there is any gunk left over. Fingers crossed this is the end of it!

Hope your trouble's over and done; thanks for posting back!

Sarah