2007 ABS won't start -- loose ECU connector?

[dino_fjr]

Long time rider... new to FJR's. Bought my 2007 in July used from a dealer with 5K miles. Has been a great commuter, until about a week ago. Now ~11,500 miles, and in the shop. NOT happy... have definitely lost confidence after getting stranded on I95 during commute traffic.

Have been searching the posts here, as there seem to be many similar instances of FJR's shutting down in flight.

Have had no issues prior to it shutting down on me. Serviced at 8K, no issues, TBS done, new plugs.

Here's what happened... Cranked up normally (the weather here had turned a bit cooler with the onset of fall, temps in the 50's as opposed to the 60's). Commute was uneventful for the first 20 minutes or so. Began to hit slower traffic, pulled in the clutch to downshift and she died. Luckily, I was in the left lane and there is a shoulder. Was able to drift into the shoulder without being run over.

Once in the shoulder, cycled the ignition, checked the run switch and side-stand. The guages went thru their normal pre-start checks, fuel-rail primed, everything seemed normal. Engaging the start switch gave a good response from the starter. However, she wouldn't start. Had just filled up after leaving the house, so she wasn't out of fuel.

Could smell some fuel, so figured it was a "fuel, no spark" problem. Wasn't the right place to tear the bike down looking for a bad connection, so I checked the one most immediately available. Removed the seat, reached down and wiggled the ECU connector to make sure it was seated. It was fully seated, but interestingly, this seemed to do the trick. The bike fired up like there was nothing wrong. During the rest of the ride to work (another 30 minutes or so) the bike seemed to "hiccup" a few times. I mean shut down and then restart very quickly, like a "hiccup".

Had to do the ECU wiggle again to get it started before riding home that night. About 5 miles from home, she died again. I was off the highway and was able to coast into a gas station. With more light and space and no semi's whipping by at 90mph, I removed the seat and the plastic covering the air-box/ecu. Checked that the ECU was fully seated (it was). In frustration discovered that if I held the connector just so the bike would start. Removing the pressure would immediately kill the bike.

Anyone else ever had this happen?

Brought it in to the dealer and had them replace the ECU. Wasn't too surprised that this didn't fix it. Dealer is still going thru it to find the connector problem. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Dino

 

[ponyfool]

I had a similar experience that bothered me for months. I was able to trace mine to the Barbarian Jumper mod. When I pulled a pin, and replaced it, I apparently didn't seat it properly. The connection of that one pin was sporadic. Once I identified it, I haven't had the problem since.

Don't know if you've done the BJM, but thought it would be worth posting in the event you had.

 

[dino_fjr]

I had a similar experience that bothered me for months. I was able to trace mine to the Barbarian Jumper mod. When I pulled a pin, and replaced it, I apparently didn't seat it properly. The connection of that one pin was sporadic. Once I identified it, I haven't had the problem since.
Don't know if you've done the BJM, but thought it would be worth posting in the event you had.

Thanks. I have not done the jumper mod. Could have been done by the previous owner. Bike is at the dealer, so I can't check right now. This may be a start point for further diagnosis. Which specific pin was causing the sporadic connection? Can't imagine the jumper mod wire is the source.

After reviewing the threads on the BJM, looks like the jumper wire is very close to the wires for the coils...

Thanks, again

Dino

 

[dino_fjr]

I had a similar experience that bothered me for months. I was able to trace mine to the Barbarian Jumper mod. When I pulled a pin, and replaced it, I apparently didn't seat it properly. The connection of that one pin was sporadic. Once I identified it, I haven't had the problem since.
Don't know if you've done the BJM, but thought it would be worth posting in the event you had.

Thanks. I have not done the jumper mod. Could have been done by the previous owner. Bike is at the dealer, so I can't check right now. This may be a start point for further diagnosis. Which specific pin was causing the sporadic connection? Can't imagine the jumper mod wire is the source.

After reviewing the threads on the BJM, looks like the jumper wire is very close to the wires for the coils...

Thanks, again

Dino

Pony, thanks for the tip. Had the mechanic at the dealer check out the connector... he found a loose ground wire in the ecu connector that was causing the intermittent stalling.

Got the bike back tonight. Looking forward to a cold, wet commute in the morning.

Thanks, again.

Dino

 

[ponyfool]

Glad I could help. I spent countless frustrated hours trying to figure out why mine was intermittently working.

 

[dsmack]

Once again, this board amazes me!

Thanks to folks like ponyfool, and the accumulated wisdom of our little group, it sounds like dino_fjr has found the answer a whole lot faster than the techs at the local dealership could have done alone!

It would be cool if we could figure out a way to keep track of the the money saved by members of this board! :bike: :good:

Don

 

[dino_fjr]

I will admit, I was a bit (alright, alot) frustrated at my bike being at the shop for a week(+) with little progress...

That said, the guys at the shop were receptive and really squared me away when it came time to ring up the bill.

While it was in the shop, got the ECU recall taken care of... this was the original diagnosis. The mechanic went thru the entire wiring harness and greased all the connectors while he was trying to find the actual problem. Evidently there have been some pretty ugly problems when some of the ground blocks corrode.

So, despite the inconvenience of a week's worth of LONG commutes in the cage and a very MODEST bill, that shop has earned my business.

The commute today was cold and wet as promised, great day to ride. :wacko: