Did Not Start Last Night

[edocar]

Sorry about your starting problem. I have '04 and have drenched it in water (rain and soap suds) and have not had one (or more) problem(s) starting it. So I will wait as well with anticipation as to what the problem could be. During a return trip home from Townsend, TN in mid July, I rode 500+ miles in a tropical storm so intense that at times speeds were limited to 45 mph on the highway. I doubt if I would want to do that on any other bike (that I have owned). Sorry about the use of parenthesis......I hope they are conducive to better reading and understanding.

 

[Geezer]

I rode my '05 in the rain yestarday for a couple of hours. Hard rain that soaked through my boots, which are normally waterproof. No problem with the bike. Started right up this morning as usual.

 

[wheatonFJR]

@rad: I think you may have something there with the pistons...my bike seemed to run a little lighter just before this happened. Maybe I should have mentioned to the dealer that I think my pistons are GONE.

@geezer: you sure know how to rub it in! :huh:

BTW: I'm not a fair weather rider - no tourer is. Yes I've gotten soaked before - Johnstown, PA if I recall with remnants of one of last years hurricanes. Got some better wet weather gear now!

 

[FJRocket]

Ok, Wheaton, what did you find out? They still diagnosing the problem?

 

[wheatonFJR]

@Rocket:

The dealer's mechanic mentioned yesterday that the sparkplugs were fouled. He said there was moisture was in there. However, in the SAME breath, he said he did not think that water from washing was the culprit?? I said I didn't understand his statement and asked him to elaborate and all he could come up with was..."he didn't see how water could have gotten in there." I'm not sure what it was fouled with.

He said the battery was low, but when I was cranking it over - it was turning like a champ. Maybe by the time he saw it, my repeated attempts to start it had drained the battery down a little bit.

Anyways, he replaced the plugs and said it's fine now. So in my mind I don't know what I did or what the bike did to have caused this.

I don't have a nice warm fuzzy feeling that he trouble shooted the root cause. Can you guys tell me what the plugs would get fouled with? and what would cause that?

I was taking it in for the 16k service when this all happened. As I was talking to him about what all he did...it became evident that not all the fluids were replaced that needed to be. Therefore, I told them to get that taken care of ! before I pick it up. I will pick up the bike Sat am. I will ride the bike and now have to have faith that there is not something lurking there for the future.

I am putting the sunny side up - I will have the bike back -that cures alot of ills. Just not looking for a repeat performance.

 

[socalrk]

Yea, the plugs were probably a little wet from all the starting attempts and battery a bit low for same reason.

It's too bad you didn't get a chance to try some of the suggestions(or did you?) before taking to the dealer.

Still, in the experience I HAD WITH MY BIKE, I would not flood the dash/ignition switch area during washing. It happened twice to me after washing and I don't believe in that much coincidence. I know some will disagree and say they ride in rain, but I noticed that riding in rain doesn't nearly saturate that area like a hose. And many may flood the area washing and never have a problem, but it was for me and a couple others in the past. This problem has never returned for me, knock on wood!!

 

[odot]

The mechanic probably started it up after you dropped it off and thought..."what kind of crack is this guy smoking?" What ever you got wet, dried up enough that after the mechanic put a charge on the battery she probably turned right over.

:lol:

 

[mehaffydr]

I have a buddy that has a ST1300 and he has the same problem. After a few thous. miles if he goes for a ride the next day it wont start until he puts in new plugs. He now actually carries an extra set of plugs on trips just in case!

 

[wheatonFJR]

@mehaffy:

No thanks for that comment :blink: :dribble:

 

[MrVvrroomm]

I've had this happen twice on my '04. The first time was just prior to a trip to Tucson and it hadn't been ridden for a few days prior. I did wash it and get it pretty wet, like I always do.

I had the familiar gas smell. I could hear the fuel pump spin up, but no fire. I messed with it for a day or so the first time. I installed new plugs, gas, etc.

The way I finally got it started: (it must be done in this order), open throttle wide open, turn key on, wait for fuel pump to stop, hit starter. If your cylinders or exhaust are full of fuel you may/will hear a big BANG! Make sure you have the garage door open. LOL

I had it happen again after I got back from the above-mentioned trip. I parked it after trip, didn't ride it for a couple of weeks. I had it on the Battery Tender. I went out to start it and it did the same thing.

I used the procedure above and it fired up. I have not had the problem again in another 4K miles.

 

[wheatonFJR]

@vroom:

Is this the same as stompin the pedal to the floor to get an old carburated car engine going when it was flooded?

 

[wheatonFJR]

Oh BTW, just one last post on this dead thread. I picked up the bike this morning. The junior apprentice service writer started up the bike and rolled it out of the garage then let it run while he went and photocopied something that I had asked him to.

The bike was "ticking" clear as day (has been since around 6k). So when he came back, in front of all the other mechanics working today, I told him in a clear voice " I can hear the valve ticking sound as clear as day from here(about 30 feet away). Can you hear it?"

He acknowledged the sound, that it wasn't a normal sound. I told him that there were reports that excessive wear on the valve guides was occurring on some FJRs.

He asked if it was going through oil - and I said no. He said that Mother Yamaha wouldn't take care of this issue until oil started getting used up.

I told him that was baloney -that others have gotten Yamaha to take care of them before that occurred. I told him that I expect him (the dealer) to take care of it out of season some time this winter. I said if we need to bring in a Yamaha regional Rep - that's what we will do. - He laughed. He said "he hasn't seen a Yamaha regional rep in the 3 years he's been at the dealer."

I said we'll talk later.

Got my bike back. All is good with the world again. I have confidence in the bike because others have gone before me and fought the good fight.

Looking forward to the OHIO Fall Ramble in 2 weeks...YAHOO!

 

[FJRZON]

Thanks for the well wishes...I will not be making the Crud Run, but maybe we can schedule an end of season/near end of season ride like last year. Last years ride was great and it was nice to meet you all.
I'll be taking my wife on a little run out to Galena (only time she will have been on the bike for an extended period of time - due to kids, responsibility,etc), and I will be heading out to the OHIO FALL RAMBLE being organized by yamaholic/mcarp. Definitely a great run that YOU would like FJRZON. Valetz from MN is making it out there - how 'bout you Wisconsin boyz?

First off…glad you got the Feejer back and hopefully you will regain your confidence. Great tip from Mr. Vvrroomm on the starting procedures. Sorry to learn that you have the dreaded “tick”. A few months ago my dealer had an ‘05 in for the tick with only 11K . Yamaha just sent a new head no questions asked. The positive way to look at this unfortunate problem is that you don’t have to worry about paying for a valve adjustment for another 26k after you get your “head” matter resolved. Let me know if you need any leads because your dealer doesn’t sound like someone I would do business with.

Sorry you couldn’t make it to the Crud Run yesterday, I road with Timbo2015, FJRpackman and a few others. We had fun blasting down the alphabet roads. Can’t wait to do it again!

Yes, last years end of the season ride was great. I agree, it would be cool if we could schedule a similar ride. Loved that freak early November weather we had on last years run. Let the weather gods have a repeat performance! :beach:

Galena! Funny you mentioned that. I will be heading there this Sunday-weather permitting and on the Feejer of course. The Ohio Fall Ramble sounds fun…but I will be locked into work for that entire weekend. Thanks…maybe next year. Cheers!

 

[Geezer]

@Rocket:
The dealer's mechanic mentioned yesterday that the sparkplugs were fouled. He said there was moisture was in there. However, in the SAME breath, he said he did not think that water from washing was the culprit??

Do you know what he meant when he said 'moisture in there'?

If he meant fuel in the chambers, like wet on the business end of the plugs then I would think it was caused by the failure to start and not the cause of the failure.

If he meant moisture as in water in the chambers, like water got into your fuel, then you may have a bad seal on your gas cap or you just got some bad gas. I recently got a bad batch of gas that caused my bike to run very poorly until I used it up, and I expect that the distributors and stations were scraping the bottom of their storage tanks for a while there last month.

If he meant that water was on the plug wires or cap then you must have gotten some water under the tank somehow. This is where WD40 would have helped.

 

[wheatonFJR]

@geezer:

I believe he meant some sort of non-water moisture from the context that he didn't think washing was the culprit. Therefore, I don't believe he neccessarily found the cause, just the result of my cranking the starter with no luck.

I'll be in Galena two-up (if you can believe it) with my wife this weekend, and trying to keep up with those Ohio boys at the Ohio Ramble for the following weekend...

FJR...spells FUN