Love my FJR but frustrated today

[dgaige]

I've been gaining a lot of knowledge from this forum and have enjoyed riding my 2004 FJR gen1. I recently heard a clicking noise and at 60,000 miles, after consulting these pages, decided to replace the CCT. Tight spaces, but that seemed to go pretty well, and I changed the plugs while I had the fairings off. After putting it back together I held my breath turneds teh key, fuel pump ran, guages reacted, and I pushed the starter. It started right up as usual and ran smooth but only for about 1.5 to 2 seconds and died. Seemed like it ran out of fuel. Wouldn't start after that. Additional review of the forum pages indicated it was probably flooded. Never had that problem before. Some other strange things were happening (emergency flashers going, headlights not on) So I took the plugs back out tried to check all the wiring to see if there was a ground problem, etc. Nothing found, but I disconnected the flasher switch and found it to be "sticky" so maybe I had accidently pushed it, and couldn't easily turn it off. I've started slowly putting it all back together,checking things as I go and cleaning up a few things (rear view mirrors, glove box, etc.), but several times I have continued to try to start, and I get a few cylinder firing but then none, I do get a smell of gasoline, so I am still leaning toward the flooding idea, but WOT doesn't seem to help. And I still don't get any headlights. Tried checking fuses today. I find the main fuses (all good) but can't even find a "fuse box" (as described in the owner's manual) containing a fuse for the lights. What am I missing? I did check carefully around the oil pump cover and don't find any "pinched" wires.

 

[Cycle]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[RossKean]

Note that the headlights don't come on with key, only after engine start.

Your starting issue is most likely due to flooding. Fresh battery and wide open throttle. 20 seconds or so and give it a rest to cool a couple of minutes before going again. A strong battery is critical for getting it going. Once it starts, it will be very rough until it is fully cleared and you have to baby the throttle a bit to keep it running.

If it isn't due to flooding, there is always a possibility that the cam timing is off by a tooth. This can happen when you do a CCT replacement if you are not careful. Did you take precautions?
https://www.fjrforum.com/threads/lessons-learned-on-changing-the-cct.136891/

Starting difficulty and rough running can be symptoms of a slightly mis-timed cam. (Engine destruction is a symptom of a badly mis-timed cam)

Good luck

 

[torch]

You may need to get a little more aggressive clearing the flood. Lift the tank, disconnect the fuel pump, remove the sparkplugs, ground the sparkplug wires, hold it at wide open throttle and crank it over for a while. Just make sure there is no source of ignition anywhere in the area! Best done outdoors, if possible. Just in case...

 

[dgaige]

Note that the headlights don't come on with key, only after engine start.

Your starting issue is most likely due to flooding. Fresh battery and wide open throttle. 20 seconds or so and give it a rest to cool a couple of minutes before going again. A strong battery is critical for getting it going. Once it starts, it will be very rough until it is fully cleared and you have to baby the throttle a bit to keep it running.

If it isn't due to flooding, there is always a possibility that the cam timing is off by a tooth. This can happen when you do a CCT replacement if you are not careful. Did you take precautions?
https://www.fjrforum.com/threads/lessons-learned-on-changing-the-cct.136891/

Starting difficulty and rough running can be symptoms of a slightly mis-timed cam. (Engine destruction is a symptom of a badly mis-timed cam)

Good luck

Okay, I had forgotten that about the headlights. So all electrical checks out okay. I unplugged the fuel pump and it started and ran till out of fuel. Plugged fuel pump back in and it started, but does not run well. During CCT change I did not wire tie the chain, as one of the threads indicated it was not necessary and the chain seemed pretty tight. Hard to imagine it slipped a tooth, but I'll check that next. Thanks for the help.

 

[RossKean]

Okay, I had forgotten that about the headlights. So all electrical checks out okay. I unplugged the fuel pump and it started and ran till out of fuel. Plugged fuel pump back in and it started, but does not run well. During CCT change I did not wire tie the chain, as one of the threads indicated it was not necessary and the chain seemed pretty tight. Hard to imagine it slipped a tooth, but I'll check that next. Thanks for the help.

A few instances of timing issues have been reported after replacing the CCT. Since you have ruled out possible flooding (common if the engine has been started and not allowed to warm up fully), timing becomes a significant possibility. AS always, suspect whatever was screwed with last.
Good luck!

 

[92XJXJWHEELER]

Okay, I had forgotten that about the headlights. So all electrical checks out okay. I unplugged the fuel pump and it started and ran till out of fuel. Plugged fuel pump back in and it started, but does not run well. During CCT change I did not wire tie the chain, as one of the threads indicated it was not necessary and the chain seemed pretty tight. Hard to imagine it slipped a tooth, but I'll check that next. Thanks for the help.

Hard to imagine🤣 Seems the most likely cause of you're problem.Hard to imagine🤔it's not. Rarely a coincidence to have a new problem after a procedure and not have them related. That's been proven many many years ago. There's probably a reason every printed instruction on CCT replacement Says to tie it up to eliminate this issue. Always go re check and properly re do the last thing you touched. I know it's common sense and logic, but in case those things escaped you. Think about it.

 

[tschutter]

Man, I changed my CCT a month ago without issue (I ziptied the chain). But how do you check to see if your off by a tooth? Is there a procedure for that?
And if it's off, how do you get it back?
Sounds very challenging...