Lumpy Idle

[RossKean]

Not to thread jack this, but that looks like a Penske rear shock installed on your '11. Have you checked at it's yoke for any shearing underneath?
Brodie

OK, as far as I can tell. Will have a closer look when I put everything back together.

 

[Fred W]

Never seen the remote reservoir mounted in the left side. Must be a custom bracket.

You should refer to the thread about the Penske Clevis breakage. I showed how you can mount it correctly so it wont break in the future. It will cost you one inner bearing sleeve to cut to make a spacer for hardware store bolt and nut

 

[RossKean]

Never seen the remote reservoir mounted in the left side. Must be a custom bracket.
You should refer to the thread about the Penske Clevis breakage. I showed how you can mount it correctly so it wont break in the future. It will cost you one inner bearing sleeve to cut to make a spacer for hardware store bolt and nut

The Penske for the '07 was mounted on the left side as well...

I think different companies do it differently. I think this was Traxxion.

I remember the (very long) Penske clevis breaking thread! Never had any issue with my old one.

 

[dcarver]

It would be really interesting to place the original damaged cap(s) back on and see if the lumpiness returns... Total confirmation if so..

 

[Fred W]

C’mon Carver. Haven’t you learned your lesson yet?

If it ain’t broke, don’t un-fix it!

 

[mcatrophy]

... Noticed some voltage variability with the loping idle but it's REALLY hard to tell with the refresh rate of a DVM.(I'll get some other opinions on that at another time ....

I'll give you my opinion now. There's no issue with the voltage variation, at such low revs the charging system is barely able to keep up to its full voltage, so is very sensitive to engine speed. Put your brake lights on (or indicators, main beam, whatever), you will see the voltage dip a bit. Nothing wrong at all.

 

[Fred W]

Now that you mention it, it was GP Suspension that made my bracket, not Penske.

 

[dcarver]

It would be really interesting to place the original damaged cap(s) back on and see if the lumpiness returns... Total confirmation if so..

C’mon Carver. Haven’t you learned your lesson yet? If it ain’t broke, don’t un-fix it!

I'm freaking fearless. Send me them caps and I'll put them on KrZy8 to see what happens. Then KrZy8 gets new TPS, starter motor, and airbox.

 

[jammess]

Like Fred says ditch the TB sync port retainer springs. That was one of the first things I did when I got my '10 home and went through it the first time.

Ross, Your bike sounds just like mine now at idle. Well, mine is maybe a bit smoother but i do have my CO settings at +20 and my fuel economy still comes in at 44.3 mpg with wife and touring trunk on board. When I had a wideband O2 sensor with LC-2 controler installed I logged an AFR of 12.4:1 at +20 at idle which is maybe a bit rich and not lean enough to fire off the catalytic converter but oh well. The FJR doesn't go closed loop at idle so the ECU doesn't see the O2 sensor until it is in cruising mode at constant throttle which makes the cat happy again. The AFR at a CO of +7 was 13.0:1 so 12.4:1 isn't bad and in range for acceptable AFR at idle in a pre-catalytic converter vehicle. Kind of off subject but thought you might find the info useful. Anyway your bike sounds great now.

 

[RossKean]

Did the TBS and buttoned it back up. Wasn't too far off but definitely some tweaking was done.

The idle variability is still there - certainly more than on my '07 but significantly less than it was. (I'm probably sensitized to every little warble at this point.) I'm going to feed it some fuel system cleaner stuff for a half dozen tanks of fuel. Seafoam and Ringfree (alternating tanks). Then an oil change. Unless it gets worse, I won't be doing anything else for now.

Forgot all about checking the BJM settings...

 

[RossKean]

Didn't get a chance to ride it yesterday other than around the block. Rode it to work today and there is still more variation than I like (more than my imagination).

I will check into the Barbarian Jumper Mod settings and either return them to stock (all zeros as far as I know) or see if enriching the mix will help. Other than the possibility of a fuel injector being off, I'm out of ideas. Those I can swap between the '07 and this bike (if needed) although I would rather not.

If there was a fuel injector issue, would you expect the TBS to be way off? There are no apparent issues with performance, power, fuel economy, stumble with throttle application, difficulty to start or other symptoms I might expect with a bad fuel injector.

What else?

MAP sensor

O2 Sensor

Plugs or wires

These (and FI system) can be difficult to diagnose without an engine code and something functioning marginally might not set any codes.

I am not getting misfires (or not apparent, if I am) so maybe I can rule out ignition/plugs/wires?

Edit: I will check out the range on the TPS. No issues for the TPS on 2011 (AFAIK) but possible that the span is not set correctly.

 

[Gitbox]

My idle variation is slightly worse but I did notice this: While in first gear and holding the front brake, if I let off the clutch just enough to load the engine and not stall it, the idle smooths right out to a steady purr. No load sounds lumpy. Weird, eh?

 

[kiwi]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="Constant Mesh" data-cid="1397791" data-time="1527818310"><p>

"Something I didn't mention - at cold startup it idles normally (at ~1500 RPM IIRC) without the lope."<br />

<br />

This may point you toward the answer.<br />

<br />

The wax motor cold idle system may be introducing small air flow unbalances between the cylinders.<br />

<br />

If one of the sliding valves on the throttle bodies is not closing all the way when normal coolant temperature is attained you would have a bit different air flow through that throttle body.<br />

<br />

One might expect a good TBS to compensate for such an unbalance if it's persistent and unchanging.<br />

<br />

If the unit has been sitting unused a long time the fuel may have left a sticky residue in those sliding valves. Maybe one of them is misbehaving and not closing completely as it should.<br />

<br />

I would expect the problem to be associated with possible differences between cylinders. The oxygen sensor, TPS and many other sensors affect all cylinders equally.<br />

<br />

You probably need to focus on where differences can occur.</p></blockquote>

 

[kiwi]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="Constant Mesh" data-cid="1397791" data-time="1527818310"><p>

"Something I didn't mention - at cold startup it idles normally (at ~1500 RPM IIRC) without the lope."<br />

<br />

This may point you toward the answer.<br />

<br />

The wax motor cold idle system may be introducing small air flow unbalances between the cylinders.<br />

<br />

If one of the sliding valves on the throttle bodies is not closing all the way when normal coolant temperature is attained you would have a bit different air flow through that throttle body.<br />

<br />

One might expect a good TBS to compensate for such an unbalance if it's persistent and unchanging.<br />

<br />

If the unit has been sitting unused a long time the fuel may have left a sticky residue in those sliding valves. Maybe one of them is misbehaving and not closing completely as it should.<br />

<br />

I would expect the problem to be associated with possible differences between cylinders. The oxygen sensor, TPS and many other sensors affect all cylinders equally.<br />

<br />

You probably need to focus on where differences can occur.</p></blockquote>

 

[kiwi]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="Constant Mesh" data-cid="1397791" data-time="1527818310"><p>

"Something I didn't mention - at cold startup it idles normally (at ~1500 RPM IIRC) without the lope."<br />

<br />

This may point you toward the answer.<br />

<br />

The wax motor cold idle system may be introducing small air flow unbalances between the cylinders.<br />

<br />

If one of the sliding valves on the throttle bodies is not closing all the way when normal coolant temperature is attained you would have a bit different air flow through that throttle body.<br />

<br />

One might expect a good TBS to compensate for such an unbalance if it's persistent and unchanging.<br />

<br />

If the unit has been sitting unused a long time the fuel may have left a sticky residue in those sliding valves. Maybe one of them is misbehaving and not closing completely as it should.<br />

<br />

I would expect the problem to be associated with possible differences between cylinders. The oxygen sensor, TPS and many other sensors affect all cylinders equally.<br />

<br />

You probably need to focus on where differences can occur.</p></blockquote>

 

[kiwi]

I agree with constant mesh.

When evaluating the non authorised TBS and comparing the inlet butterfly positions at rest with the fuel rail removed. i conclude that there could be an imbalance set up at idle if tuned for higher rev sync.

All the best.