yamafitter
Reigning NERDS Granite Lane Gold Medalist
I did some fairly major maintenance to my 06 AE over the winter months and had the rear of the bike completely apart overhauling the rear suspension. I also did a flush of the clutch hydraulics on the AE using my Mityvac. Last Thursday we finally got some decent temperatures and there had been some rain to wash some of the sand & salt off the roads so I thought I would take the FJR out for a ride.
That is when the problems started. The bike wouldn't shift at all. Finally after a while using the foot shifter which I almost never use I was able to get 1st gear. A ride around the block confirmed something was seriously wrong. I couldn't shift into 2nd and I couldn't get back into neutral either.
After exercising the paddle shifter up on the bars and the foot shifter I could finally get it working but it was very intermittent.
When working the foot shifter I get shift error code #22 which according to the manual is a signal that the voltage signal from the foot shifter switch is wrong (below .9V or above 4.1V). Last year I lost part of the selector button for the shift mode selection and I sprayed some contact cleaner and the paddle shifter is now working quite a bit better.
I had the foot shifter off the bike when I pulled the swingarm to clean and lube the bearings and it looks like I messed the switch up putting it back together. I'm going to pull the connector and put my Fluke meter on it and see what kind of readings I get from the switch contacts and go from there. I don't want to have to replace the switch because Yamaha wants over $300 for it.
Since the FJR was hurting I went back to getting my WR450F ready for the first enduro of the season up here. I pulled the drain plugs to change the oil after Moab and managed to strip one of the drain plugs. Fortunately it was the one that is easier to get at and I was able to just drill and tap up to the next size. Had it been the other drain plug it would have required me to pull the motor out of the frame to fix it properly. I thought I had dodged a bullet but after doing the oil change I warmed the bike up and then checked the oil level and had foam bubbling out of the dip stick hole when I pulled the dip stick. Draining the oil confirmed my worst fears that there was antifreeze in the oil.
Right now I am theorizing that the water pump seal has failed since the oil drained from the crankcase is pretty clean but the oil drained from the tranny side shows signs of antifreeze contamination. I have to pull the water pump & sidecover to confirm my theory but this is the most likely cause. Obviously the bike is going nowhere until I get to the root cause of the problem so there will be no dirt biking until at least next weekend by the time I order parts. I know my dealer will not have the water pump shaft, bearing & seals in stock.
Did I mention that while I was working on the WR yesterday it started snowing again and we were supposed to go a ride an enduro today. According to a good friend of mine (even though he rides a KTM) that lives close to the Ganaraska Forest there was enough snow that it stayed on the ground and was not melting away. This past week really sucked.
That is when the problems started. The bike wouldn't shift at all. Finally after a while using the foot shifter which I almost never use I was able to get 1st gear. A ride around the block confirmed something was seriously wrong. I couldn't shift into 2nd and I couldn't get back into neutral either.
After exercising the paddle shifter up on the bars and the foot shifter I could finally get it working but it was very intermittent.
When working the foot shifter I get shift error code #22 which according to the manual is a signal that the voltage signal from the foot shifter switch is wrong (below .9V or above 4.1V). Last year I lost part of the selector button for the shift mode selection and I sprayed some contact cleaner and the paddle shifter is now working quite a bit better.
I had the foot shifter off the bike when I pulled the swingarm to clean and lube the bearings and it looks like I messed the switch up putting it back together. I'm going to pull the connector and put my Fluke meter on it and see what kind of readings I get from the switch contacts and go from there. I don't want to have to replace the switch because Yamaha wants over $300 for it.
Since the FJR was hurting I went back to getting my WR450F ready for the first enduro of the season up here. I pulled the drain plugs to change the oil after Moab and managed to strip one of the drain plugs. Fortunately it was the one that is easier to get at and I was able to just drill and tap up to the next size. Had it been the other drain plug it would have required me to pull the motor out of the frame to fix it properly. I thought I had dodged a bullet but after doing the oil change I warmed the bike up and then checked the oil level and had foam bubbling out of the dip stick hole when I pulled the dip stick. Draining the oil confirmed my worst fears that there was antifreeze in the oil.
Right now I am theorizing that the water pump seal has failed since the oil drained from the crankcase is pretty clean but the oil drained from the tranny side shows signs of antifreeze contamination. I have to pull the water pump & sidecover to confirm my theory but this is the most likely cause. Obviously the bike is going nowhere until I get to the root cause of the problem so there will be no dirt biking until at least next weekend by the time I order parts. I know my dealer will not have the water pump shaft, bearing & seals in stock.
Did I mention that while I was working on the WR yesterday it started snowing again and we were supposed to go a ride an enduro today. According to a good friend of mine (even though he rides a KTM) that lives close to the Ganaraska Forest there was enough snow that it stayed on the ground and was not melting away. This past week really sucked.
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