Looking for advice

[stollydriver]

Have to agree - battery. The electrics pull such a current that any defect in the battery will throw up all sorts of mayhem. Plus it's cheaper than ecu unit. All the best...

 

[RooK]

When you say SYnc the injectors, you mean Sync the throttles right?
DO you know what error codes were pulled off the ECU?>

I'm not too concerned with the battery, if it has enough juice to crank the engine it's ok. I would check the ECU voltage as this happens though.

As for gas filter, I know for a fact it won't make the engine stutter just lack power at WOT so rule that out. BUT I would change it just to see what is floating in the tank, many of us had parts stickers floating around in there from factory.

First stupid checklist:
MOST LIKELY: I assumed he cleaned any debris in the vacuum hoses BUT I would have him double check this as something might be stuck in the lines and would explain it all.
I also assume he checked that there is no mouse nest in the intake/exhaust.
Other thing that is common are the coil connectors, as the bike warms up can have an affect on a bad connection. I would check all 6

 

[rocketjohn]

A 12 year old battery....honestly! I replace mine every three years...sooner if I suspect it's getting less than perfect. And letting it die every winter saps some of it's capacity even if takes a charge....12 times dead is bike that has about 1/12 it's original capacity. Get a new one, and don't cheap out in the winter. Put a battery tender on it.

 

[Somerset]

When you say SYnc the injectors, you mean Sync the throttles right?
DO you know what error codes were pulled off the ECU?>

I'm not too concerned with the battery, if it has enough juice to crank the engine it's ok. I would check the ECU voltage as this happens though.

As for gas filter, I know for a fact it won't make the engine stutter just lack power at WOT so rule that out. BUT I would change it just to see what is floating in the tank, many of us had parts stickers floating around in there from factory.

First stupid checklist:
MOST LIKELY: I assumed he cleaned any debris in the vacuum hoses BUT I would have him double check this as something might be stuck in the lines and would explain it all.
I also assume he checked that there is no mouse nest in the intake/exhaust.
Other thing that is common are the coil connectors, as the bike warms up can have an affect on a bad connection. I would check all 6

Thanks, you are right, I should have said throttles. He was not getting an error code until this past Monday when I called him. He is now chasing down an indicated short. I will keep your list for when I next talk to him.

 

[sonny]

A 2005 with 5,000 miles? The cylinders are rusted. I am sitting here really trying to behave myself. For the life of me really a 2005 with 5,000 miles?

 

[Tal]

I'm thinking the mice might have chewed other bits also...lift the tank and have a snoop around...

 

[Somerset]

Here is the update and thank you to everyone who helped. On the advice of some of the members here I called the tech and while we talked over what he had tried without success I passed on that the battery should be checked. He responded that it should be OK if it can spin the starter. I pressed him about it and while we're on the phone he said " I'll hook up a tester while we talk and show you it is ok". So I listened to him tinkering while we talked and he then said " ok it's set up, and it says....replace battery". So I left it at that and called him in a week. Shazam!! He was now getting an error message that indicated a bad wire providing power to the sensors which he replaced and the bike was now her old self.

Remember the tech could not get the throttles to stay sincronized. Apparently the low or no power to the sensors was causing the ECU to loose its mind and make changes based on bad data being sent to it.

So the battery is absolutely critical to get a proper diagnosis. Those of you who suggested this were spot on.

On a side note, I asked his advice on storing the bike for winter. We are in Wisconsin. I plan to store it in an unheated shed to avoid warming and cooling as happens in my attached garage. This will also avoid the mice that are drawn to a warm garage. I have stored a zero turn mower with a 750 Kawasaki engine in it over five years and have had no issues. The tech recommended disconnecting the negative lead on the battery while the bike is stored. The shed has a treated wood garage type floor in.

Once again thank you and hope my experience helps someone else.

 

[barbagris]

Take the battery out completely and take it inside - keep it on a trickle charger.

 

[Jag]

Stuff steel wool in the exhaust to keep the mice out and put bags of mothballs everywhere you can.

 

[cootertwo]

A few years ago, I had rats make nests in some of my balsa wood RC plane kits I have in my barn. Also had many spiders, etc. I bought one of these, and it has been plugged in ever since, and it works! No more rats, and the spiders moved out! After a couple years, the little speaker broke, so I wired in a small CB radio speaker I had laying around. I do usually turn it off, if I'm going to be out there for awhile, as it can be irritating up close, but can't hear it outside the barn.