The Yamaha Road Star Warrior Forum

 200mile ride the other day. Last 50 miles bike started acting like it was running out of gas. Tank was full. Started working on the problem two days ago. first thing, added octane to fuel incase of bad gas and no change. Ran on-dash diognostics and no codes were found. Checked all connections if ands and buts with no results. ran down the street and noticed that it has to do with throttle position (I know what you all are thinking right now. Just bare with me). Rough throttle position is at about 2,500RPM and prob 10% throttle which is my 31tooth cruz speed. I dont drive that fast (not all the time).

 Started thinking TPS. Ohms were 5.1 "Good" variable was good as well. Noticed that my PC3 was at 4 on throttle position. reset it and bike went down to 700RPM and then died. Restart was not easy. had to adjust the idle screw way to high to get it running and once it was lit the bike ran at like 1,300RPM at idle. I messed around for so long that I did every possible PC3, TPS, Idle adjustment that we all are so familiar with. Damn was I getting upset. Put all my tools away and covered the bike in the garage (always garaged).

  Next night got more serious. Check the TPS as per the manual. I even checked it off the throttle body. check all my PC3 connections and wires. "Before I go on I should say that all the recalls have been done". tried to start the bike and have to use alot of throttle blips to keep it running. Damn thing wont run at a 1,000RPM and the idle screw is making life miserable because it is unreliable. Noticed bike was getting hot fast.

So now I go in with all the tools. Used meter "fluke" and checked the following: TPS, CPS coupler, Atom PSI all three, Lean angle (just for kicks),  spark plug boots, coils on both sides, decompression (just for kicks), looked at plugs and they are fine, battery has 12+V, air filters not dirty enough to worry about, I disconnected all the plugs and put them together again, found nothing wrong.

 At this point I am really wondering what in the world is going on. I started the bike every time after I "mess" with something and no improvement. I started thinking about fuel injectors. Hard to take the connection apart and I did not want to snap anything so I had an Idea (Yea, rednecks famous last words). I took the air filters off and opend the butterflies up and saw that the intake looked clean. I started cranking the starter and noticed that the #1 injector was squirting but the #2 was not so i pumped in some more gas and then bam, a big ass fireball came shooting out of the #1 (back) throttle body and almost got my face (I know, I know ,just keep reading please). So I did it again but without much fuel and I noticed that there is every now and then a fire in the left throttle body but not the right. What I mean is a flash like fuel is getting burnt before it goes into the cyclinder. I started thinking intake valves need adjusted but, THERE IS NO EXCESSIVE TICKING. I run the bike for about 20 seconds at a time and notice that its getting harder to keep running.

 I thought adjusting the throttle bodies would help but that was a mistake. I turned the wrong damn screw and had to guess and put it back into position (now I'm angry).

 Long story short the bike will not run at all now unless I really pump the throttle and when I do get it running I have to hold the throttle at almost half way open and man is the bike just chugging hard and trying its best to stay online. 

  What do you guys think about fuel delivery? and injectors?

  I checked everything accept the CPS wires inside the cover but it put out the right ohms at the connection, the TPS is good, What do you guys think?

 How is the bike not running now at all?

  Please excuse all misspelled words and run on sentences. Its been a long, long, day.

BAK, springs, cams, port and polish, HC pistons, Propipe, 31tooth, 240, PC3 with advanced map on both cylinders by way of welded in O2 bung for dyno testing, 3deg valve job, balanced crank.

T.U.

Justin 

 I have experianced those symptoms in the auto racing world that have ended up being retarded cam timing.

I can definately get behind a timing issue.....there is a spark happening when the intake valve is open. Or, a broken valve?  I bet a compression check shows your really running on one cylinder.

I also second a timing issue because you said the engine gets hot really fast. This can happen if your timing is off, or if you're running very lean.

JPEastbayWarrior:

Noticed bike was getting hot fast.

I'm going through almost identical problems at the moment. Bike is in the garage getting a new TPS fitted in the next couple of days.

My thoughts were either TPS, CPS or a valve sticking. Very frustrating.    

Watch this thread Justin.

http://rswarrior.com/forums/t/143128.aspx

Gav.

+1 on the timing issue. Ive had backfire through the carb on my Cobra due to a slipped timing chain. Realigned the cam and issue was resolved.

This problem seems different to me than the problem Gav is experiencing.  Reading your timeline, very respectfully, messing with it made it worse and worse - I hate it when that happens! 

Adding octane booster to bad gas doesn't add any explosive material, it only adds material that delays combustion.  You need to dump the main tank, and empty the underseat tank to the extent you can, and add fresh fuel.  You also need to check that fuel is flowing since its possible te vent line is plugged creating vacuum inside the tank.

But FIRST you need to reset the PC3 to the '4' value you said you changed, but you didn't say you reinstated.  You also need to re-set all the other bits you messed with.  Put it back where it was because honestly this sounds like bad gas to me. 

The CPS and TPS can have intermittent wire conditions but if you investigated them, they must be fine.  To visually investigate the CPS wire connection you'd need to pull the cover.  But I bet its fine.

UPDATE.... UPDATE....

 So I was thinking more about my problems this morning after a fair nights rest. I looked at my CD manual again and it occured to me that I might have checked the LEAN ANGLE SENSOR but, I might have done it wrong. I was right, due to my anger last night all my attention units were not in present time and I tested it wrong. The Voltage is supposed to be less than 1V when the bike is upright or there abouts. After 65degs or so the sensor should be at 4Volts which will kill the bike.

  Mine is at 4.1V right now with the bike on the kickstand. I used my meter and poked holes in the wire to get to the copper and yep, 4.0Volts.

 Now, this does make me wonder why I was able to run the bike on and off in the garage for a minute at a time or so but, at the same time It did start running like crap and then now it does not run at all. Maybe thats why the injector closer to the fuel pump was spitting a litte and the other nothing at all. I have just completely gone retarded over this but hey, going back to the drawing board worked this time. Naturally the fuel pump provides pressure because I can here it. I know that in theory the injectors should not open at all but really when you think about it, yea, the bike is very technical and sophisticated but sometimes a little electrical signal here and there will slip by. We have all seen it before. RIGHT?

 I called a few dealers in the SanFrancisco (eastbay) area and no one has the lean angle sensor on hand. I found some good deals online but that will take a week or so.

 Do any of you know if unpluging it will work or is there a way to "jump" the wires?

 THIS MAY NOT BE THE END THOUGH. I will update. I request everyones feedback still.

 Arizona Warrior I am still going to change the gasoline out tonight because the bike did start running weird right after I filled it up last.

So this is what happened tonight.

 I rechecked the lean angle sensor three times and yep, 4V. I took the sensor off the bike and took it apart. Everything looked good (no corrosion or broken peices) so I put it back together. I checked it on the dash while it was plugged in and the Voltage was 0.6. Wow, thats good news. I tilted it from side to side and once I got it past 70degrees the V would read 4.0. I did this a few times so I thought to myself it was good. I put it back on the bracket and installed it on the bike frame where it goes. I checked it on the dash again and it was at 0.6V.

  I drained the gas tanks and added fresh 91 octane fuel (best you can do at a California Chevron).

  I pulled the spark plugs and cleaned them with fresh fuel and checked the gap. I then plugged them into the boots and disconnected the TPS and fuel injector wire. As I grounded each plug to the engine case i cranked over the engine and had good spark on all the plugs. I also noticed that the intake valves were moving all together (doesn't mean that all the valves are good I know).

 So now I'm thinking: The spark is good, the fuel is good, the fuel pump is good, the injectors are good (I checked), I have fresh gas, all the sensors are OK after being checked with the meter, no codes are being thrown (I had to clear a few from all the plugging and unplugging). What else could it be?

 The bike is charging right now (battery low from all the cranking) so after dinner Im going to see what I get.

 If it doesn't run I'm going to have to dive in further and check the CPS, timming and valves.

 Keep the fingers crossed guys and give me your feedback. I need both right now.

 Justin

OK, so I went and fired the bike up and it ran. I did something right because it went from running like crap, to not running, to running again. Only thing now is that once it starts getting between warm and hot it starts to drop off line. I have to sit there and keep bliping the throttle to keep it running. I can adjust the throttle screw and it will run at about 1,300 RPM without killing itself. As I adjust it closer to 1,000 RPM it starts to die and the hotter it gets the faster it starts happening. This is all happening without my PC3 connected. I figure get the idle issue right and then bring in the PC3.

 Its got to be the TPS. There is just something about 1,000 RPM that the bike does not like. But the TPS checked out good on the meter more times than I can count.

 LCV? I hope not because that damn thing is expensive. Who runs the bike with no LCV? How is it done? If I can run with no operational LCV then that might explain what is going on.

 Let it rip guys. What do you think?

 Went out to the garage and ran the bike with no LCV and it was terrible so I plugged it back in. Just for kicks I disconnected the TPS and ran it and to my suprise it was able to idle at 1,000 without falling off line.

 I'll be. Need to sleep on this one. TPS?????????

wow - what a saga - any more luck?

Bike has only 8,500 miles on it. Injectors seem OK they really squirt well now. I just have a cappy idle now. I will "block off" the LCV tonight and see if that helps.

 Rough, rough, rough is all its doing at idle. I will check the CPS, and timming, and start on the valves tonight as well. If its good than Im ordering a TPS.

 Gotta go to work. See you guys about nine hours from now.