Another stalling question of a different sort

[KevinR]

So here's the deal; my '06 RSV seems to enjoy leaving me on the side of the road once or twice a year, seemingly without a warning of more than a few seconds. There's been no consistency as to when it happens. I'd had it gone through shortly after purchase last year as it wasn't running well. A new ignition coil along with cleaning the carbs seemed to turn everything around. A month later I was leaving work, almost cold engine, and before even leaving the lot it sputtered and died. Only way I could get anything out of it was to use full choke and it would seem like it wanted to run but would die within 30 seconds or so. After about 10 minutes of trying, it started cleanly and ran great. A month later I was in traffic on a somewhat warm day and it started sputtering at a light and stalled when I tried to take off. The tank had about 4 gallons in it at the time but wouldn't restart no matter what I did. Had it flatbedded to my local Yamaha dealer and darn if it didn't start immediately They had no idea what had happened, especially since they had so recently serviced it. 14,000 miles and zero problems later it did it to me again 2 weeks ago! This time it was about 80 degrees and I had just come off an expressway running at 60 mph and it died seconds after waiting at the exit light. Again, it started after many tries with choke on full as if it was getting very little gas and the choke was "keeping a balance" on the A/F ratio, and has run great the almost 1000 miles since. I've run Seafoam through it, checked the plugs and they look great. Any ideas?

I never have old gas in the tank as I ride so much. Even in winter the tank is kept full with ethanol formula stabilizer in it.

[Condor]

Low float bowl levels and possible vapor lock come to mind....

[OB-1]

I would guess that the problem is a faulty fuel pump. The fuel pumps often seem to fail intermittently.

 

There's s number of threads detailing replacing the stock pump with an aftermarket electric pump. I did mine last year.

[Marcarl]

I would replace the fuel filter, they can at times plug up, but then let gas through like no tomorrow, when all of a sudden it's blocked again.

[Brake Pad]

I just want to stick this in there. and even throw I was told, its not the gas, I think it is. I used regular gas for the 1st 12,000 miles, the pump went ( cut out twice ) finally died. I had it replaced, I now only use mid grade gas. we have 55,000+ on it now.

[Flyinfool]

Another possibility is the vent on the fuel tank can get plugged by insets crawling up in there and the vacuum in the tank will stop gas flow for a bit. I never heard of it being intermittent but one never knows.

[gibvel]

Another possibility is the vent on the fuel tank can get plugged by insets crawling up in there and the vacuum in the tank will stop gas flow for a bit. I never heard of it being intermittent but one never knows.

 

Next time it does it open the fuel tank and see if you hear the sound of a vacuum. If so Flyinfool would be right. If this is the case it should start right up again after releasing the vacuum.

[Cougar]

YES to the above (2) post. .that DID happened to me. my vent was

rusted shut/closed. I had all the symptoms you had as well. opened

the cap and drove the rest of the way home. cleared the vent

and has been good the last 5 years.

Keep us informed on what you find.

Jeff

[V7Goose]

All of the possible causes are already listed in this thread, so I am just adding my opinion on probability.

 

It is NOT the gas. Purchase of any gas above regular grade for this bike is simply a total waste of money unless it somehow just makes you feel better (or there is something wrong with your engine that causes it to knock or detonate on regular grade). It cannot ever affect a problem like you report.

 

Fuel tank vacuum maybe, and very easy to test when it happens.

 

Clogged fuel filter unlikely, or it would not be so intermittent. But you should change it anyway.

 

Clogged pickup screen on the petcock in the tank - unlikely, but good possibility IF you have lots of sediment or rust in there - it will only cover the screen when lots of gas is being pulled through, and then when pump is off and any sloshing happens, much of it will be washed off. I suggest you drain the tank, pull the petcock and rinse everything out well. Not hard to do and good maintenance under the circumstances. If you do find contaminates in there, make sure you change the fuel filter AFTER you get done cleaning the tank.

 

Bad/failing fuel pump - most likely cause. Detailed diagnosis of this problem has been covered in lots of older threads. Since it is intermittent, you probably can get it running again by tapping on the fuel pump with a tool, or even a rock, when it is acting up - at least until the pump completely fails. I suggest you read up on the way to bypass the pump and run on gravity feed - this will always get you back on the road until you can replace the pump.

 

Goose

[KevinR]

I tried the gas cap removal the first 2 times this happened so I know that's not it. After the 1st time this happened the tank was cleaned to make sure there was no sediment so I'm leaning toward either the filter or pump although I always hear the pump clicking when I start it after an overnight. After it's been sitting a long time it's very obvious but of course it's not heard if only shut off for a few minutes, as in stalling, so that could be it. Thanks for all the suggestions! I keep learning a lot about this bike from searching the forums.

 

Update; finally got around to changing the filter today, in spite of some opinions, it IS a royal P.I.T.A. just to get that middle cover out, what with all the lines, wiring, and overflow tank in there. On the way to pick up a Mr. Gasket pump, just in case.......

Edited July 6, 2012 by KevinR
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