FJRF011: Fast Starter Syndrome

[mcatrophy]

Glad I found this thread.  Thanks for collecting the info and labeling it, making it easy to find, etc. 

'05, 75k miles.

I did a long trip earlier this summer without any incident.  After getting home, I commuted a few times on it.  Then it sat for a couple weeks, I started it once briefly, shut off cold, then let it sit for a couple more weeks.  Tried to start yesterday, got one woof then the fast starter.  I will try the fuel pump trick, then a bit of oil or sea foam in the cylinders if that doesn't work.

FYI I had the same thing on my Gen 1 FZ1.  Little different situation - 1100 mile, 1-day ride in cold weather, then shut down and left to sit for 2 weeks.  On startup, fast starter and very low compression.  Some sea foam in the cylinders for a couple days loosened up the rings and it started and ran fine after that with no further issues.  To my knowledge only a couple of other FZ1s ever had this happen, so it was not nearly as common as it appears to be here. 

Just try starting with wide open throttle. What has happened is the bike is flooded. I am sure the starter sounds "fast" because you are used to the engine starting before it reaches this speed.

WOT, churn it for several seconds, wait a few seconds and repeat. Expect it to catch and start just about running very roughly for a few seconds, then settle to its normal burble.

 

[grommet]

Will try WOT first, with my Antigravity battery hooked up as a backup. Thanks.

 

[grommet]

It worked. Thanks for the additional info. It took about 6 long pulls on the starter. 

Now all back to normal. 

Battery access is a PITA. I added an auxiliary cable to the positive side for quick access. 

 

[Fred W]

Perhaps I have lived a charmed life?

Or maybe it was my change of circumstances that precipitated my experiencing this?  But I had never previously in over 150k miles and nearly 20 years of 2 different FJRs ownership experienced this problem.

Until now...

I’ve been slovenly with my bike maintenance, rode the bike late into the season last year and barely got it “put away” in the equipment shed out back before the white scourge of winter set in after a quick oil change.
 

After things calmed down I went into that shed to try to start the beast fir a full warm up and it was a no-go.  Put it on the Optima charger and deferred to later.

We have some warm weather this week, the ice dam is almost melted off the north side of the roof, and I can trudge up to the shed without snow shoes, so I renewed my efforts at starting “big red”.  It took several cycles of WOT attempts and battery recharges, but eventually she fired up with gusto.  
 

I’m sure looking forward to the end of mud season when I can get her out to the paved road for a nice ride.

 

[BigOgre]

She was just pissed you brought her up north.  Bring her back to the southern climes and all will be good again.

 

[OldGuyNewBike]

My 2016 just started doing this. It will start and die, start and die each time the check engine light comes on. I just tried opening the throttle a little and it came to life. It's doing it warm and cold.

 

[RossKean]

My 2016 just started doing this. It will start and die, start and die each time the check engine light comes on. I just tried opening the throttle a little and it came to life. It's doing it warm and cold.

Did it resolve itself after the open throttle start? If not, I think you may have a different issue...

 

[OldGuyNewBike]

It started if that is what you mean.

 

[RossKean]

It started if that is what you mean.

Typically, it would start only with great difficulty and wide open throttle, run really rough for a few seconds and then go to normal operation. In my experience, this does not happen repeatedly - in fact doesn't happen again unless the engine is started and shut off before fully warmed up. (I have had this happen maybe three times in 11 years and 350,000 FJR miles.)

I can't offer anything more without some detail of what's going on. My experience is with Gen II so can't help with diagnostic codes etc. Make sure that your gas is good and that the battery is fully charged and terminals are clean and tight.

 

[OldGuyNewBike]

OK. I may have to post a video of what it is doing. It just started the other day...

 

[Bounce]

TPS checks okay?

 

[OldGuyNewBike]

I've never checked it. This bike only has about 8,500 miles on it and it just started doing this Tuesday. I'll start a new thread so i don't clutter up this one.

 

[Rmbarcus]

Why do I get the impression that this can all be traced back to garage warm-ups and short-hops?

And possibly E10 fuel