Engine looses knees as FI light comes on.

[chuckster]

I'll start with what I ride. It's a 2005 Nomad, 1600cc and I bought it new. It has just over 28,000 miles on it now.

After riding at about 70 MPH (77 speedometer) on the freeway for bit, I loose power and my FI light comes on. Along with that, the engine seems to loose it's knees. No power to speak of. I can play with the throttle a little bit and get it to limp on what seems like one cylinder. There are other times when I feel it misfire momentarily, but doesn’t completely drop what seems like over half it’s power.

The last time this happened the light came on and the engine lost power was about one week ago. Ironically it was about the same scenario as today, slowing down from about 70, getting ready to hit a freeway exit ramp. After the bike sat for a while the last time, as I had breakfast, it started and got me home with only some occasional misfiring.

The problem seemed to go away after putting in some Sea Foam. But that must not have been a fix because the problem repeated on me again today. I was 40 miles from home. I stayed off the freeway and took a state road.

While on that stretch of road for about 2 miles, it started again. It lasted for about 7 miles. It done it to me about 5 or six times in that 7-mile stretch. I came to a stop most of those times, and restarted the engine. It usually went less then a mile and failed again. After the last time, it came up and ran fine for the last 30 miles to get home.

DOES THE COMPUTER STORE ERROR CODES??
DOES ANYONE SHARE A SIMILAR FAILURE??

The Chuckster (chuck_61554@yahoo.com)

[01nomad]

Chucksters bike is a 2005 1600 and I can't answer his ECU question. My 2001 doesn't store codes but I think an '05 might. Anyone know?

[radco]

GREAT question,, AND WELCOME to the GROUP.....NOT sure if it save codes like a car ,but would assume so,,I have a 04 1500 FI,,, WHAT I would check is the battery terminals,for being loose or dirty.. CHECK Plug wires, and if you have a Power Commander check the ground and other wires,,, Thats all I can think of for now,,Ive heard that check list mentioned several times on here,
Rich
WHERE you from?????

[ringadingh]

Welcome to the forum chuckster, we have another chuckster here that had similer problems recently. Maybe you picked up a tankful of bad fuel, chawnyboys bike acted like that earlier this summer, and thats what it was.Id try adding a bottle of gas line antifreeze to eliminate that possibility. And if youve never cleaned the throttle body with carb cleaner, your long overdue. Give that a shot also and youll probably have it running well again.

[skyhookman]

The computer is supposed to store 52 different codes, you can do a self-dignostic check to see if any of the specific code are stored.

[phenrichs]

I have to agree with Ring. Start by cleaning the throttle body and intake. Check your filter. If it persists then it has to be something more serious, of course. Does it only do it at highway speed? If so does it make a difference if the bike is warmed up or not? Two things to find out, if it only does it on the highway and it doesn't matter if the bike is hot or cold I would have to think it was either an injector or the fuel controller. If it only does it when the bike is warmed up try to wrap on the throttle sitting still and see if it seems bogged down. It may be an oxygen sensor. I know on cars when an oxygen sensor goes bad you first start to notice it only when the vehicle is warmed up.
Make sure you check for codes. I don't know for sure about the injectors but any sensor failure should store a code for identification.

Hope that helps.

[macmac]

The one thing that is certain is there is no O2 sencor... Just not there...

The bike does store codes. To do so is somewhat involved, but you turn the bike off and ground the all yellow lead under the main seat then turn the bike on a fiddle with the rubber pads that rest miles, set the clock and the like to see a flashing code.

I can't explain how to see the code better than that. I do have the book, like many others and if you can figure out the code flash am willing to relate what the book says.

All the other info above is valid IMO... Loose wires and crud can cause a lot of symtoms.

Just looking at the battery isn't good enough. It is far better to pull the cables and clean things then put them back, even if they appear clean to you.

[redeye]

Nico had similar problems with his bike in Mesquite this past June. Sort of like his bike had vapor lock. His problem was the vent in the gas tank filler cap being clogged & not allowing the tank to vent as fuel is drawn down. The next time your bike starts to act up, open the gas cap & see if there is a strong vacuum inside the gas tank. There is a small hole inside the filler that vents the tank thru the cap. Try cleaning both out with some carb cleaner. Hope this helps...................-Rich

[phenrichs]

Originally Posted by macmac

The one thing that is certain is there is no O2 sencor... Just not there...

Thanks macmac! Good to know.

[ice793]

Bad injector? try to run some seafoam in it.

[chuckster]

Thanks everyone. I have now about 4 different things to try. LOL But I think the trend is to electronic. So far, other then the intermitent misfiring, it has only become a real problem after freeway riding. But as strange as it seems, not until I slow down to take an off ramp. Weird huh? I'm going to see if I can get the dealer to check the computer for me, to find the error code.

Radco; you ask where I'm from. I'm from Central Illinois. I live in Pekin.

MacMac; you think I can do it and read the code right on the bike, I'll have to check on that.

[dhelfritz]

I had the exact same problem on my 06 Nomad. I took it to the Kawasaki shop and they never solved the problem. Finally I took it to an independent shop. They put it on a dyno and eventually made it happen while on the machine. The problem was electrical according to the dyno. They unplugged and re-plugged every connector on the bike. They could not make it happen after the re-plugging everything. I have never had a problem since. The problem was a loose connector, but nobody knows which one. They took of the left side case--there are a lot of connectors there. I was lucky, the bike fixed and no cost as they didnt know what they did to fix it.

[voyager]

Intermittent electrical problems are a pain, I know. Always remember the rule of doing the easiest and the obvious things first. Once you feel you have eliminated those, then move on to the not so obvious. My guess is you have a failing sensor problem, more than likely your crank sensor. Your stored code may tell you this, otherwise your dealer will have to read it for you. This sensor, when it goes, gives you the most radical symptoms, unlike some others that just cause eratic idle, hot running, or a no run condition. Let us know what you find

Chuckster, an electrical fault that happens when on a rough road or just when slowing down often indicates a wire shorting on the frame or engine.

Just for laughs, look at the wiring harness where it runs over the rear top of the rear valve cover. Sometimes the wires droop there and rub through causing all sorts of strange problems. You have to move some rubber hoses around to see the wires there, but it's worth checking.

[macmac]

What Cadd says will likey effect the idiot light, while a bad cap vent probably won't unless it starves the system for enough fuel the pump cavitates.

If you had the factory book, which is sort of costly, for sure you could read the code. That may or not help. But my guess is it would atleast guide you to the part(s) that are effected.

A bad connection can cause a fault the codes read, and the part can still be fine.

Still it is worth the gas cap check, which if the vent is clogged will suck air like a new can of coffee. If your bike buzzes or whistles hot, after a ride parked in the sun, it isn't the cap vent though.

It might be wise, but a royal pain to pull the ecu wire connector, to look at both sides of the plug and ecu, just to put it back on.

Getting the battery out is the hardest part. This also insures the battery is cleaned up and the bolts are snug. A bad ground will cause all sorts of wild crap to happen.

On top of the battery is a connector with just black/yellow in one connectors which is the ECU ground wire.

There are two more connectors, and all of these are a Royal pain to get apart. Each one is clipped to itself and also to the bracket. Once i wrote a How To for this but it is gone lost on a bad hard drive.. So it is really gone, and I will need to figure it all out a 3rd time.

Once you get the bracket off which I call the crucifix because it looks like one and I personally would just love to stake the engineer to it with real Roman Spikes, the next problem most manly men would have is getting any sort of decent grip on the battery.

I used a length of nylon back pack webbing and a fastex buckel, and made a dog collar which is on the battery 100% of anytime in my life time, and always will be unless it rots off.

The first time it works ok to add nylon plastic ties, which you use once and cut off. I am way to cheap to do that more than once.

I would BUY the book, before I would pay any 19 year old pimple faced tech a dime, but that's just me. The book costs less than 1 hour of his time, but not much less.

It explains better than I can typo, and I typo pretty good with the hunt and peck method, so getting me to type it all isn't the wizest idea. it just might read real English and my ny hand i8t would become pretty good Engrish. I am a x foreign car tech and so never tapped a keyboard untill the year 2000. The bottom side of a mercedes benze couldn't have cared a less if my spelling was accurate and or if I used good grammar either. Not that you said anything.

I re-read what I said and can't tell myself all of what I ment.

If you end up needing it i will try to translate the How to of pressing the buttons and the grounding method for the yellow wire.

Then you need to do the code, and decide what is a long light from a short light and figure out the code from there, because you are the only one who can see it.