need help, wont run right

[tben]

I have a 2002 r1150r. I was driving around about 6 weeks ago when the fuel quick disconnect sprung a leak. Luckily, I was about 2 miles from my parents house and pushed her there. I ordered the replacement parts from chicago bmw, and they finally sent them this week.

 

Anyway, today, I replaced the quick disconnects, still would not fire. After hours of trying I figured it must have something to do w/ the fuel pump. I took off the tank and discovered that the hose came off the fuel filter. So after getting all this back together, she fired almost immediately. But, she was running real bad, almost as if missing. AFter a few minutes of running, I noticed that the cat was glowing orange/red on the rear half. I immediately shut it down.

 

After letting it cool down, I took off the cat, but nothing was loose and could not see any blockage. I put it all back together and tried again, this time it is dark outside. I can feel alot (maybe more than normal) flow coming out of the cat. ( i removed can about a year ago and do not have a turndown). After 1 or 3 minutes i notice that the cat is not red yet but the left header is starting to glow. I checked the right side and it is fine. I shut it down again.

 

This whole time the bike is running as if it is missing.

Is it possible that water could have entered the cat and ruined it? Could it be something else? If it is just the cat, why only one side glowing? Can it be hollowed out cause a new one is $1000.

 

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Travis

[Ken H.]

You can't run these bikes long stationary without some air moving around them. Ignore the hot CAT issue for the moment.

 

When you were messing with the quick disconnects on the right side be sure you didn't accidentially disturbe the seating of the right side throttle cable right behind them. DAMHIK!

[KMG_365]

Hi Travis!

 

Welcome to the DB and sorry that you had to find us in such an unpleasant state of "ride".

 

Hmmmmmm . . . well with regard to your problems: I think Ken might be on to something there WRT the end of one throttle cable not fully seated.

 

Otherwise, I'll let those more experienced than I verify this, but I'm not sure how much back pressure the cat alone gives. AFAIR, there is a certain amount required to protect the valves, and too little back pressure (without other proper compensation) can damage them. If your R exhaust is like my RT, the two headers merge before entering the cat and if the left header is glowing I would suspect something is out of whack (hopefully not already damaged) on one side. Remember, these are air (and oil) cooled but need some airflow to prevent things from cooking. If one side is hotter I would certainly look at the valve clearances. If the cat is glowing red hot, perhaps too much unburned fuel is entering the cat.

 

Do you do all your own maintenance? If you've replaced the fuel filter and QD's already, it's obvious you're not too shy about getting your hands dirty. I thought your "LA" location was Los Angeles at first, and was going to tell you about our coming Tech Daze in Arnold, CA, . . . .

 

You might want to consider Limecreeks "Hotter-N-Hell" Tech Daze in Texas for a great indoctrination on the idiosyncracies of the boxer motor. Good luck and post back with what you find out about your issue!

[Jim Moore]

$10 says it's the right side throttle cable. Make sure it is seated in its hosing near the throttle body.

[tben]

Well, I checked the throttle cable, all is working and where it should be.

 

Also the headers do not merge before going into cat, they each have their own inlet into the cat.

 

Travis

[KMG_365]

Well, I checked the throttle cable, all is working and where it should be.

 

Also the headers do not merge before going into cat, they each have their own inlet into the cat.

 

Travis

Hmmmm, well it looks like you're not getting away easy!

 

The first thing I would do would be to do a proper service. This will check/read/replace the spark plugs, check/adjust the valve clearances, check the Throttle Body synch. The cables will all be re-adjusted during the synch, and if you find the cables are not an issue I would start chasing down a vacuum leak (there should be a recent thread or two going into how to find it).

 

During the synch you will know if you've found it. If you can't get it to synch, pull and check the spray pattern from the injectors (if it's lousy, see next section on Techron), double-check the spark quality (bad wire/s?), check your compression to see if you've got more serious problems. If your fuel filter hose had come off in the tank, but the bike still ran (albeit poorly) you might've sucked up some crud bypassing the filter and clogged/gummed up an injector (see next section).

 

Also, on a bike the age of yours little things can start to cause problems. If the previous hunting expeditions are not fruitful, I would check:

 

--the LBBS's: pull and clean them and the hole they screw into with carb/TB cleaner while idling (one at a time, and with a fan blowing over the heads and oil cooler from the front) to loosen and suck the crud into the engine where it can be burned up. I had to replace mine on my 2003 as the o-rings had cooked, dried and begun to leak (but it had 100,000 miles on it through some hot dry country).

 

--after you've tuned it up, if it's running well enough to ride it, I'd add a bottle of Techron to a tank and flog the bike hard for a few hundred miles (Italian Tune-Up) and run the tank as far down as you're comfortable. Then top it up with normal good gas and change the (now ruined) oil. You might need to re-do the valve adjustment/TB synch at this time if you burned off enough gunk on the valves/seats to change the clearance/synch. This will clean out the injectors and also loosen/burn off the accumulated carbon from the combustion chamber.

 

You'll have to ride to Florida to collect your $10.00 from Jim, but it'll be worth it to get to meet a great guy who can walk you through any or all of the above!

 

Let us know what you find out.

[tben]

Well,

 

Ken and Jim were correct. I guess i did not check that throttle cable good enough the first time as it was unseated. Put it back in place and all is great now.

 

thanks guys for the help

 

Travis

[Jim Moore]

Atta boy! I was worried about my $10 for a minute there.

[KMG_365]

Atta boy! I was worried about my $10 for a minute there.

 

 

Isn't this place great??!!

[Ken H.]

Atta boy! I was worried about my $10 for a minute there.

Do I get $5 of the $10 you didn't have to pay?