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Oscillating Idle


twistyguy

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twistyguy

Hi Guys.

I've had a recurring problem with my 2011 R1200R. After riding in the warm weather for a while (usually the day after being caught in the rain), when I stop for a light, the bike occasionally will have a rough, oscillating idle and stall unless I rev the motor. Here's a video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BrnA0J35f8M Note in the video that after I revved the engine and restarted the bike, the idle eventually went back to normal (although it occurred 10 minutes later). Sometimes I have to let the bike cool down for a while before the bike will cleanly restart. There have been times I've had to keep the rpms up for hours just to get home.

So far my mechanic has inspected the gas tank for sludge (it was clean), changed the fuel filter, removed the charcoal canister, changed the plugs and wires, checked all the connections to the fuel injectors, and yet the problem persists.

Have any of you had this problem? Any ideas how to fix it?

I'd appreciate any input.

Peter

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dirtrider
Hi Guys.

I've had a recurring problem with my 2011 R1200R. After riding in the warm weather for a while (usually the day after being caught in the rain), when I stop for a light, the bike occasionally will have a rough, oscillating idle and stall unless I rev the motor. Here's a video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BrnA0J35f8M Note in the video that after I revved the engine and restarted the bike, the idle eventually went back to normal (although it occurred 10 minutes later). Sometimes I have to let the bike cool down for a while before the bike will cleanly restart. There have been times I've had to keep the rpms up for hours just to get home.

So far my mechanic has inspected the gas tank for sludge (it was clean), changed the fuel filter, removed the charcoal canister, changed the plugs and wires, checked all the connections to the fuel injectors, and yet the problem persists.

Have any of you had this problem? Any ideas how to fix it?

I'd appreciate any input.

 

Afternoon Peter

 

Difficult to tell much from the video other than it stalls & you are able to revv it a lot.

 

The usual causes of similar idle issue is a bad lower stick coil, or a problematic o2 sensor, or

an idle stepper that gets lost.

 

I see the low fuel light was on, does your problem only happen with a low fuel tank?

 

Next time it stalls & keeps stalling try turning the key completely off, then turn the key on & allow it go through a full boot up (about 15 seconds or so), the try re-starting the engine. If it then idles OK suspect a possible lost idle stepper.

 

You might need to get a GS-911 on that bike to find your stalling issue.

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twistyguy

Hey Dirtrider,

Thanks for the reply. The low fuel light is due to a failed fuel strip. It has failed and been replaced 8 times now! There was plenty of gas.

There are no fault codes left after these incidents--you can see there are no check engine warning lights.

Often the bike will start up normally after a complete shut down and restart. But sometimes it just needs some time to cool down to get back to normal.

Peter

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dirtrider
Hey Dirtrider,

Thanks for the reply. The low fuel light is due to a failed fuel strip. It has failed and been replaced 8 times now! There was plenty of gas.

There are no fault codes left after these incidents--you can see there are no check engine warning lights.

Often the bike will start up normally after a complete shut down and restart. But sometimes it just needs some time to cool down to get back to normal.

 

Afternoon Peter

 

There will be no check engine lights with any of those failures. You need a GS-911 or dealer computer to check for stored failure codes.

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Hi DR,

I have had the bike checked by the gs911 in the past. Nothing has shown up after these episodes.

P

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Hi DR,

I have had the bike checked by the gs911 in the past. Nothing has shown up after these episodes.

P

 

Morning twistyguy

 

You would think that a problematic o2 sensor would show a trapped failure code but neither a bad lower stick coil, or a lost idle stepper will show a current or show a stored failure code.

 

A faulty lower stick coil can sometimes be found by running the engine on just the lower spark plugs but that only works if the engine is acting up a that time.

 

Finding an idle stepper that is getting lost is very difficult as there is no feed back to the fueling computer & no stored failure codes associated with that problem. Either a good educated guess, or substituting a known good stepper on one side then if the problem is still there swap the known good stepper into the other side.

 

One thing that can point to a lost stepper problem is to turn the key off then back on & allow the system to re-boot (about 15 seconds or so) then re-start the engine & see if the idle problem is gone (this re-sets the steppers). If this makes the stalling go away for a while then a good possibility that an idle stepper was lost.

 

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Wow, thanks DR! Excellent reasoning. I'll bring it up with my mechanic. I'll keep you informed.

P

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You mention that your mechanic changed out your fuel filter.

 

Please tell me where the fuel filter is located on your 2011.

 

I've been looking to change out mine but can't find it.

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You mention that your mechanic changed out your fuel filter.

 

Please tell me where the fuel filter is located on your 2011.

 

I've been looking to change out mine but can't find it.

 

Morning Lester

 

The OP has a 1200R & you seem to have a 1200RT-- The R bike has a replaceable fuel filter the RT doesn't.

 

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I have had a similar issue on my 2005 RT on and off ever since I've owned it. About a month ago the left idle controller failed so I replaced it with a new one. The similar issue has disappeared completely. My conclusion? I've been riding around with a flaky left idle controller for 12 years. But wait, there's more. My bike is now smoother throughout the entire rev range under all loads. Amazing how the idle controllers can affect the overall running. I can't say if this is the cause of your issue and it's won't be easy to figure out without having another working idle controller you can try. Good luck.

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