2008 500 EFI, 925 miles, 62.5 hours

Will be riding along and motor will just stall, check engine light will flash and sometimes a loud back fire. If I let off the throttle it will idle, sometimes it will die. If it idles and I rev it up, sometimes it will stay at fast idle 2500-3000 RPM until I use the key and shut it down. I can rev it up more but it won't go below 2500 RPM. I can restart and sometimes it will be fine and sometimes it will die as soon as I give it gas. It feels like I'm running out of fuel when it does die but the tank is full. I was thinking fuel pump/filter but the high idle has got me confused. I looked at codes and there were none saved.

Last time out it ran fine with no problems. This trip, problems started after a few hours riding and got worse as time went on. The only thing I did between trips was change the trans and diff fluid.

Any ideas to look for when I get home?

Thanks

Carl

 

Most of the problems like yours at the shop on efi machines we encountered were shorts in the map sensor harness or tps harness wiring.Usually wouldn't throw any codes and the problems were intermittent,backfiring,erratic idle,etc. Along with these two items,we've found shorts in crank sensor wiring also. Read the "sticky" about sensor harness problems at the top of this section and see if it helps. Plus welcome to the forum! OPT

 

OPT - Thanks for the info. I read the sticky and will chase down wiring now that I'm home and see what I can find.

Carl

 

Try moving the wire harnesses as its running also,they can break internally without showing external damage. If engine idle changes or runs different you may have found the right harness that needs repair. OPT

 

Went out and started it today and it still ran like crap. At least the problem diddn't go away. With it running I moved, yanked, twisted, pulled, pushed every harness I could find. Even disconnected the sensors and plugged them back in. No change. I pulled all the plugs on the bike I could find, blew them out and put diaelectric gease in them. Ran codes and had a bunch from playing around. Disconnected the battery to clear the codes ( which they didn't clear ) and what do I find? The positive lead going to the solenoid broke free. There was more then a 1/8 inch gap between the lug and the bottom of the stud. I couldn't turn the nut by hand. It's like the terminal lug was tightened against the screw thread and never bottomed out on the stud. I've had the battery out before and never noticed the one going to the solenoid being like that.

So I tightened the battery wire and started it up, with my fingers crossed. Revved it up and it wasn't cutting out. Ran down the road and around the block a few times at full speed and it ran great.

Going to go for a longer ride tomorrow or Friday and see how it goes. Won't get to far away from the trailer, just in case!

During testing I ran it in diagnostic mode to check voltage, it idled about 13.6-13.8 volts. Sometime it would drop down to 10. something when I revved it. But then the bike would die, so was the bike dying causing the low battery or low battery causing the bike to die? Chicken or the egg? At the time, out in the middle of no where, it happened so quick it was hard to tell. Time will tell


Carl

 

Check the reg/rectifier connections, if ok I would have the battery load tested after you charge it fully,could be a bad cell. If battery checks out,then possibly the reg/rectifier faulty? OPT

 

Went for a 60+ mile ride this weekend and have no issues. Looks like the loose wire on the solenoid was my problem.

Thanks for your help/info.

Carl

 

That's why I hated electrical problems as most techs did and the owners too!! Just one wire can cause nightmares! Glad you found the problem,especially since NO $$ was involved OPT