So how do you get yours to start, what is your procedure?
How many attempts of cranking do you have to use when it's that cold?
Are you holding the throttle open during the cranking?
How long do you crank?
Your methods may help all of us out.
Is the ATV stored inside the garage during the night prior to attempt to start? If so then ATV is only as cold as the garage.

You make the statement that it always starts, well that may be true today with a new battery but what happens next winter?
Bottom line is my carberated ATV starts on first crank each time I try no matter what the temps, in fact I'm using it to plow this morning in 8 degrees.

I don't mind waiting a little while for Yamaha to come out with a update, but to be honest, I don't think Yamaha is even looking at issue. Why would they, if dealers are not hounding corperate then this may never get addressed. I will continue to pester dealer for a fix.
Here is what I was told by my dealer and a Kawasaki dealer in town, both said Kaw and Yamaha under the factory warrenty will not pay for diagnositic time, they only pay for replacement of a defective componets. This appears to be the normal stance. So dealer will not test out sensors etc. That really makes me mad [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/img]

I worked for GM as a mechanic for 8 years and GM would pay for diagnostic time, only a 1/2 hour but still they did pay, and yes for the most part the mechanics only get paid if they replace something. It all stinks.

 

For those of you with this cold start issue. I've been reading the repair manual from Yamaha.
This is from page 6-8 in the manual. Better you buy the manual and read it for yourself but here it is for the adventurous in us.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]
Perform the following for yourself, since dealers apparantly don't get paid for running diags![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/img]

1. Turn off key and set run switch(kill sw) off.
2. Disconnect wire harness from fuel pump
3. While holding select and reset turn key on, hold for 8 secs, you should see "diAG" on LCD
4. Press both select and reset again for 2 seconds, a diag code will appear
5. Press reset 1 sec to decrease diag number shown, press select 1 sec to increase diag number shown.
6. When you reach "D01" stop
7. You will need to test the following on each diag, Sensor operation
8. D01 (throttle postion sensor) - throttle fully closed (meter shows 15-20); throttle fully open (meter shows 95-100), if this fails then throttle sensor needs adjusted or replaced.
9. D03 (atmospheric pressure and intake pressure) - displays value, set run sw to run and crank engine over, value should change, if not the sensor isn't working correctly. Turn run switch back off
10. D05 (intake temp sensor) - displays current air temp in air box, compare with thermometer, should be same
11. D06 (collant temp sensor) - displays current coolent temp, compare to coolant temp with thermometer, should be same
12. D09 (fuel system voltage) set run switch to run, should indicate approximately 12.0 volts, compare to battery voltage should be the same.
13. D60 (EEProm fault code display, 00=no history, 01=history exsists
Actuator tests
14. D30 (ignition coil) fires spark 5 times, also engine trouble light will flash 5 times
15. D36 (injector) fires the injector 5 times, listen for sound
16. D50 (fuel pump relay) activates relay 5 times, listen for sound
17. D51 (fan relay) turns on fan in the following pattern 2 secs on, 3 secs off, repeats 5 times, eng fault light will also flash.

Now I've not tried these tests yet so use at your own risk. I will try later today when I get my ATV back and update on what I find. I'm really interested in what the intake temp and coolent temp sensors read when I've left it outside over night in 0 degrees! Oh I'll wait until it's 30 or so before attempting this.
Keep in mind I'm not complaining about my ability to start unit at 5 degrees, it's the next day at 30 degrees that is giving me fits and that is always after a night where the temps are down in the single digits and atv is out side.

 

Just got off the phone with dealer.
They are now also having troubles getting unit to start, it's about 5 degrees with over night temps much lower.
They are talking with Yamaha rep and he will call around other dealers north of us hopeing for a clue on what to do. They want to keep atv until a repair is found, no problem. They didn't find anything out of spec during inspection, valve lash, spark plug, timing, idle speed, diags (they said they ran this and nothing showed wrong).
Yes this ATV has a barometer or altimeter.
Following that line of thought, I've seen issues where my old dealer re-jetted for high altitude and made atv run worse. I don't believe you need to adjust for high altitude unless you are above 10K-12K all the time.

My sales guy says he has three outlanders (CAN-AM) a 500cc, a 650cc and a 800cc, all EFI units, of the 3 units only the 800cc is cold blooded and hard to start, guess what is differant about the 800.....it's got a altimeter.

 

I don't have any special starting techniques and yes i know the rappy engine is basically the same so it's not a new engine as per say. I have been phoning all my customers to ask if they have experienced cold starting problems, and asked if they were kept outside or inside. either way they have started, now heres my question. The Grizzly 700's back this summer were delayed because at the last second the didn't meet emissions in the US, so rumour had it the leaned out the 700's a bit to meet emissions, we in Canada do not have as strict emissions issues as the US, hence the reason we have the Banshee. Is there any way that the reason we're not having many problems in Canada and the US customers are having problems is because the EFI is set differently, even though it's colder here normally??? just a thought, what do you guys think, doesn't make much sense to me, but's its all i can think of.

PS - this afternoon it's -31 Farenheit outside right now and has been similar to that, the last 2-3 days, my mechanic and i have had a brand new 700 with 2 miles on it outside, and a 700 demo with 480 miles on it outside the last 2 days, guess what, both started after maybe 4-7 seconds. Not trying to be a jerk, but we haven't had any problems and we've got lots of grizzlys out there in like i said -30 F conditions.

 

Very interesting hypothesis Yami450D. It would be interesting to compare the settable parameters with one of your units from the great white north (unless there's more to it than that). However it sounds like ColoradoBubba finally has that fire going under the dealer's feet so maybe our mountain men will have their machines running properly again soon...

 

Yami450D,
I'm betting that Yamaha did do evironmental testing initially, but when they were forced with the hasty fix for the EPA (that was delaying the Grizzly 700 release), that they did not do the environmental testing over again after changing the program, and before releasing the ATVs to their dealers.

Their is absolutely nothing wrong with this ATV, except for the inability to start it reliably in cold weather. The engine is tried and true, suspension is ok, handling is fantastic, center of gravity is as good as any utility ATV. It's a great ATV, once it is started. Mine won't stay outside in the cold anymore though.

I wonder if the aftermarket will bring a computer reflash to market giving us americans the same program you canadians get? That would be an easy fix.

 

See that's what I was wondering desert viper. They got caught up with that emissions silliness and didn't run the new settings through a new testing series. That would have pushed back the release date for who knows how long and cost lord knows how much both in testing and in the actual delays. We never did hear what sorts of changes they made but you can bet it was to various EFI settings.

Yeah if users could somehow get their hands on the computer settings the Canadian models use and just reprogram that may very well solve the problem if the Canadian units aren't having the cold start problems. That is if all the various parameters are user accessible.

In the end Yamaha is dropping the ball in several ways. They're not acknowledging the problem and addressing it quickly enough. They're not communicating with their customers about the problem and keeping them up to date about the progress about a fix. Very importantly as others have said they're not covering diagnostic costs at dealerships which is a serious problem they need to address.

Companies need to realize that customers can be won or lost when things like this happen. Even if there is a major problem with a product if you handle it right you can make them an even more loyal customer. You handle it wrong and a little minor recall or defect can lose you a customer for life. These ATV manufacturers just can't seem to realize that. I don't know if it's the people in the PR department, the accountants, the engineering or warranty claims division or who but they aren't getting it done.

 

Well I called the service dept. at the dealership last night and asked if they had anything new to report about the "Cold starting issue" with my Grizz. They told me that they are still waiting to hear back about how to go about fixing the problem, but as soon as they do they'll let me know. Now,let me say this, this is by far the best atv I've owned to date. I'm sure that this problem will be worked out, and if this turns out to be the only problem that I encounter with it, I'll count my blessings. I can tell you some nightmare stories about some other brands I've owned. Would I recommend this atv to anybody? Yes, but I would ask about the starting issue before I was to by one. Just my 2-cents worth. Dog

 

bullseye316
Weekend Warrior
Taos, New Mexico

Posts: 5
Joined: Jan 2007


Thu February 01, 2007 10:28 PM



I am still having problems with the grizzly 700. First the dealership told me that it was running too rich. So they leaned it out to about -6 but that didn't work. Then they said it has breaken in enough yet even though it had 25 hours and 125 miles on it. To me that is already breaken in. But tried it and put more miles and hours on it. It now has 350 miles and 58 hours and the dam thing still wont even start when it is 30 degrees outside. So i did look up on the lemon law, and you know what happened they laughed and said that the lemon law doesn't work on atvs because some bs excuse saying that my family doesnt depend on the bike or something. i think this is bs and a rip off. All of us buyers are here paying on a 9000 dollar bike and you can't even start it in the cold even when they are advertising instaneously cold starts. I think we all need to get a hold yamaha and either have them fix or give us a refund

 

What about he Lemon law in your state. Check the info I put in the old thread. Today I got time to check my settings. Temp was still only 10'F this morning but It started in 4 Seconds. My Idel at start up was 1700 on my pod and FI was set to "0". I did not run it long so it did not warm up. But I did ride it into the garage and even at that temp and no warm up it did ok. Put some Legal pressure on your dealer. Write and call Yamaha and let them know to read this info on line. It is true I like the Yamaha product but I think most of the units out there are just as good. If it is not paid for ask your bank for help. The dealer will not want outside people or Yamaha coming down on them.
If all else fails get an Attorney. For this much money I would want one that runs. Get a copy of each work order each time you take it in to the dealer. Back in my Army days I burned a dealer on a CJ7 Jeep. I had the paper work and when I went after them they fixed the problem and gave me more warranty time. Good luck. Even though I don't have a problem as yet I feel for ya.