Popping and misfiring

[jtucker]

disregard this post!

[Janusz]

Just to make sure you guys do not loose hope (seems everybody has this problem) I would like to report that my bike runs perfectly (17,000 km since new) and never stumbled, hiccuped or missed a beat.

 

So it is possible

[dlaing]

Maybe we just all need to move to British Columbia! Cool humid air. Better gas???

What is your setup Janusz? Valve clearance, PCIII, mufflers, etc.? Did your mechanic say he enriched it or anything?

My bike has been pretty problem free. Without the power commander, I would be getting popping and hiccups at low rpms and throttle positions. Aside from the PCIII and fairing, my bike is all stock. ~17000miles

[Janusz]

The dealer i bought my bike from is a very good one - I think the best and most knowledgeable mechanic I ever saw (in Chilliwack, not Vancouver by the way), but my general rule is not to trust or depend on anybody anyway. I servce, modify and repair all my vehicles myself. The very first service (1,000 km) was done by the dealer though since he did it for free and I was present all the way. Anyways he set up everything to factory specs on the Guzzi software except valves .15/.20 (.006/.008 for metrically challenged) and the bike run perfectly since day one.

 

I switched to all synthetic Mobil 1 15/50 and this new wonder Redline stuff in tranny and Redline also but regular synthetic gear oil in rear end. It run even smoother. Next K&N panel filter did nothing noticeable but Stucchi x-over did a miracle of getting rid of this 4000RPM valley completely. But I seemed to have lost a closed throttle 3,000 RPM and below smoothness. Power Commander III came in and with a stock map seemed to run even smoother generally and +2 clicks (4%?) at lo and +1 at mid made it run excellent so I left good enough alone.

 

That is all what I remember more or less. All the rest is stock. I am amazed with a constant engine improvement with mileage even now at 17,000 km. It even seems to be louder and better sound - is that possible or just a wishful thinking?

[dlaing]

I suspect mine is getting louder too. Is there fiberglass in the stock muffler core burning away???? vibration seems to be less and less, too.

I had been running .15/.20mm for a while. Just tried .10/.15mm not sure if I like it as much. I had to bump up the idle, there is a more pronouned hole just above 4000rpm, but it seems to have more power over 5000 rpm. I will try it for a while and see if gas mileage improves or worsens. The first tank was a strong 34 MPG for mostly short cold runs. I was expecting 32 to 33 mpg. But one tank is not enough to judge by.

[Guest IanJ]

Just a quick update on my problem. Moto International took the bike for a week and did the following:

 

* replaced ECU with original unit (it had been swapped out)

* replaced TP sensors with new parts

* rebalanced and tuned the engine

 

The problem seems to have largely gone away, although my bike was stuttering a bit this morning, with the fuel light just barely glowing, and it did the hot idle stumble last night. But, no more k'PUH! events, which is very nice.

[Guest Squashed Nose]

This problem is obviously nowt to do with a high ambient temperature because it happens in the UK as well. Occasionally it will 'cough' and carry on as normal. Once though, I was doing about 10mph circumnavigating a mini-roundabout when it 'coughed' and just fell over. Luckily, I had the presence of mind to stick my right foot out in order to prevent expensive contact with terra firma.

 

I've neer considered it to be a problem, however. There are far more irritating and serious flaws with which to concern myself.

[Guest Brent]

This problem is obviously nowt to do with a high ambient temperature because it happens in the UK as well. Occasionally it will 'cough' and carry on as normal. Once though, I was doing about 10mph circumnavigating a mini-roundabout when it 'coughed' and just fell over. Luckily, I had the presence of mind to stick my right foot out in order to prevent expensive contact with terra firma.

 

I've neer considered it to be a problem, however. There are far more irritating and serious flaws with which to concern myself.

I second that, because if it were due to higher temps I'd certainly have the problem here in Florida. When I first got the bike, it did stall and stutter and cough until my dealer made some adjustments. Since then, it's been running great. (Knocking on wood, and hoping that all is still well after my 1000 mile service coming up soon.)

[Guest IanJ]

Having ridden for another week since my last post, it's coughed a few times, but no more than 3 or 4, as compared to 5 coughs per ride before. I guess I'm just going to live with it, since it hasn't been bad, nor dangerous enough to get me worried.

 

The problem I'm having is definitely not related to high temperatures (although it only coughs at idle when the engine is quite warm, but that's nothing to do with ambient temp) -- it got worse as the ambient got colder (heading towards 40 F/4 C). I guess now that it seems to be under much greater control, I'm not going to worry about it too much. Hopefully this is one of those problems that goes away with time.

[Orson]

City traffic...that's my theory...Guzzis HATE city traffic (nod nod nod) I suspect Guzzis prefer open stretches of pavement...kinda like those pave the earth newsgroup guys who favor paving the earth into a perfect asphalt sphere then, circumnavigating the globe in high horsepowered vehicles.

[RichMaund]

Adding the PCIII to my V11S has eliminated all the occassional coughs at idle. I even lowered my idle speed from 1200 (Where it would occassionally cough but not stall.) to 1100 rpm. It used to be, at 1100 rpm idle, it would idle OK at traffic lights for a minute then cough and die. Now it ticks over at 1100 rpm like it's happy doing it all day. It's a great bike in traffic with it's light handling and smooth throttle response.

Having the Dealer do a good service to it and tweak it in with factory software eliminated almost 90% of the driveability problems. And I was happy with that. But plugging in the PCII has made it rock solid 100%. That was the best thing about it.

Now I dream of Stuuchi cross-overs and a trip to FBF for "link" tuning. Ahhh! The possibilities with these bikes!

[jtucker]

FIM has an interesting take on this problem. They seem to believe that most of the popping and/or stalling problems are due to slop in the timing system. This sort of backs up my own theory too. Personally, I think this could account for the pinging problem on the occasional V11 as well. They mainly refer to the 1.6M ECU, but what they say may be applicable to the 1.5M as well, I think. Remember... these bikes aren't assembled by robots, but rather by human beings - and each bike is an individual!

 

I have a set of straight-cut timing gears on the way... we'll see if they help at all!

 

The FIM info can be read here:

 

http://www.fuelinmoto.com.au/fimfaq.html#q8

[Guest IanJ]

That FIM article is a very interesting read -- sounds like it almost exactly describes the problem I'm having. I had already narrowed the problem down to happening when the engine is warm (after 15-20 minutes of riding) and:

 

* when cruising between an indicated 4000 and 4300 RPM, particularly with the engine just off acceleration

* sometimes at idle, usually (but not always) when spooling down immediately from high RPM

* sometimes on acceleration, but only immediately after increasing RPM

 

The only situation in which I've ever gotten my engine to stumble repeatedly was cruising at a set RPM, at that point where the engine isn't exerting any noticable acceleration or deceleration. In particular, I've noticed that the hard stumble is preceded by an increasing sense of the engine subtly bucking and surging, which sounds like it might be the play on that sensor ring becoming more pronounced.

 

Of course, none of this explains why it wasn't a problem until about 1000-1200 miles had accumulated... <_<

[callison]

I know of some individuals that have issues with the FIM statements. Probably not a lot of the riders on this forum have the opportunity to ride V11 Sports and the earlier Sport 1100i's, but I do, and I can state that the FI on the V11 is several magnitudes better than the one on the Sport 1100i. The Sport 1100i is best characterized as evil. So bad in fact, that at least on gent has opted to ditch the Marelli computer in its entirety and build his own. http://www.jefferies-au.org/ECU/progress.html

 

If the Power Commander I have on order for my Sport 1100i can't help, at least I have somewhere else to turn. The interesting thing is, this guys computer will eventually be compatible with the V11 Sport, the major thing being the MAS sensor in the computer instead of in the airbox like the Sport 1100i.

 

Even more information (from FIM) is available at http://www.sigmaperformance.com/weber.html

[Guest Cliff Jefferies]

Still waiting on the PC, Carl. Have you sorted out the fast idle yet? You want to do that before bolting the PC on.

 

Thats the old site the new site is

My16M

 

With respect to the 15M, I did get a sample pressure sensor from Motorola and the PCB is designed to accept it. I just haven't got around to confirming it works. I'd also have to rename the controller from My16M