ELECTRICAL ISSUES
(NOTE: Some are on other pages - just click on the links):
Misfires and Rough Running
Replacement Spark Plug Caps
How do you set the clock?
What’s that ticking noise from under the tank when I turn my ignition on?
TPS (Throttle Position Sensor)
My Tacho Needle's Doing Strange Things
HEADLIGHTS
SPEEDO
BATTERIES
Misfires and Rough Running (AKA 'Engines that Run Poorly in Winter')
(Submitted to the FOC-U Messageboard by Rubbermat)
A summary of advice from various members last year.
Damp:
Damp will only affect already faulty electrics. A bike is meant to run in rainstorm conditions and
will do so if maintained correctly.
Often a damp fault on the electrics will have no effect at tick-over but cause a misfire as the engine
is revved up higher than, say, 4,000 revs.
Often the misfire feels as if the bike is about to stall but if you give it a bit more throttle the engine
suddenly catches and you hare off at high speed (thus giving a forward/backward seesaw effect).
Sometimes you will not be able to reach higher revs after, say, 7,000 revs.
Often faulty, damp electrics will work OK at no or low load on the engine but once subjected to a
load it will start to misfire (i.e. bike will run if you are very gentle with the throttle but will misfire if you
accelerate hard).
Carb icing problems will go completely once the engine is thoroughly warmed up (after say 15 minutes)
but damp electrics problems will not. A damp problem is often worse after washing, during rain or foggy
conditions.
Possible Cures:
A common problem is the rubber flap fitted in front of the spark plugs. It is designed to keep crap
off the plugs and leads but if it is pushed back (often whilst being washed) onto the caps and leads
it will cause tracking and steal some, or all, of the spark from the plug. Make sure it is clear of everything.
Rev the bike up in the dark and look carefully for any blue sparks and listen for any clicks that are
made by stray sparks. This will indicate "electrical tracking" and the solution will depend on where it is
tracking. Often WD40 sprayed over the engine after washing will prevent this problem. You may be able
to see the source of the tracking and take appropriate action, which is preferable to continued use of
WD40.
Another possible is the plug caps. Water can get in them and corrode the connection. Re-terminating
them can help. Dry inside and spray with WD40.
The caps themselves are very often faulty and need replacing ... a faulty cap can test as good using
a low voltage multi-meter and the only true test is replacement (but don't buy Yamaha plug caps at £33
each - a NSK cap @£3 is just as good!!!!). Caps can actually work but be providing only a weak spark to
the spark plug - again replacement is called for.
***For replacement plug caps, see here***
Finally, the HT lead may have been damaged or the coil may be faulty and of course a wrongly set spark
plug will cause this problem.
Carb Icing:
NOTE: Coolant is corrosive and poisonous… do not drink or spill on paintwork?
* This will only happen on cold days while the carburettor is cold. Once the bike is warm it will disappear
(unless the temp is well, well below freezing, but I guess you're not on your bike in those conditions!).
* Typically you will be starting the bike in relatively warm conditions (garage, close to house, in still air
etc) and the carb will be warm enough to start. But when you begin to ride the bike the wind chill effect
will cool the carb down and the venturi cooling effect of the petrol flowing through the jets will give a very,
very cold jet and the fuel will freeze and effectively narrow the jets
* At low revs not enough fuel passes to the engine and it splutters and coughs and dies. If you can tease
the revs up higher (say above 5,000 revs) then often enough fuel flows to get the engine running something
like normal.
* If you are suffering carb icing and stop the bike then you will not be cooling the jets any more and the
warmth that a short run has put into engine around the cylinders will slowly spread to the carb and warm
the jets. This can take up to 10 minutes. You will now be able to re-start the bike and ride it normally
with the engine keeping the carbs warm.
* After riding the poorly bike for say 20 minutes the warmth from the engine will have spread to the carbs
and the jets will no longer be freezing and so the bike will run normally.
*** To prevent carb icing, the Fazer is fitted with a thin pipe that taps warm water off the radiator and puts
it through each carb close to the jets, thus warming them and stopping any freezing.
*** When the pipes are clear the Fazer does not suffer carb icing problems, but very often the thin pipes
will block and fail to warm the jets. The only cure is to clear the blockage.
*** Fuel additives will not cure carb icing on the Fazer.
Cure
- the only cure is to unblock the pipes.
- locate the small black flexible pipes that link the radiator and the carbs together. The water has
only a short in/out path through each carb and you will normally find that the blockage is not in the
flexible pipes but is in the solid “elbow” of the carb itself.
- often it is only one elbow joint that is block so blow through each one to find the blockage.
- it is possible sometimes to clear the blockage with the carbs on the bike, but you may need to
remove them to get better access.
- spray WD40 into the blockage to lubricate it.
- then you can use a foot-pump to generate compressed air and blow the blockage out. Use the
foot-pump’s airbed adaptor connected to the flexible carb pipe and pump the pump! You may be lucky!!
- if compressed air fails to clear the blockage then a good way to dislodge whatever is there is to
poke it with a thin steel wire. Use one strand of a Belden Cable inner (i.e. one strand of an old clutch
cable or a brake/gear cable from a push bike… you can buy a push bike cable for a few coppers if
you need to). Alternate poking with the wire and using compressed air along with more WD40.
- if needed then kettle descaler or even coke can be used as a mild corrosive to help dislodge a
blockage.
Also TODO
- the blockage will have come from either metal/rust flakes that have come off the water circuit or
maybe even the gel that forms when anti-freeze gets old
- to prevent problems re-occurring (or even occurring in the first place) it is sensible to flush the
coolant system with copious amounts of clean water and then re-fill with fresh anti-freeze.
Rubbermat et al…. notably Alan Sherman, Gnasher and Slidesvill. October 2004
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Electrics : Replacement Spark Plug Caps
Here's a warning. Genuine Yamaha plug caps are expensive.
How expensive? Over 30 quid. Each.
That's 120 quid plus for a set of four.
But you need new plugs? Then read Slidey's words on the subject:
I used a 77mm straight drop type which works a treat, part number for the NGK
PLUG CAP for the FZS600 (old style FAZER, not the R6 engine) is SD05F
You can get these from HEIN GERICKE (ring first), most bike shops should stock
them, and available mail order from M&P, expect BUSTERS and MPS will also stock
them.
cost £2-99 each (£12 for 4)
For that price it's daft not to replace them for piece of mind
slidey
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Electrics : How do I set the clock?
Setting the Clock
People are always asking, and as I sit here it's less than two weeks till
the clocks go back so, thanks to a a post by petet which I've adapted,
here's how to set the clock.
Note 1: 'Select' and 'Reset' are the two buttons between the clocks.
Note 2: If the bike is one of the earlier models that have integrated clock,
odo and trip on the speedo (more recent ones have a separate clock lcd in
the tacho), then you'll need to get the clock displayed. To do this:
Turn on ignition - Display shows ODO;
Turn off lights (Saves battery);
Press 'Select' - shows Trip 1;
Press 'Select' - Shows Trip 2;
Press 'Select' - Shows clock.
Setting the Clock
Press and hold down 'Select', and then press and hold down 'Reset'. After about 3
seconds, the hours display on the clock will flash;
Repeatedly press 'Reset' to set the hour;
Press 'Select' - hour display will stop flashing; minutes will flash instead;
Repeatedly press (or press and hold down) 'Reset' to set the minutes display.
Press 'Select' again - the minutes will stop flashing and the display reverts
to standard clock
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My Tacho Needle's Doing Strange Things
There's a self-diagnostic mode on the Fazer which can tell if there's a fault on the
TPS or the speedo sensor (why these two, and not something useful? Search me).
When either of these develops a fault, the tacho will tell you by cycling between
the following values:
0 rpm
X rpm
Engine Speed rpm (0 if not running)
dwelling for about a second (as I remember) on each value.
"What's 'X rpm'?", you're asking.
Well that depends on the fault. If it's the TPS that's faulty, then it'll be 3000 rpm.
If it's the speedo sensor, then it'll be 4000 rpm
For more on this, see Haynes manual pages 9.12, item 16.3 (speedo) or 5.6, item 7.2 (tacho).
Or page 8-62 of the Yam service manual pdf if you've got it.
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