HELP!!! electrical problem i think

[nicogc]

ok, last weekend i used my RXV550 2008 and everything was good. left it to get washed and serviced. today the guy that does the work tells me that when he tries to make it run it dies suddenly. i thought it might be a spark plug so i went down there to take a look. the bike will run when it is over 2600 rpm but if you leave the throttle it just dies. if i start it without touching the throttle (when hot) it might run for a 5 to 10 seconds and then it dies. when running it sounds right, steady, no misfire. but most of the time after dying the fuel pump keeps working, doesn't stop. after a few seconds a sound "tick, tick, tick" comes out from the air filter box. like a relay working because of a short circuit. if i try to start it again the starter motor won't work. i have to turn the ignition switch off and on. then it will start again.
i have connected the Axone and there are no error codes.
any suggestions on where to look?
fuel pump has a relay? where?

thanks

[cal550b]

ok, last weekend i used my RXV550 2008 and everything was good. left it to get washed and serviced. today the guy that does the work tells me that when he tries to make it run it dies suddenly. i thought it might be a spark plug so i went down there to take a look. the bike will run when it is over 2600 rpm but if you leave the throttle it just dies. if i start it without touching the throttle (when hot) it might run for a 5 to 10 seconds and then it dies. when running it sounds right, steady, no misfire. but most of the time after dying the fuel pump keeps working, doesn't stop. after a few seconds a sound "tick, tick, tick" comes out from the air filter box. like a relay working because of a short circuit. if i try to start it again the starter motor won't work. i have to turn the ignition switch off and on. then it will start again.
i have connected the Axone and there are no error codes.
any suggestions on where to look?
fuel pump has a relay? where?

thanks

you may have a small hole or split in the fuel pipe to fuel pump inside the fuel tank.this would cause irregular running of pump and the problem you describe.

[PhilG]

kinked fuel line

[nicogc]

thanks cal and phil,
so i have to go into the tank to check the fuel line. take out the whole pump assembly. correct?

[conman]

first please check to make sure the fuel line isnt kinked/caught between the frame rail and the tank. almost everyone has had that problem at least once I believe. it happened to me after I raised the tank to replace the stock air cleaner with a new foam Twinair filter. when I pulled back on the tank initially it pulled the fuel line up from below and when letting it back down the fuel line didnt slide smoothly back into its original position, causing the kink. if the tank has been raised this is most likely your problem. always check the most simple first.........

[nicogc]

fuel line outside the tank is OK. it is free. i guess i have to go inside the tank then.

[tbeyer]

All I can say is that if it was running fine BEFORE the wash and service then you should find out EXACTLY what service was done and as was said before, work from simple back to complex in terms of problem solving. I did notice after my first wash that the bike started hard. I am now cautious of the electrical areas when washing the bike and make sure to get it back up and running quick to heat it up and dry it out. Again, if it was running fine before wash and tune, it should be running fine now so I would think it is water or service related. I know I am probably just stating the obvious and don't have any real suggestion but as conman said, always check the most simple first.

[MOTARDED]

hopefully no water went down rhe airbox/induction side of things when being washed

[nicogc]

i don't think it is water because when it runs it sounds OK, but then it suddenly dies.

i just took out the pump assy and everything looks OK. no hole or split on the pipes. unless they would only show up with preassure. also the gas inside would not come out the pipes when i turned the assy around and pushed/pulled on the pipes.

why would the pump keep working and not stop? and also what could the ticking sound comming from the air filter box be?

any ideas?

thanks

[Allen Noland]

It sounds like you either have a loose connection somewhere or water in a connection or the fuse box. The fuel pump should only run for a few seconds when you turn the key on. The ticking is probably the ECR relay (supplies power to fuel pump) on the frame above the airbox.

[nicogc]

thanks Allen, everything is dry. the pump runs for a few seconds when i first push the ignition switch(on). after i hit the starter and the bike runs fine for some time(seconds) and suddenly dies. that is when the pump keeps working and won't stop until i push the ignition switch(off). and all that time i can hear the ECR relay working. when i push the ignition switch back on the pump is normal again, it primes for a few seconds only.

so the ECR is not inside the airbox? i was sure the noise was in there. there are two exact relays on the frame. one of those is the ECR? can i interchange them to see if that is the problem?

thanks again. i have been trying to find the problem for 2 days now, and read all over this forum. i'm going crazy!!!

[Allen Noland]

You should be able to feel where the ticking is coming from better than hearing it. Put your finger on the relay to feel if it is clicking on and off. The ticking could be coming from the airbox if the injectors continue to work after the engine stops. If that is the case, you can also feel them click open and closed too. The second relay is the lighting delay relay for the headlight and brake light. The ECR relay supplies power to the injectors as well as the fuel pump, but the "signal" to make them (and the fuel pump) work comes from the ECU.

[PhilG]

sounds like water shorting somewhere, get it back to the dealer and try another tank before you start going in there, sounds unlikely, if not impossble that its in there.

[Allen Noland]

sounds like water shorting somewhere

It still sounds like that to me too. If it is the injectors 'ticking", then the ECU is still in "engine running" mode. That's why the fuel pump keeps running and the start button doesn't work. Pushing the kill switch re-sets it to "engine stopped" mode, the fuel pump runs normally and the start button works.

[nicogc]

swaping the tanks was something i was going to do on monday, just to make sure the problem isn't in the fuel pump assy. i'm also going to switch the relays.
but if the problem was a short circuit (the bike was washed four days ago) then i guess it was in the ECU and it damaged something because the engine runs, and well, for some time and then it just abruptly dies but the systems keep working. could it be the coils, no spark? why wouldn't the Axone notice the problem and send an error code?