Twice stalled

[weeman]

Hello all,

It's time for me to get my feet wet with my first post since my introduction. I have a 1995 r1100 rsl with just turned 35k second owner bike without any documented running issues. I've only owned it a few months with about 500 miles logged in but now experiencing a stall situation only when the bike has been running for a few miles and downshifting closed throttle up to a stop sign or a roundabout where it just stalls but restarts. Idle is normal, temp 5 bars and seems like everything is okay. Could this be a crank sensor (HES) situation? What's your thoughts?
Thanks!

Steve (weeman)

[bikerfish1100]

could be, but symptoms are not all that consistent with HES failure. almost more like bad gas, or gummed up injectors.
do some more reading on HES failures, see what i mean.
of course, its not all that difficult to open the front cover up to get a look at the HES wiring, as that is the location of the most common HES breakdown.

[weeman]

could be, but symptoms are not all that consistent with HES failure. almost more like bad gas, or gummed up injectors.
do some more reading on HES failures, see what i mean.
of course, its not all that difficult to open the front cover up to get a look at the HES wiring, as that is the location of the most common HES breakdown.

Thanks for your response. After reading much about the Seafoam treatment given to our fuel systems I decided to start a habit of it a couple weeks ago and to change my fuel away the ethanol brands so I doubt gummy TB's. I will check the front cover HES area to see if there's a proper connection there. It's a bit scary when you have other vehicles breathing down your pipe going into a turn and your bike shuts down with no power.

[ANDYVH]

Very likely the throttle body plates ARE dirty. My 94 RS would do exactly that, sitting at idle at a light, and suddenly die. Always started right up. I pulled the air intake tubes back from the throttle bodies, and cleaned the throttle plates with a long swab and denatured alcohol. Actually, carb cleaner would work too.

What happens is, over time, oily deposits build up around the edge of the throttle plate. When the throttle is closed, there is very little gap for air, and the oily residue actually creates a seal and cuts off airflow. This is more prevalent on the older Oilheads, and also more prevalent on the LH throttle body as that one has the crankcase vent into the airbox. The oil mist from the crankcase (normal, by the way) gets into the throttle body and condenses on the throttle plate, creating a gummy residue.

Clean the throttle plates and the stalling will likely go away.

[Roger 04 RT]

A couple other things you could check:

What color coding plug does it have? (No coding plug could result in a too lean or too rich idle)?

When warm, what RPM does it idle at?

Has someone adjusted the TPS incorrectly? Is the paint seal on those screws broken?

How is the TB balance?

Is your O2 sensor functioning correctly? Together with the correct coding plug this helps set your idle mixture after the bike has warmed up.

[weeman]

Very likely the throttle body plates ARE dirty. My 94 RS would do exactly that, sitting at idle at a light, and suddenly die. Always started right up. I pulled the air intake tubes back from the throttle bodies, and cleaned the throttle plates with a long swab and denatured alcohol. Actually, carb cleaner would work too.

What happens is, over time, oily deposits build up around the edge of the throttle plate. When the throttle is closed, there is very little gap for air, and the oily residue actually creates a seal and cuts off airflow. This is more prevalent on the older Oilheads, and also more prevalent on the LH throttle body as that one has the crankcase vent into the airbox. The oil mist from the crankcase (normal, by the way) gets into the throttle body and condenses on the throttle plate, creating a gummy residue.

Clean the throttle plates and the stalling will likely go away.

Most likely that this is what it is makes sense as this is the symptom. I will get to looking at it this coming weekend. Thanks for that!

[weeman]

A couple other things you could check:

What color coding plug does it have? (No coding plug could result in a too lean or too rich idle)?

When warm, what RPM does it idle at?

Has someone adjusted the TPS incorrectly? Is the paint seal on those screws broken?

How is the TB balance?

Is your O2 sensor functioning correctly? Together with the correct coding plug this helps set your idle mixture after the bike has warmed up.

Not sure about the color code plug and the TPS but the TB,s were sync in the other day by the local BMW mechanic that works on all the Bellingham Police bikes. Until I get to mechanically know the bike better and buy the necessary tools he will do some of the things that are needed right now. I do know that the paint on the TB was not messed with after reading about it and checking them afterwards. Thanks for your response as it helps broaden my experience with this new to me bike.

Steve

[Bmandiego]

In between your Seafoam treatments, try to run a heavy dose of Techron through the bike. The combination of Seafoam then Techron really helped my 1100. I also replaced the plugs afterwards.
A couple of thoughts, How old is your air filter, and do you know when the fuel lines were replaced inside the tank?

[weeman]

In between your Seafoam treatments, try to run a heavy dose of Techron through the bike. The combination of Seafoam then Techron really helped my 1100. I also replaced the plugs afterwards.
A couple of thoughts, How old is your air filter, and do you know when the fuel lines were replaced inside the tank?

Before I purchased the bike it had all fluids, filters replace but I can most certainly check the air filter and most definitely run Techron/Seafoam through it again. Thanks for your tips! There will be more a learning curve as time passes even if this bike has 35k on it and only running 2200 miles/yr.
The fuel lines will be the next replacement in the scheme of things to replace.

[happy wanderer]

35K miles in 17 years is very low indeed. Back in post number 2 BF1100 mentioned the possibility of gummed up injectors. I would second that. It is highly likely this bike sat during some of those years and may not have been ridden at all or so infrequently that some varnish may have built up in the fuel system and the one place this causes the most problems is the injectors.

I bought '00 RT that was 10 years old with 6.4K on it. Biggest bang for my rehabilitation bucks spent on my bike was having the injectors flushed clean by a professional shop. I would seriously consider doing the same to yours. The difference was remarkable.

[weeman]

35K miles in 17 years is very low indeed. Back in post number 2 BF1100 mentioned the possibility of gummed up injectors. I would second that. It is highly likely this bike sat during some of those years and may not have been ridden at all or so infrequently that some varnish may have built up in the fuel system and the one place this causes the most problems is the injectors.

I bought '00 RT that was 10 years old with 6.4K on it. Biggest bang for my rehabilitation bucks spent on my bike was having the injectors flushed clean by a professional shop. I would seriously consider doing the same to yours. The difference was remarkable.

I highly concur with you on that. I will try the Techron first to see an improvement then go for the "full monty" if there's a slight improvement, if I can detect one.
Where are you in Vancouver? I'm south of you around Bellingham.

Steve

[happy wanderer]

Techron is great stuff to use for maintaining the fuel system and especially the injectors once or twice a year. But rightly or wrongly I've never believed that chemical additives can cure a problem that is already "embedded". When you see a carb or an injector that is gummed up with varnish from old gas or from sitting, simply running injector or carb cleaner through it doesn't get the job done.

Sometimes it's too late for Techron if you know what I mean. Qualified injector shops use pressure equipment, special solvents and measure flow rates before and after cleaning to check results. So you know if there was a problem, you know if it's been flushed out and if your injectors are balanced. Very important in a big twin that is running on the hairy edge of too lean all the time.

I'm located right in Vancouver just north of you!

[ANDYVH]

I agree. Though my 94 RS has high miles on it, it still purrs along on the original untouched injectors, fuel pump and other fuel system components. I have not actively, physically "cleaned" the system or components other than the throttle plates. But over the 18 years of riding my RS I have regulary used Techron at least twice a season. I feel the results speak for the effectiveness. But I would not rely on Techron on a system first needing "hands on" cleaning.