I have an '03 R6. it's been running great, until last week when in the middle of a ride it began to hesitate and surge between about 10,000 rpm and redline. I had filled up the tank about 30 miles earlier and first thought it might be bad gas. I was a long way from home and ran the tank out getting back. I filled up again and there was no change. Next I tried changing the spark plugs and air filter, they were due anyway. Still no change. Now I am running some RedLine injector cleaner through a tank but so far no change either. Any ideas out here guys?
Re: new coils? http://www.r6messagenet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1505 I believe only some 03 models are having problems. The up-dated coils are already installed on the 04's and possibly later 03's. tom
R6 Tech update I checked with the local Yamaha dealer and was told that the coil issue was not what my problem is since a coil problem supposidly would affect the bike throughout the rpm range, not just above 10,000 rpm. They also said tha the coil recall was for '01 & '02 bikes. I'm pretty sure that is not correct. Anyway I tried the next best thing and checked the fuel pump. After taking the pump out of the tank and then taking it apart, I found some crud on the screen. I estimate about 15% blockage. I think this might be what was causing the problem. I got it all back together late last night and was anxious to run it this morning to see if that did the trick. Well, I can't get it started now. It almost catches, but seems to run out of gas as it is trying to start. It idles for less than one second and quits. I tried to bump start it with no luck. I had emptied the fuel tank and totally drained the pump. Does it need to be primed somehow. Did I get air into the system that needs to be removed? IF so, how do I do that?
Do you have a powercommander. If so, remove it and try again. If not, remove tank and blow air throug the injector rail See what happens. Report back later...
Final update, happy ending Ok, latest update, after leaving the pile in the garage and going in the house to have a good cry, (isn't that what all stubborn chick mechanics do)? I came back out to the garage and kept plugging away. I decided that while I was at it and it wouldn't start anyway, I would look at the coils and see if they were bad. I took them out and saw that they were burnt. I also had a friend bring over his handy, dandy multi-tester and check them. Two were totally burned through, no resistance, the other two were marginal. I figured I was all set, go to Yamaha and get new coils and be up and running. Off to Yamaha I went, bright and early in the morning. Not so fast missy! First off, I had to do some heavy campaigning at the dealer before they would let the coils go without them insisting they do the installation. Good thing I had my super~duper girly perfume and make-up on. Luckily they came to the conclusion that if I got the coils out (the four burnt ones they were currently looking at) that I could probably manage to get the new ones in. So they gave me the new coils and I was on my way. I was feeling pretty good now, seeing a light at the end of my mechanical tunnel. I went home and put the coils in...........and the bike still wouldn't start. Hmm, now what? I knew it was getting fuel, I knew it was getting air, so I checked to see if each coil and spark plug was getting spark. I took one out at a time and hit the start switch with the other three plugged in. Each one sparked, so I knew the coil and the spark plug was working. The funny part of this was that when I did that, the bike would idle while on the ohter three cylinders, any combination of the other three. It would idle for as long as I wanted. It had not done this since the drama began. I re checked each plug lead with the wiring diagram to make sure I hadn't crossed any wires and they were all fine and going to their respective cylinders. Then I thought as a last ditch effort that maybe if I put the airbox back on and totally re assembled every last little piece that maybe some magic would occur. I did that next and still it wouldn't start. That is the point that I went back into the house and had another good cry. I was about to throw in the towel for good this time. I came back out about a 1/2 hr later and tried to start it again. It idled all on it's own. Viola' progress. I don't know why this time, I was just grateful that it was. It was running very rough and it would quit if I tried to introduce fuel, but it would sustain ilde for as long as I wanted. I let it come up to temp and tried to ad fuel. After a few attempts I was able to increase the RPM, still while blubbering and acting like it was breathing through old sweaty gym socks. I was able to get about 4000 RPM out of it and I tried to ride it around the block, hoping it might clean itself out. It didn't. If I added any throttle whatsoever, it would quit. I was ready to give in now, this time for good. so I parked it and let it idle so I could get it to a high enough temp that I could check my cooling fan that I had been having trouble with. Another seperate project that had recently developed. I wanted to make sure that little problem was fixed so I let the temp increase to 215 to see that the fan kciked on. While it was sitting there idling, the RPM began to rather quickly increase. It climbed to about 6K. I turned down the idle screw and turned off the bike. Hmm, it sounded kind of normal there didn't it? I'd better try that again. I started it again, re set the idle and tried to rev it up. I worked like a charm. Just like the old days. I suspect I either had some massive air in the system that finally got purged from the heat, or the idle being out of adjustment had messed with it. Regardless, my long mechanical saga is over and y'all, anyone who has read this far anyway, won't have to read any further. Thanks to all who helped me with their suggestions. Although my fuel pump teardown was not totally necessary, I did get a good amount of crud off that screen and am now a fuel pump teardown expert, self appointed!
