Running on 2 Cylinders, What to Do?

grbl

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Re: The Plot Thickens

Oh, I didn't take it in, I only called. In fact, before I swapped the plugs last weekend I had the tank off and poked around, but I didn't try unplugging that coil. :facepalm: If I had pulled the battery box and coils to swap the wires, I definitely would have found the issue. I had hoped to get in and troubleshoot during the week, but there wasn't an opportunity until Friday.
 

FinalImpact

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Re: The Plot Thickens

Hands on facts usually gains objective evidence... and clearly looking is not the same as unplugging and actually inspecting the quality of the connection...

Glad you found it!
 

DasBrooklyner

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Hiya,
Old thread but ......Having same problem (same year). Even Yamaha seems unable(or unwilling) to help. Did your fix resolve it? FYI my bike sat for years (not even started?) as it only had 1,980 miles on it when I bought it in 2020.
 
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TownsendsFJR1300

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Hey Cooper,
Old thread but ......Having same problem (same year). Even Yamaha seems unable(or unwilling) to help. Did your fix resolve it? FYI my bike sat for years (not even started?) as it only had 1,980 miles on it when I bought it in 2020.

Did you read the entire thread?

The PO didn't have a coil wire attached, period..

"Shade Tree mechanic" screw up...
 

Gary in NJ

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Which two cylinders? Cylinders 1 & 4 share a coil as do 2 & 3. To test the coil primary resistance, disconnect the ignition coil leads from the wire harness, connect your multi-meter leads to the two spade connectors, measure the resistance. The resistance should fall between 1.53 and 2.07 ohms. To measure the secondary coil resistance, attach the tester leads to the number coil outputs and measure the resistance. The resistance should fall between 12 and 18 kilo-ohms.

Report back your findings.
 

DasBrooklyner

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Hi Gary et al,

I should explain that this is my first motorcycle ….Risky to mess with the electrical system -too much- at my newbie level, methinks, but I might have no choice moving forward. It's at the Yamaha dealership now, in limbo: The mech rode it (not at freeway speed as they wont!) and he says “nothing is wrong with the bike.” I even pointed him to this thread , but he has no patience to troubleshoot when he can’t ‘see’ the problem. He is offering no solutions to speak of.

Background: About 6 weeks ago, I bought the bike in very new condition in North Carolina, at a dealership. Based on the sub 2K mileage it must have been sitting for years. I was hoping their "multipoint inspection" would have covered most bases on this bike(this issue may have been unforeseeable) but I’m sure they just wanted to get it out the door. I rode it some 700 miles home to Brooklyn with no trouble, but the bike sputtered a lot in low gears and lost power after a few days. Took it to a mech. (not Yamaha) and right away he said it was ‘running on two cylinders’. Upon inspection he found that the spark plugs were “wet.”They got it running in an hour, not permanently it seems, and I went on another trip of about 700 miles. Again with the same problems….So I adjusted the idle, installed a new battery, and changed the oil, which seemed to smooth everything out. I but rode it on the freeway and the loss of power is back.

So long…Sorry maybe I should start a new post?
 

trepetti

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To Gary's point, the cylinders fire in pairs. If you have a bad wire or plug, then you can have a single cylinder die. But after that, everything happens in pairs.

Get a spray bottle of water, start the bike and let it idle. After a few minutes, mist each header pipe with water. If the cylinder is firing, the pipe will sizzle and steam. If a cylinder is dead, you will see a big difference. Let us know what you find and important, if there are cold pipes, let us know if it the inside 2 (cylinders 2 and 3) or the outer pair (cylinders 1 and 4).
 

DasBrooklyner

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So, finally talked with the mech. He is changing the sprk plugs ("they didn't look that great") and checking the connections. If it happens on the way home I will try the spray bottle test before it cools down.
 

DasBrooklyner

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The mech "couldn't find anything wrong with it" therefore asking him was moot(not going back there again). .But he changed the spark plugs and "checked everything [ electrical]." Going to pick up now, will test ride for an hour or so .... then do the water test. More to come....thanks!
 

TownsendsFJR1300

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The mech "couldn't find anything wrong with it" therefore asking him was moot(not going back there again). .But he changed the spark plugs and "checked everything [ electrical]." Going to pick up now, will test ride for an hour or so .... then do the water test. More to come....thanks!


From post #27, quote:
Took it to a mech. (not Yamaha) and right away he said it was ‘running on two cylinders’.

End quote..
I'm missing something.. Someone (not Yamaha) said ^^-"running on two cylinders"

Anyway, good luck on the test run..
 

DasBrooklyner

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Sorry... Took it to a mech (not yamaha dealership) 3-4 weeks ago...He said it was running on two...Yamaha (this week)mech didnt experience that, and said nothing wrong. He changed the spark plugs and sent me on my way.
 

DasBrooklyner

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Update: So, on the ride back it ran normally but I didnt get a chance to get on highway. When I got home I sprayed each intake pipe individually, each was hot (evaporated) the problem is fixed for now. Wont count my chickens until I get on the highway for a bit.
 
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