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So, I pinched the ‘wiring harness’ that goes to my rear taillight/brake light to the point were there was almost no contact and the rear light was flickering on and off. At the same time this was happening my bike was ‘stalling/cutting out’ on and off.
A friend was behind me and noticed the flickering taillight. While out riding, (in the desert at 100 degrees) I didn’t know what the problem was. When I got home I discovered the pinched/broken wire to taillight and repaired it. I also cleaned everything, (i mean everything) sensor connections, throttle body, soaked injector in injector cleaner for a week! Put everything back together. Bike fired up perfectly and rear light works great.
I haven’t had time to ride it yet, but am planning on a ride next week. (To see if the bike is still ‘stalling/cutting out/stopping and going’)
My question is this: could a loose wire connection cause the ECU to to cut the engine intermittent? If the problem is fixed, I will never know if it was because of the loose wire or if it was a dirty injector. Either way, my throttle body was pretty dirty and needed to be cleaned, as did the loose wire, needed to be repaired.
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That's a good question Ash.
A 12 volts system power to ground is never a good thing when it all comes from the same source and has to power up the ECU as the source to run the engines fuel management system, if it is possibly getting grounded out.
I'm not saying it is or was the source of the intermittent misfire but it sounds plausible.
Swapping out the old with a brand new spare injector in my G450 sometime back was a night and day experience. I have never bothered to clean the old used one but it made quite a difference, the old one got stashed away in a box in the garage somewhere.
You ride that bike and see what it does next time, then tell us.
Like me I always fix more than one thing at a time myself and come away confused as to what the root of a problem may have been, if it was a problem at all.
I learned that trick as I have gotten older.
At 61, I don't want to push the bike back home to find out it might have been something else either.
By the way, how are you ? Long time since hearing from you.
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Tim, thanks for your feedback. I’m doing great. Trying to ride up high in Flagstaff area to get out of the 110 degrees! Yes, I’ll let everyone know next week, the outcome. Although I’v been inactive on this forum, I’m always checking in and always learn something about our bike. My bike has 464 hrs on it now!! It has to be the most hours ever recorded on a G450X. All I have really ever done to it is one new torque limiter (ages ago) and one new piston.
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Hey Ashley, I had exactly the same problem with mine, and so did a friend of mine. I don’t know why it effects the way the bike runs but when the rear harness earthed in the sub frame the engine would stall. I was literally having to stand because every time I sat the pinched wire would earth.
Not the most technical answer but I hope it helps.
Regards
Chris
Last edited by gravelsurfer; 07-20-20 at 04:43 AM.
Reason: Typo
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I noticed that in muddy and wet conditions my speedometer goes haywire and makes the starting difficult, I guess the ECU gets some fault readings because of this, it might be a similar thing that you have experienced. I'm sure my speedometer wire has some crack or connection problem that get worse in wet conditions, I'm going to change it anyways with a spare that I have. Mainly a comment that the earthing or bad wires might cause weird problems.
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Chris and Jura, thanks for your reply’s. Interesting. My wiring harness is all taped up well with electrical tape and wrapped in duct tape, tucked away and my problem still exists. I rode 100km’s today with a loop that went up to 6000ft (1800m) The loop started at 3000ft elevation and for the first 30min all was good. Then around 4000ft the bike started surging/wanting to cut out like it was starving for fuel. Almost like a vapor lock situation. I stopped for 5 minutes, recycled the ignition and for the next hour (all above 5000ft) the bike ran great! Then coming back down to were I started from at 3000ft, the same surging started again. I feel like the MAP sensor is not working properly. I’v often had fuel overflow out my tank in hot high elevation rides and that happened today. I only thing I know to do is take it to my local BMW dealer and have them plug it in to see if diagnostics would tell me if a sensor is bad or something else. Anyway, I appreciate opinions and will keep in touch.
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Tune ecu is good solution to detect an error of sensor or other problems while you ride in altitudes, I do not think that the BMW ecu keeps in memory the last defect. The tank fuel overflow seems strange to me through the filler cap. The venting of the tank is made by a small pipe with a small non-return valve which is located almost at the end of the pipe. You have to take it apart and there is an arrow on it, you have to blow with your mouth and the air has to pass in one direction only. I think that normally the arrow is towards the fuel tank but I am not sure, it means that air can get to the fuel tank but fuel canot going out . Then you have to check if the end of the pipe is not clogged with mud or stuck somewhere. I can't try now on my G450X but the map sensor is not always mandatary on some engine. try to start with the map sensor disconected and check if the engine start. Tim can always correct me and better explaind
Last edited by bello650; 07-15-20 at 01:49 PM.
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Pascal, I think you are correct. I recently re-routed my small pipe with the non-return valve to come out the left side panel. (below seat) This position is LOWER than the tank and it should be in a HIGHER position. (Like Tim has said, in the original location up front high near the triple clamps) Also, the ball in the non-return valve should be at bottom with the arrow pointing up. On my last two rides, I have mistakenly over filled the gas tank, then when I ride up in elevation and in hot temperatures, the fuel expands and some probably got into my vent hose causing a blockage were air could not get into tank as fuel level decreased. I think fuel became trapped in the line and my tank built up pressure or vacuum and there was so much pressure that fuel was purged out of the vent line and all over my swingarm! On both of these two recent rides I was up and down big elevation changes and can only imagine the pressure changes with a improper venting situation. So when I stopped and opened gas cap, the bike was fine until the pressure imbalance happened again. Anyway, I will fix the tubing location, do the exact same ride I just did and see how it goes. I will update in a week or so.
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Here’s an update: With a new vent hose and in-line one way valve, (properly orientated and placement i.e airflow into tank) My bike is still stalling as if in a vapor lock situation. As fuel level drops and pressure builds in tank in rough, hot, fast riding situations, along with elevation changes, there is always fuel in vent line dripping out. I would think that the air and fuel would get sucked back into tank as the fuel pump does its work.
I’ve cleaned and cleared the hole at back of tank were the vent line screws in, so the air passage is clear. When I blow air into tank, with the fuel cap screwed on tight, pressure builds until I cant force any more air in. (I expect this to be normal) Unscrewing the cap, releases the air as the vacuum escapes. When riding and the bike cuts out, I open the cap and the same release of air escapes. This tells me that the tank is not venting like it’s supposed to.
The only thing I can think of is that my fuel pump is not working properly anymore. I don’t have the tools to test the pump, but I could take it to my local technician to get tested, I suppose, but with so many hours on this bike, (and fuel pump) i may as well just get a new one. I mean, they don’t last forever, yes? It’s the only thing I can think to do and that’s replace the fuel pump. If that doesn’t fix the problem, then I’ll move to the next solution and at least I’ll have a new fuel pump! What’s strange is that the bike is running very well otherwise, like better than ever!
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Great! Thanks for this information. I was wondering about an aftermarket replacement and this is a whole lot better than $400 for the OEM. Much appreciated!
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Hey Timmy, been too long!! I hope you’re doing ok. Thanks for the hot tip on those fuel pumps, I have mine on the way.
Quick update on my bike... it’s still in a million pieces and the engine is at my mechanic’s. Problem is he works on the other side of the country and can’t get home for his week off each month due to Covid restrictions. Before he left he did get it pulled apart and was able to establish that the bottom end was starved of oil, overheating the crank bearings. The top end is ok, and I have a good bottom end on my original engine so the plan is to Frankenstein the two good bits, while replacing some internals in the process.
Pascal sent me some information he had regarding the issue of running an oil cooler together with the oil recovery. When she’s all back together I’m going to continue to run the oil recovery to protect the torque limiter but ditch the oil cooler.
I’ll let you know the outcome. In the meantime stay safe y’all!!
Regards
Chris
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