Out with a bunch of guys on a long ride today and I was riding the Max a little hard. Ran like a scalded cat most of the day and all of a sudden.....starting losing power and couldn't get it over 45mph no matter what gear I was in. I also heard some chattering from, what sounded like, the lower right side. Loss of power and chattering in the engine, really freaked me out, I was about 70miles from home and the guys ran off and left me:damn angry: I checked the plugs, that was my first thought, because just felt like it wasn't running on all 4 cylinders. The plugs looked fine, my plug wires looked like they got hot and part of the rubber boot on the end of the plug wires was melted, weird. After checking the plugs, still ran like crap and the chattering was still there. I don't notice the chattering when I rev the engine up, but when I'm riding it, It's very noticeable and I have very little power. Does anyone have an idea what it might be? My bike is parked at some dudes house in Yale, Ok, some 70 miles from Tulsa. Very frustrating, because I'm still learning about this bike and I don't know how to work on it.
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Bad wires will jump fire under a load, but, let the engine rev freely under no load (quite often). No reason for something to look melted unless it is. Start with the simple things first...the chattering you hear could be the arc of the fire jumping from the wires under load.
:cheers:
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Scalded cat, slowing Down to 45, melted leads, chatter on the lower right side (water pump?). Check your coolant levels (is there any coolant?) and oil levels. Sounds like a cooked motor to me.
Robbarrie
Well-Known Member
I don't think it's internal, sounds electrical, I hope you didn't make things worse by trying to make it run, get a dealer to check it out bud....sorry to hear about what happened to ya. Nice guys, I hope they came back to get ya ? :bang head:
I think the chatter may been caused by the misfiring under load, did you notice the temp gage ?
It may have overheated at the time too. Did it seem hotter than usual ?
Davidon : his post below - makes sense to me.
Please let us know what it was, once you get it running back to normal.
I think the chatter may been caused by the misfiring under load, did you notice the temp gage ?
It may have overheated at the time too. Did it seem hotter than usual ?
Davidon : his post below - makes sense to me.
Please let us know what it was, once you get it running back to normal.
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davidon
Well-Known Member
I had a similar problem of loss of power mid-ride. Was my R/R. Don't know if the chattering is related I did'nt have that. The melting of the wires would indicate a loss of regulated voltage causing excessive heat. You may also want to ask the guys on tech list on vmaxchat.co.uk. they have some knowledgable guys over there
4WARND
Well-Known Member
Sounds simple and may be obvious to some but, on the note of start simple, did you check your air filter? I had very similar symptoms on my Magna after a winter nap and it turned out MICE had taken up residence in my air filter. I lost all highway power but would rev fine. Just a very simple check that is worth a shot.
4gasem
Well-Known Member
Could be but his plugs looked good.
They would look wet if it was running that rich...
I would start on the simple stuff though... Start with the intake. Are all the boots tight? Screws back out and you can actually rattle the carbs out of the intake manifold boots. Then spark. You need to make sure you have good spark at each plug. Then fuel. Make sure all the cylinders are getting it...
3 things make an engine run... Air, fuel, spark... Those are the first things to check.
Good luck!
Chris
It never got hot is the strange thing. I thought it might be the water pump too, since it sounds like the chattering is coming from that area of the bike.
The guys never came back for me, but whatever.....
My friend and I are going to pick up the bike today. I'm no mechanic, so I'm not confident that I can fix it, but getting it back in my garage is first priority I guess.
The guys never came back for me, but whatever.....
My friend and I are going to pick up the bike today. I'm no mechanic, so I'm not confident that I can fix it, but getting it back in my garage is first priority I guess.
I would put the bike on the center stand and run it in gear nice and easy. Use a screwdriver or stethoscope to see where the noise is coming from.
Mark
#1098
Mark
#1098
shawn kloker
Well-Known Member
4gasem
Well-Known Member
Guys being a perfect word... Most definetly not friends...:whistlin:
First rule of riding in groups is make sure that you use the buddy plan... The guy in front of you is your buddy and makes sure you are behind him at all times. If not he stops and waits. If you never come by he then turns around and finds you. The whole group will then stop and then everyone will end up back where you are... It works real well for my group rides...
Hope you finger out the problem...
Yes shawn you're right. You must also have compression but an engine feeds off of the three things I stated... So lets make it 4 things then...:thumbs up:
Got the bike back home today. It idles like it's missing and when I ride, it seems like it's not running on all cylinders and of course the chattering coming from the right side of the motor.
Could it be a bad coil? Or maybe the plug wires? Would a lose cam chain tensioner cause a loss of power and the chattering? Just thinking out loud, don't really know where to start.
Could it be a bad coil? Or maybe the plug wires? Would a lose cam chain tensioner cause a loss of power and the chattering? Just thinking out loud, don't really know where to start.
4gasem
Well-Known Member
Pull the plug wires off while it's running and you'll know...
If you get one that doesn't change then it may be just that...:thumbs up:
So just for the heck of it, I started the bike and unplugged the left rear coil and it stopped missing and the engine idled alot smoother. Then I hooked it back up and unplugged the right coil instead, and the idle was rough again. Do you think that left coil is bad and causing the problem? Would that cause a loss in power?
shawn kloker
Well-Known Member
It seems funny that unplugging #1 would make it run better.I thought that you thought the noise was coming from the right front,#4?Hopefully it just is a coil.Pull it out and see if its cracked underneath.Losing a cylinder is losing 25% of the power.
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4gasem
Well-Known Member
Uhm... Yeah... That sounds bad... It shouldn't make any change if it isn't working when you unplug it... Not working when plugged and then unplugged should be the same unless that coil is somehow firing off time...:ummm:
Sounds like maybe something is broken... :ummm: Nothing like stating the obvious...
Hell... Go ride the SV and forget about it...
4gasem
Well-Known Member
You really need to test pulling one plug wire off at a time from the plugs and see what happens. Best to do this with the bike off and then starting it :thumbs up:
:cheers:
The 2 coils under the seat were easy to get to, is there an easy way to access the front coils?
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