Error 33 breaking my bike abroad- urgent help please

bigborer

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Hello,

I am currently stuck abroad as my trip was detoured by some malfunction. The timeline of events:
-yesterday I saw the check engine light flash for 1s while going over a bump
-today I saw the highbeam led flash for 1s when starting the bike
-rode for about 100km-
-let the bike sit in the sun for 3-4h, very hot weather-
-rode the bike for 50km, got the check engine light, engine sounding like my friends vstrom, 33 showing in the dash
-stopped on the highway in the midddle of nowhere, took off the battery terminals, ecu connector, got warned by the highway patrol
-restarted the bike, ran fine for 2km, then the whole story repeated
-ran the bike at slow speed for 5 more km to a parking spot
-removed and reinserted the ecu plug 10 times, let the battery off for half an hour, removed and reinserted the 2 outside spark plug leads
-restarted the bike, same thing after a few kms, gave it a few twists on the throttle, check engine went off, and then i limped it at 3500rpm for 20 more kms to a random hotel

Tomorrow I'm going to some shady local garage, where it's still uncertain if the guys there even speak english. Hopefully I'll get the spark plugs off, and measure the resistance for all leads. My only tools with me are a few hex keys and a multifunction screwdriver. My hope is that there is only one loose connector.

I'm kind of desperate right now. Any help would be apreciated. Also, to get to the spark plug does the air filter need removal, or the battery?
 

darius

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As much as I hope a more knowledgeable member can pinpoint a potential fix, given how niggly electrical problems can be I'd start making plans for a mate to collect you in a truck.

At least call it plan B. Where are you and where is home BTW?
 

bigborer

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Right now I'm in Greece, about 1300 km from home. Plan B is finding some towing guy online (there are guys privately transporting car/motorcycle all over europe for 250-400€) and getting a flight for me and my gf, or asking my dad to get a trailer and my car and come here to pick me up - which is not ideal either, as while almost recovered, he's not at his best health lately. Also will get charged for no show on the booking.com reservations (already missed a night)... It is what it is, as my gf said it could have been worse, such as geting ran over under a truck...

Apart from a ~100rpm variation in idle rmp when cold (which i don t know if it is normal or not, it ran perfectly for about 3000km, since I bought it...
 

darius

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Do you have the FZ6 factory service manual?

Fault code 33

"Malfunction detected in the
primary wire of the ignition
coil (#1and #4)."

Possible causes:
• Open or short circuit in wire harness.
• Malfunction in ignition coil.
• Malfunction in ECU.
• Malfunction in a component of ignition cutoff
circuit system.


Edit: Check out these threads for troubleshooting code 33
http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-technical/56170-fault-code-33-help.html
http://www.600riders.com/forum/garage-mechanical-help/32735-error-code-33-cylinder-1-4-a.html
 
Last edited:

gulfpete

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I'd say it's a coil as it's heat related.
You can swap the coils and see if you get error #34 - Malfunction detected in the primary wire of the ignition coil (#2 and #3) - but you'll need tools for that and then another coil to get back on the road :(
 

bigborer

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Not sure it s heat releated, it did the same thing 4min aftet starting, then it stalled a few times then it ran ok. Currently waiting for the shop to open...
 

bigborer

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Also, the cylinder from far left (riders perspective) seemed a bit cooler than the rest...
 

TownsendsFJR1300

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I don't have an answer for you be reading the other threads, points towards the ECU.

Can you rent a small moving truck ONE WAY and put the bike in the back tied down?

Just for S&G's try manipulating the RED kill switch(on the right control). See if that makes any difference...
[MENTION=2579]Motogiro[/MENTION], [MENTION=15974]FinalImpact[/MENTION]
 

Motogiro

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The following may be helpful for whoever is servicing/ trouble shooting your issue.


Keep in mind any of these conditions can be intermittent and dependent on load or/and temperature coefficient. Meaning; The conditions presented at time of tested may not indicate failure because the coil may not be at the specific temperature and/or load where it fails.


Fault code 33 is the primary circuit on the coil that fires both #1 and #4 cylinders. There are many reasons you might get this code.. You may have a bad primary winding on the coil. The first test would be a resistance check on the primary winding. Do you have a Digital Multimeter?

Disconnect the primary leads of the coil and put your meter in the Ohms mode x1k. You should get a reading of 1.53 to 2.07 @ 68 deg F.

Also power to coils 1-4 and power to coils 2-3 are the same supply voltages. The supply voltages for both coils come through the kill switch so if coil 2-3 is powered so should coil 1-4. Here is the difference....Coil 1-4 and coil 2-3 are fired by toggling the negative side of the primary windings for each coil to ground. This is done by the ECU/ECM which fires each coil on the TDC or end of exhaust stroke for the paired cylinders. This makes a more efficient design solution instead of programming 4 different sparks for the standard inline 4 firing order.

If you're not seeing voltage at the 1-4 cylinder coil there is the possibility the ECU is holding the negative primary on the coil down. Let's hope this is not the case because that could mean the ECU is damaged. Do not apply voltages to the coils directly unless the ECU plug has been disconnected. Unplug the ECU and then look to see if voltage is present on the dead coil. If the voltage is then present you may have a bad ECU. If there is still no voltage trace the coil supply wire back toward the kill switch. If that wire goes through a plug, the pins in that plug may be burned and not supplying the voltage any more.

Again disconnect wiring and check resistance on primary.

Last edited by Motogiro; 10-27-2015 at 08:52 PM.
 
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bigborer

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Thank you all for your replies!

Long story short, the first mechanic I went to wouldn't touch the bike without a diagnostics tool (which he didn t have at that time) and sent me to the nearest dealership.

There, the guy erased the error (diagnostics mode from the dashboard) and instantly said it's the plugs, don t worry. I insisted he take a test ride, and he came 10 minutes later saying the bike is perfectly fine, no issues just ride it, it only has bad fuel and needs new sparks.

I told him if thats the case- replace them. His reply- it's not realy urgent, just ride it 30-50kms and if it still gives you trouble just come back and then I ll change them (very strange, first time the dealer refused to charge me!).

Gave it good fuel (one of the few big petrol station gas stations I've seen in Greece). Rode about 150km until the error started again, for a few seconds and then disappearing.

At this point, I don't have many options. Will just ride it as is, stay away from risky overtaking in case it suddenly drops power to two cylinders, and just clear the errors as they appear.

All checks such as measuring resistances or switching coils are pretty much impossible to do until I get home.
 

darius

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If the fuel is bad, why wouldn't there be an ignition fault for the other 2 cylinders?
Why wouldn't the dealership replace the plugs? "It's not urgent". Sounds like the dealership didn't want to provide actual service to you.

That said, I hope it really was the fuel and that the bike improves the more you run it now.
Perhaps try to fuel up in the towns and avoid the rural pumps, go for the higher grade options.
 

Motogiro

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I don't understand why faulty fuel would cause the ECU to throw a 33 code for primary coil winding failure.?????:eyebrow:
 

TownsendsFJR1300

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I don't understand why faulty fuel would cause the ECU to throw a 33 code for primary coil winding failure.?????:eyebrow:

The second guy said it was the spark plugs(it ain't)...

Might be the directional fluid is low...

Till someone lifts the tank, accesses the coils, and ACTUALLY tests them, we won't know anything..
 

bigborer

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So, bike made it till 500km from home.

Right now it's in a state of "definitely ****ed" as it is starting with error 33 and not going away no matter how long it cools off or what I do to it. Even worse, the error is not even getting listed in the diagnostics mode any more so ecu damage is very likely (root cause-who knows)

Still waiting for some quotations, but unless I'm lucky to find an existing shipment trip with free cargo space, getting someone here for me alone will cost about 50% of what I paid for the bike as they will charge for a 2 way trip + all the road tolls.

It is what it is...
 

darius

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What happens when you try to fire it up?
Check for possible low battery voltage- could have died due to limping along in low RPMs

Where are you now?
Post for help on national/regional bike forum
Leave at a reputable bike shop/dealership, return with trailer later
 

Motogiro

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So, bike made it till 500km from home.

Right now it's in a state of "definitely ****ed" as it is starting with error 33 and not going away no matter how long it cools off or what I do to it. Even worse, the error is not even getting listed in the diagnostics mode any more so ecu damage is very likely (root cause-who knows)

Still waiting for some quotations, but unless I'm lucky to find an existing shipment trip with free cargo space, getting someone here for me alone will cost about 50% of what I paid for the bike as they will charge for a 2 way trip + all the road tolls.

It is what it is...

There is the possibility that there was a breakdown in the internal insulation in the coil that got to the point where the secondary high voltage arced over the the primary winding and toasted the coil firing transistor and more in the ECU..

You need to have an experienced technician diagnose and repair your bike. Unfortunately that's hard to tell today.......
 

bigborer

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No Yamaha dealers around?
Not really
What happens when you try to fire it up?
Check for possible low battery voltage- could have died due to limping along in low RPMs

Where are you now?
Post for help on national/regional bike forum
Leave at a reputable bike shop/dealership, return with trailer later
It will start and run, but in 2 cylinders. I am in Bulgaria near the border with Greece. The nearest big town is Plovdiv, about 140km away. Getting it towed to there is a big gamble, as though I got the contacts for an allegedly reputable service from a bulgarian guy, the risk of getting there only to find a wrench monkey shrugging shoulders and saying "I don t know" in poor english is quite high.
There is the possibility that there was a breakdown in the internal insulation in the coil that got to the point where the secondary high voltage arced over the the primary winding and toasted the coil firing transistor and more in the ECU..

You need to have an experienced technician diagnose and repair your bike. Unfortunately that's hard to tell today.......
The "experienced technician" is rarer than a 5m pink unicorn. Apart from swapping parts no one knows ****.

When it really messed up and got to the point where the error wasn t even getting stored I was at about 8000rpm. Before that, it acted up at lower rpm and even at idle once, while paying a road toll. I had learned to "know it", before the error was starting I had a 1-2 second warning time, if I was paying attention, and it felt like a little stutter. After a little throttle correction of +-100rpm it got to a rpm where it was happier.
 

bigborer

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Today I finally managed to take it apart, what happened in this order:

-found one ignition coil connector very loose
-removed the battery
-found traces (markings, worn screw heads) that someone has already taken out the air box, battery, coils - not so great
-found some oxidation on one side of the ecu connector (later confirmed it was on the same side as the pins to the coils), sprayed some contact cleaner and scraped clean all affected pins
-turned the key to on, still 33 showing, then entered diagnostics mode, 60=00, 61=00, 62=1 and impossible to erase
-removed battery, switched the wiring between the coils, turned it to on, still showing 33
-put the wiring on the coils correctly, tried to fire it up but it did as if the battery was dead (and it measured 12,73V, not sure about bike batteries but on a car that would be ~75% charged)
-took the battery inside and put in on the charger
-took out leads, noticed the cap was a bit loose on the lead wire for cyl no1, and part of the rubber end of the cap was ripped off, cap body had scratches on the sides (WTF?)
-measured the resistances for both coils, and caps, both gave almost identical readings and were in spec (~1ohm and ~15,5 kohm)
-checked the resistance for both wired going from the ecu plug to the coils, all ok
-checked the ignition fuse, 0 resistance
-tried to remove the plugs but my tools didn't fit

After I manage to find a tool for the spark plugs to check them as well, if I put everything back together and it still won't work.... don't think anything else could be wrong apart from the ecu :(
 
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