Engine dying/stalling on downshift

[cap'n]

Yeah I guess that's true.

 

[cap'n]

Ok, update: Cap'n is stupid, and possibly lazy. Or maybe that's lazy and possibly stupid. Let's just be safe and say both.

Sure, my bike was idling at 1400 rpm's, when I first crank it, and the ecu runs it higher to warm it up. And then apparently I've NEVER looked back down once it's warm to see what the "warm state" idle is set to these days... turns out I was idling around 800 after the first 30 seconds, when the bike stops the fast idle command. That means at second 31 or so, the bike is nowhere near fully warmed, but the idle drops to 800, causing my problem if/when I clutch it in the first 1 or 2 mins of riding. So as I left work and was cruising down the back roads, I tried to replicate the gremlin problem, and had NO trouble doing it. The coolant temp was reading 125 (warming up but not at the 180-195 it would soon be at when fully warmed), I pulled the clutch, and bingobango, dead engine rolling down the road. I hit the starter, pulled over into a state park parking lot, got out a screwdriver, and adjusted it up to 1400, which feels really high because of how long I've had the thing idling down at 800-ish. No more problem.

(smacks forehead)

 

[FinalImpact]

Ok, update: Cap'n is stupid, and possibly lazy. Or maybe that's lazy and possibly stupid. Let's just be safe and say both.

Sure, my bike was idling at 1400 rpm's, when I first crank it, and the ecu runs it higher to warm it up. And then apparently I've NEVER looked back down once it's warm to see what the "warm state" idle is set to these days... turns out I was idling around 800 after the first 30 seconds, when the bike stops the fast idle command. That means at second 31 or so, the bike is nowhere near fully warmed, but the idle drops to 800, causing my problem if/when I clutch it in the first 1 or 2 mins of riding. So as I left work and was cruising down the back roads, I tried to replicate the gremlin problem, and had NO trouble doing it. The coolant temp was reading 125 (warming up but not at the 180-195 it would soon be at when fully warmed), I pulled the clutch, and bingobango, dead engine rolling down the road. I hit the starter, pulled over into a state park parking lot, got out a screwdriver, and adjusted it up to 1400, which feels really high because of how long I've had the thing idling down at 800-ish. No more problem.

(smacks forehead)

So this solved yours and it makes sense that a cold engine is more likely to die at low RPM.
As for the OP if his is not idle speed related it almost seems like the old kickstand/clutch lock out killing the engine. Any chance its an intermittent of the two? I'm pretty sure that even with the clutch in, the kickstand wins and kills the engine. It could be worth checking into.

I know when mine gets hotter the idle drops. i.e. temp at 205f it lost a couple hundred rpm. Opposite of this temp wise. . .

OP you might question the quality of fuel you're burning and try something else. Brand name of Mid range (plus etc.). I've found that not all fuel blends are equal and cause idle/acceleration issues. Its worth a shot.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I'm curious as to the original posters problem/repair (ludaChris) ?

 

[galen]

Had the same problem with my Used 06, About after 2 weeks i joined the forum and got a manuel from bonemans site. My idle was at 900rpm.Re-set and good to go:thumbup:

 

[The Dude]

I've had it happen after rolling down hills (10% grade) in 6th gear using engine braking. When I get close to the hairpin near the bottom of the grade and want to downshift, I have to remember to blip the throttle either right before or as I pull the clutch lever. If I don't, the engine sometimes stalls. I don't think the engine's getting fuel under engine braking, and then once I pull the clutch and take the load off the engine, it stalls before it gets fuel. I don't think it's ever happened except after engine braking and it idles fine. Given the right circumstances, I could probably replicate the problem on flat land, but I can't remember it happening to me except declining mountain passes. It's never been too much of a headache, so I'm just going to ask the tech to sync the throttle bodies and check the idle speed when I take it in for new plugs soon.

Nah, I keep it topped off. It's happened a few times. Fuel level is not an issue.

Bumped my idle speed up and all is well. :rockon:

 

[BlueAuraXV]

Original poster: did you ever figure out what your problem was?

I've been having a problem that sounds the same as yours, definately not related to running cold. I will be exiting off the freeway after riding for a while and when I pull in the clutch the engine dies. It seems to only happen when I'm being lazy and not engine breaking so I'm holding the clutch in for an extended period of time.

I don't think it has anything to do with the kickstand switch as others have suggested because that would be independent of the clutch lever being pulled. My idle is set at ~800 rpm when the engine is hot, I'll have to look at my repair manual to see what it's supposed to be.

Thanks

 

[ChevyFazer]

Not surebut I think 800 is too low everyone seems to be adjusting the idle up from 800 to fix there problem I would try that first since it has work for so many others

Sent from my R800x using Tapatalk

 

[FinalImpact]

Yeah, after the first time a month ago. It just happened saturday morning, twice in rapid succession. Nothing this morning though.

Could a kinked gas tank vent tube do this? (I'm fishing for answers here)

I think not. When I got mine both vents were kinks solid. It ran fine but made a sucking sound when the fill cap was opened. it never died. When I straightened the vent tubes out, rusty smelly stinky water made a 2" puddle under the bike. At the time the rides were short and only about 6 15 minutes rides before the tank was opened to see the issue (I wasn't looking for an issue, just getting to know the bike.)

 

[FinalImpact]

I've had this happen with my FZ6 when I had from the day I got it. It only seemed to happen if the engine was not fully warmed up. I'd be gently ride down the street, pull in the clutch and the engine would die. Let the clutch out and she'd start and run normal. I always got the feeling it was from a glitch in the software and a certain combination of inputs. After I put the PClll on it and had it dyno'd it never did it again.
I've seen this complaint a number of times on the FZ6 and really think it's fuel management related through the ECU....Certain combo of inputs = fuel off. Pay attention to engine temp when this happens. Is the engine fully warmed? For me it was almost to temp but not fully warmed up.

From an emissions stand point, this makes sense that they'd want to keep the fuel flow low on a cold engine but from a driveabilty stand point, a cold engine needs more fuel to run smoothly.

But I agree it sounds allot like the mapping is to blame and if you get all the conditions just right, it dies.

So far so good on my 08.

 

[DarkNinja75]

Zombie thread resurrection: the problem for the OP was most likely altitude plus a low idle. He said he was in Colorado Springs, which is way up there.

I found this out last week when I did a tour through Northern California, mostly through mountain ranges. Standard altitude was 5000-8500 feet. My bike kept stalling out on me when I pulled the clutch in and rolled off the throttle (like coming to a stop). I have a PCV installed, which may have exacerbated the problem.

When attempting to drop back down to idle, the bike would drop a couple hundred RPMs too low, sometimes stalling, otherwise going back to normal idle. I had to turn my idle adjust screw up to max, which got the warmed up idle at 1500 RPMs. Fixed the problem. The idle had previously been at 1300 RPMs.

My buddy, riding with me on an '07 FZ6, had the same problem but not quite as bad. His never stalled, but did drop too low, then go back up to idle. My guess is either the lack of a PCV kept it from stalling, or his idle was already adjusted slightly higher.