Hot starting issue

Mr.Mow

Mr.Mow

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My bike went in for some warranty work recently, dealer is 1 1/2hrs away, a good decent ride through peak hour traffic.

Got to the dealership to find they had relocated, ok, jumped back on, hit start.. fumble and die, lightbulb warning came up on dash.

After 3-4 attempts got it going.

Got to dealership, mentioned the bike wouldn’t start, they came out and luckily it did it again “oh it’s a battery issue, must have dropped a cell”.

They tested and the battery was fine. And no faults recorded.

Just got back from a fast blast on the freeway for 40 mins, stopped for gas, start, misfire, stumble and started.

Any thoughts?
 
Bad petrol at your prior fill up would be my first guess. When something changes immediately like this I always look at what was last touched, be it petrol, adding accessories where a connector may have not been fully seated, etc. Odd to me they went to the battery given it wasn't really a cranking issue, but hopefully when they checked the battery they also did the charging system as well as the terminals connections were snugged properly as well as the side stand safety switch etc. Anyway, I would add some good quality fuel treatment that will help her digest any water or other contaminates you may have received in a batch of petrol and see if you run a tank or two through her if she gets back to her old self. If not, I would bring her back and have them go over her properly as they obviously didn't find the culprit when they had her for the other servicing.

Good luck!
 
My truck started behaving badly a while back. Come to find out that failing oxygen sensors can mysteriously arouse gremlins under the hood.
 
Mr.Mow said:
My bike went in for some warranty work recently, dealer is 1 1/2hrs away, a good decent ride through peak hour traffic.

Got to the dealership to find they had relocated, ok, jumped back on, hit start.. fumble and die, lightbulb warning came up on dash.

After 3-4 attempts got it going.

Got to dealership, mentioned the bike wouldn’t start, they came out and luckily it did it again “oh it’s a battery issue, must have dropped a cell”.

They tested and the battery was fine. And no faults recorded.

Just got back from a fast blast on the freeway for 40 mins, stopped for gas, start, misfire, stumble and started.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Happened to me several times. Stop, start, nothing, try again, start, ok.
 
Mr.Mow said:
My bike went in for some warranty work recently, dealer is 1 1/2hrs away, a good decent ride through peak hour traffic.

Got to the dealership to find they had relocated, ok, jumped back on, hit start.. fumble and die, lightbulb warning came up on dash.

After 3-4 attempts got it going.

Got to dealership, mentioned the bike wouldn’t start, they came out and luckily it did it again “oh it’s a battery issue, must have dropped a cell”.

They tested and the battery was fine. And no faults recorded.

Just got back from a fast blast on the freeway for 40 mins, stopped for gas, start, misfire, stumble and started.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
I agree w/ BobW; possibly bad fuel and or an electrical connection that loosened up. Keep us all posted as you work through it..
 
Hard to find 91 octane NON-ETHANOL around home. On the road nearly impossible. I use PHASER 3000 on all ethanol fuel. IT WILL REMOVE/CONVERT WATER IN ETHANOL FUEL. The Harley dealer had a guy do an open demo, come one come all. They must have tried 15 additives and right before our eyes the only one that instantly converted all water back to gas was PHASER 3000, made by Primrose oil. When weird start failure things happen my first choice is fuel, second battery, (electrical connections). I keep Phaser 3000 in my bike bag every time I ride.
 
HOSSMAN1 said:
Hard to find 91 octane NON-ETHANOL around home. On the road nearly impossible. I use PHASER 3000 on all ethanol fuel. IT WILL REMOVE/CONVERT WATER IN ETHANOL FUEL. The Harley dealer had a guy do an open demo, come one come all. They must have tried 15 additives and right before our eyes the only one that instantly converted all water back to gas was PHASER 3000, made by Primrose oil. When weird start failure things happen my first choice is fuel, second battery, (electrical connections). I keep Phaser 3000 in my bike bag every time I ride.
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I haven't seen that particular Brand, but I do use something similar in a commercial product in my diesel farm tractor fuel. It sounded like "magic beans" at first, but it simply works as promised. I don't know much about the actual chemicals, but where "Dry Gas" types of additives were commonly used to prevent icing in winter temps our current petrol blends essentially contain enough "alcohol" to have that not be an issue and these other specific treatments somehow allow that water to be palatable as you described in the "experiment" you observed.

Cheers
 
Mr.Mow said:
My bike went in for some warranty work recently, dealer is 1 1/2hrs away, a good decent ride through peak hour traffic.

Got to the dealership to find they had relocated, ok, jumped back on, hit start.. fumble and die, lightbulb warning came up on dash.

After 3-4 attempts got it going.

Got to dealership, mentioned the bike wouldn’t start, they came out and luckily it did it again “oh it’s a battery issue, must have dropped a cell”.

They tested and the battery was fine. And no faults recorded.

Just got back from a fast blast on the freeway for 40 mins, stopped for gas, start, misfire, stumble and started.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
... not quite the same situation (not as drastic) my FE had hot-restart issues, especially when it was hot out and I did a lot of city hopping around with multiple stop/starts. Had me worried, went to the dealer and he suggested to have a look at the software revision of the ECU. Turns out I was on one from the very beginning, did the 'Conect-To-The-Mothership' thing and flashed the eerpom ... made a huge difference .. much more consistent starting behavior... this may or may not be your issue as well ... but might be worth looking into. It didn't cost me anything but a couple hours of time... just my 2¢ ;)
 
My bike did the same thing during my 100 mile “test” ride. Rode for 50 miles and couldn’t wait any longer I had to stop to use the restroom. Went back out to the bike and it started and died three times. 4th time it started and idled roughly for about 3-4 seconds. Have not had a problem since then. Currently 1600 miles.
 
Ulrich said:
... not quite the same situation (not as drastic) my FE had hot-restart issues, especially when it was hot out and I did a lot of city hopping around with multiple stop/starts. Had me worried, went to the dealer and he suggested to have a look at the software revision of the ECU. Turns out I was on one from the very beginning, did the 'Conect-To-The-Mothership' thing and flashed the eerpom ... made a huge difference .. much more consistent starting behavior... this may or may not be your issue as well ... but might be worth looking into. It didn't cost me anything but a couple hours of time... just my 2¢ ;)
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This is the exact reason I won’t be buying the Brentune as both my R18 and now R18B are running later version software. Never had any idle issues, hot start issues etc that it supposedly fixes. Others need to be firm with their dealer about updates imo.
 
Alex-B said:
This is the exact reason I won’t be buying the Brentune as both my R18 and now R18B are running later version software. Never had any idle issues, hot start issues etc that it supposedly fixes. Others need to be firm with their dealer about updates imo.
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I am equally hesitant with the 'Brentune' .. flashes like that can't easily be un-done .... for now I stick with BMW's updates .. she has plenty 'grunt' and speed to get me in trouble .. and even without the extra tune I can run circles around the local HD guys :cool:
 
My Harley RoadGlide would not start a couple of winters ago. Dealer came and got it at no charge. Found out it was bad gas.
 
I've had this issue twice. Both in summer, and both after prolonged city traffic riding. Was definitely not fuel. It eventually started, but required that I let the bike sit for half an hour both times. It's only been twice in a year and a half of ownership, but it still is annoying.
 
Happened to me after stuck in traffic, engine hot. Stopled for gas and it wouldnt start. On third try fired up and went 500 miles home that day no more issues.
 
Ok so the (unproven as yet) fix was to replace the battery, they were saying they’ve had a quite a few R18s fry their batteries due to heat, they tell me the high temps warp the plates in the battery, once they cool down they work again.

I dunno.. so far no drama but I’ll keep an eye on it.
 
Following this thread because I've been having a similar issue. I was riding around downtown and made a couple of short stops while running errands. I noticed after my second stop, I tried to start the bike and it immediately died. I tried again a couple of more times and it started but sounded like it was going to stall again. So I rolled on the throttle a couple of times and the engine smoothed out before leaving. Then I stopped for gas about 30 minutes later. When I tried to start the bike, it wouldn't. I tried 3-4 more times and it would stall immediately. I eventually got it to start and my home was less than a mile away. The battery is fine and I've only been using 91 fuel from "reputable" companies like Shell and Chevron. I know I don't have any startup issues if it's been at least an hour before it is started again.

Actually, this issue is what prompted me to join the R18 Forum. I've only had my R18 (First Edition) for almost a month with only 13 miles on the odometer when I rode off the dealership lot. I'm close to 600 miles and counting, and almost ready to take it in for its first service. I'll have the dealership check to make sure it has the latest software update.

So, yes, Mr. Mow, please keep us updated and I will see what I can find out too.
 
sideoutrocker said:
Following this thread because I've been having a similar issue. I was riding around downtown and made a couple of short stops while running errands. I noticed after my second stop, I tried to start the bike and it immediately died. I tried again a couple of more times and it started but sounded like it was going to stall again. So I rolled on the throttle a couple of times and the engine smoothed out before leaving. Then I stopped for gas about 30 minutes later. When I tried to start the bike, it wouldn't. I tried 3-4 more times and it would stall immediately. I eventually got it to start and my home was less than a mile away. The battery is fine and I've only been using 91 fuel from "reputable" companies like Shell and Chevron. I know I don't have any startup issues if it's been at least an hour before it is started again.

Actually, this issue is what prompted me to join the R18 Forum. I've only had my R18 (First Edition) for almost a month with only 13 miles on the odometer when I rode off the dealership lot. I'm close to 600 miles and counting, and almost ready to take it in for its first service. I'll have the dealership check to make sure it has the latest software update.

So, yes, Mr. Mow, please keep us updated and I will see what I can find out too.
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Have you asked your dealer to check the software revision on your bike? Mine turned out to be way old when we checked and I did not have that issue anymore since he updated the ECU/ECM ... also your bike is still very new and it may still be in the 'adjusting' phase ... just my 2¢ :)
 
Ulrich said:
Have you asked your dealer to check the software revision on your bike? Mine turned out to be way old when we checked and I did not have that issue anymore since he updated the ECU/ECM ... also your bike is still very new and it may still be in the 'adjusting' phase ... just my 2¢ :)
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's what I will be asking when I take my bike in for its first service here, shortly. My Triumph had an issue randomly stalling. Especially, during harder braking. The dealership charged me $40.00 to do an ECU update. Once it did, the problem went away. I'm expecting the same thing for my BMW once they update the ECU. Thanks!
 
I hope this works out for you ! .. btw. my local dealership is quite pricy ... but ECU updates have been free so far (I had 2 at this time 6500miles/11months owned) ! ... I hope yours does you the same curtesy :)
 
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