BACKFIRE PROBLEM

[4stroker]

I'm sure someone has experienced this before so I hope you can set my mind at ease. Saturday Night we were on our way home after running for about 80 miles. We had stopped for about 45 minutes and were on our way back at around 50+ mph an hour of mostly road riding at approx. 15 F when my sled started backfiring. There only a few pops then it got real bad so I shut it down. (actually gave the rest of my group behind me a nice flame show out the tailpipes) We thought maybe a little water may have gotten through the system. I restarted after about 5 minutes and it rode flawlessly the rest of the night. That included a few WOT runs up and down the lake. I've discounted water since I think the problem would have continued. Shorting wires also should have made the problem repeat at some point. I'm thinking some type of electrical problem but don't really know where to go from there. Any suggestions, I'll be up riding again this weekend and don't want to take a chance on geting stranded. :? Thanks in advance with any help.

 

[Newcastle Scott]

I'll relate a problem with my 03 rx1 mtn that I just had fixed yesterday for your consideration, Symptoms are:

*After shutting down warm and restarting after at least 5 minutes, sled ran fine for 1 minute before stuttering and backfiring. Then Fires up just fine after opening hood for a couple of minutes and runs fine thereafter.

* Cutting out while climbing a hill even though carb bowl update is in.

* Didn’t seem to idle as smooth as in the past, Impossible to get carbs synced consistently.

Problem was a fuel pump was bad. It barely produced pressure when cold and when it got warm would not work at all. You can test them by hooking a 3 ft clear fuel hose to the output and starting. Fuel should push out to the top. My bad one would not push fuel higher then over a couple of inches over the top of the engine.

 

[doggin303]

Have you changed out to higher voltage headlight bulbs. I read in the 04 tech update manual that the high wattage headlight bulbs can weaken the ignition and cause this. I have a set of 90 watt 100 watt bulbs in my sled and have been watching to see if a problem develops.

 

[LazyBastard]

Its consistent with the TORS getting tripped. Check the handlebar side switch for ice.

 

[POWERHAULIC]

I'm with LB on this one.

 

[Bob Miller]

I'm with LB! Same thing happenned to me!

 

[4stroker]

It makes sense that it could have been the TORS, especially since shutting off the sled probably resets it and that's why it ran OK after that. The next question is why??? There was no ice build up that I could see. I was running on a very smooth road so there was nothing banging things around. Why would it kick in for no apparent reason? Are there any wiring or cableing issues that could cause it or should I be looking elsewhere? Or is this something that I might have to live with happening on occasion??

Thanks again for the responses....

 

[LazyBastard]

It could be dirty contacts on the switch. Most likely, some water got into the switch - turning it off gave a chance for the heat from the heaters to soak into the switch and melt the water - allowing for good contact again.