sled died this weekend

[BigDogrx1]

I'll post back when I hear something from the dealer.

Yes, I left it at Chippewa. I like a road sign I saw during this trip that said, "buy where you ride". If these guys do me right, I know where I'll be spending money next time.

DT, hello I grew up in Flint 40yrs ago, I live about 3 miles from dealer, if I can help you let me know, if ya need it picked up cause you won't get up here till after hour's, let me know and I could grab it for ya and you can pick it up at my house after hour's, Larry, dealer is good to deal with.

 

[DT]

That's not very good service ... kinda tells me that there not very confident in their service techs ....

Like I said, that was the short story, but yes, I believe that dealer should have NEVER have let my sled go out the door without finding the reason it fouled plugs in the first place. IMO, a good dealer would have held on to it and told Yamaha to stick it up their ying-yang until the issue was found and resolved.

 

[DT]

DT, hello I grew up in Flint 40yrs ago, I live about 3 miles from dealer, if I can help you let me know, if ya need it picked up cause you won't get up here till after hour's, let me know and I could grab it for ya and you can pick it up at my house after hour's, Larry, dealer is good to deal with.

Thank you BigDog for the offer, but for the reason I posted above, I don't think I'll be using that dealer again. Just my experience-

 

[cannondale27]

You all may not want to hear this but one of the rules a very good Tech School teacher told us in class is that no matter what you always do something even if you as a tech know that the issue was customer operational error. You NEVER tell the customer they are incorrectly operating the vehicle. DT I am not saying you caused the fouled plugs what I am saying is the dealer never should have said what they did. Personally I would have blamed the fouled plugs on the gas and handed you a can full to put in your truck along with a bill for the service. Everyone would have been happy till the next time at least!

 

[cannondale27]

Now why it happened. Frustration with Yamaha. Yes every tech and well informed dealer is or shortly will be at wits end with Yamaha. The customer will suffer and is and so are the dealers and techs. I believe that frustration is what you experienced DT.

 

[mike3577]

Shouldn't foul plugs being a efi engine. I would bet that the tps is out of wack and needs a reset with the Ecu.or map sensor.need to hook it up to a laptop to see what's going on.the laptop should tell the story

 

[cannondale27]

Shouldn't foul plugs being a efi engine. I would bet that the tps is out of wack and needs a reset with the Ecu.or map sensor.need to hook it up to a laptop to see what's going on.the laptop should tell the story

I can find a couple hundred posts showing fouled plugs in 4st fuel injected Yamahas. It happens all the time. Used to be mostly those that start sled and don't get it fully warm but now it's gas issues also. Do a search

 

[cannondale27]

I am sure the crappy stock tune and electrical issues at start are also a major contributor along with some not having Throttlebodies in sync, some having poor valve clearance and some having bad batteries or connections oh and some having MAP sensors that are junk and faulty kill switch wiring. Get it? Lots of excuses and valid reasons. Lucky we all love or used to love Yamaha!

 

[mike3577]

Yes starting them and shutting them down could cause a fouled plug. But seems to me while riding the engine shouldn't foul plugs unless the tps isn't adjusted right with the ecu.maybe install the next hotter sparkplug. I have a 09 nytro with close to 10,000 miles on it and haven't had half the problems that I read on here. When diagnosing a efi it needs to be hooked to a laptop or the dealer will just be throwing parts at it and hoping for the best never finding the issue. It's hard to find a good dealer with a good mechanic

 

[mike3577]

A good tech that knows the sled and knows how to use the laptop should be able to point out a issue in 15-20 minutes if he knows what he's doing good luck

 

[cannondale27]

You are right plugs shouldn't foul while riding. Hopefully a code was thrown. On the Phazers many of us had plugs foul while riding but it was because of coil failure or the pins at coil or ecu having intermittent bad connection. A brand new plug would solve the issue for 100's of miles in some cases but it was only because new plug has less resistance. Very few shops give the tech the sled for the day to ride for a real diagnosis and test because of liability. The laptop and diagnostics do not always pick up intermittent opens because it is normal to have a open circuit. The only way to figure it out in many cases is trial and error. That takes time and knowledge of the possibilities. Also a very patient customer who may not ride till next season.

 

[Deeppow16]

I can find a couple hundred posts showing fouled plugs in 4st fuel injected Yamahas. It happens all the time. Used to be mostly those that start sled and don't get it fully warm but now it's gas issues also. Do a search

Yup I just changed the plugs out in my nytro that were fouled out. Went to start it and it ran like garbage. Changed the plugs and it runs like new again. Most likely my fault from moving it around my garage and testing to make sure all my mods were working like they should.

 

[cannondale27]

Yup I just changed the plugs out in my nytro that were fouled out. Went to start it and it ran like garbage. Changed the plugs and it runs like new again. Most likely my fault from moving it around my garage and testing to make sure all my mods were working like they should.

We all have done it. Who cannot resist the awesome sound of it running even though we know we shouldn't.

 

[DT]

Guys, this post originated back in February but someone wanted to know the outcome of the issue so it was brought back up. Obviously, I've picked up my sled by now, and yes my sled tune still has issues.

Dealers- It is stupid difficult to find a good dealer that will spend time with your sled, let alone go to bat for you. My impression is, dealers don't get rich selling sleds and are more interested in selling bikes & ATV's. So to find one that is helpful with a unique issue, is rare especially given the "blind-eye" twist Yamaha is supporting them with. Anyways, this Viper has been to 2 dealers for a total of 2 months in service. Both have given the sled back to me with nothing more to say than "we don't find anything wrong" or "there's a reflash coming". Yet, it was unridable at slow speeds and unreliable due to fouling plugs. That's where I was at with it.

I do know about that whole starting it up to show your buddies and fouling plugs thing. I learned about that with my Attak. I fouled a set of plugs in that sled before it even saw snow, showing my buddies how awesome it sounded in the garage!

That situation is nothing like whats going on with my Viper. The last time it fouled plugs was after this spirited, 60-80mph, cranking the bars down a 20 mile stretch of my favorite trail. The sled was running great at that point because there was nowhere that we were riding slow and there was absolutely no indication of fouling plugs. They fouled when trying to start it after a 10-15 minute trail side break from this hard/fast riding. Probably a hot start issue, I don't know. I turned the key and nothing. Not even a snap crackle or pop. It was as if the computer died. A half hour of cranking the engine netted nothing.

I've owned 11 new sleds in my life and more dirt bikes, road bikes and 4-wheelers than I can remember. I've always had my hands in the high performance stuff spending more money than my wife knows about. But never have I seen a situation like this that I couldn't explain.

Fast forward- I've already bought Curve ski's to fix the ill handling factory ones and, not waiting for Yamaha to pull there heads out of there #*$&@, recently did the EVO 91 octane reflash.

With this EVO flash, I've noticed a little better starting; cold & hot. I've only been able to ride around home but the ~2700 rpm burble is slightly better although it could still use more fuel in that area. I can now burble thru that rpm whereas before it would just lurch past it. Some of you guys know what I'm talking about here. I'm gonna do a PCV also to perfect this tune but already way past what I wanted to spend on this sled.

I have a trail ride planned this weekend. Hopefully it will be past the plug fouling thing. Will keep you guys updated.

...still like to type...

 

[cannondale27]

Guys, this post originated back in February but someone wanted to know the outcome of the issue so it was brought back up. Obviously, I've picked up my sled by now, and yes my sled tune still has issues.

Dealers- It is stupid difficult to find a good dealer that will spend time with your sled, let alone go to bat for you. My impression is, dealers don't get rich selling sleds and are more interested in selling bikes & ATV's. So to find one that is helpful with a unique issue, is rare especially given the "blind-eye" twist Yamaha is supporting them with. Anyways, this Viper has been to 2 dealers for a total of 2 months in service. Both have given the sled back to me with nothing more to say than "we don't find anything wrong" or "there's a reflash coming". Yet, it was unridable at slow speeds and unreliable due to fouling plugs. That's where I was at with it.

I do know about that whole starting it up to show your buddies and fouling plugs thing. I learned about that with my Attak. I fouled a set of plugs in that sled before it even saw snow, showing my buddies how awesome it sounded in the garage!

That situation is nothing like whats going on with my Viper. The last time it fouled plugs was after this spirited, 60-80mph, cranking the bars down a 20 mile stretch of my favorite trail. The sled was running great at that point because there was nowhere that we were riding slow and there was absolutely no indication of fouling plugs. They fouled when trying to start it after a 10-15 minute trail side break from this hard/fast riding. Probably a hot start issue, I don't know. I turned the key and nothing. Not even a snap crackle or pop. It was as if the computer died. A half hour of cranking the engine netted nothing.

I've owned 11 new sleds in my life and more dirt bikes, road bikes and 4-wheelers than I can remember. I've always had my hands in the high performance stuff spending more money than my wife knows about. But never have I seen a situation like this that I couldn't explain.

Fast forward- I've already bought Curve ski's to fix the ill handling factory ones and, not waiting for Yamaha to pull there heads out of there #*$&@, recently did the EVO 91 octane reflash.

With this EVO flash, I've noticed a little better starting; cold & hot. I've only been able to ride around home but the ~2700 rpm burble is slightly better although it could still use more fuel in that area. I can now burble thru that rpm whereas before it would just lurch past it. Some of you guys know what I'm talking about here. I'm gonna do a PCV also to perfect this tune but already way past what I wanted to spend on this sled.

I have a trail ride planned this weekend. Hopefully it will be past the plug fouling thing. Will keep you guys updated.

...still like to type...

Wish we could get your sled here or TA. They even found one where the reluctor which crank position sensor reads which is on pto side of crank instead of on flywheel like a normal motor had moved. How it moved nobody knows but that was what caused issues such as you are having. Not saying that's your sleds issue but its one possibility. Every other thing was examined, swapped,tuned and adjusted call it luck or perseverance but there was no help from a laptop since all was normal according to diagnostics tool.