[maddess00]

I was hoping that there might be somebody out there that could help me?
I have a 98 Powder Special 600 EFI. I rode it for a half hour after buying it before it started to develop a miss and backfire. It got progressively worse to the point that it will start for a few seconds and quit. Give it any throttle and it backfires and quits.
I've swapped coils with a buddy and it was the same. I bypassed the throttle position override by unplugging the wires coming from the throttle and heat shrinking a tube over the middle prong. I had my stator rewound out of desperation.
Now I have the throttle body disassembled, everything looks alright.
The only thing I may have overlooked is the throttle position sensor? I pulled it off the throttle body but I don't know of any way to test it?
Whats next? The ECU? Hope not, a new one is almost worth as much as the machine!
Has anybody else out there run into similar troubles with an EFI machine?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[cat_crazy]

efi sleds are great, but when problems arise, they suck. i have had my share of problems. to start, take all ground wires off and sand the connections and add electrical grease if possible before reconnecting. if it will still run for 20 or so seconds, take your efi control box out of the air box and flip it over to watch how many times the light blinks, if it does at all. 1 blink is open or short circuit in throttle position sensor, 2 is open or short circuit in water temp sensor, 3 is open or short circuit in intake air temp sensor, 4 is open or short in circuit in barometric pressure sensor, and 5 is failure in injectors. if you cannot get it started, you are down to witch hunting unless you have an efi analyzer. my opinion is you are having problems with either your fuel pump or your crank shaft positioning sensor. i would start by checking your crank sensor resistance. your crank sensor wire comes out of the stator housing and is checked through the green/white and brown wires. the resistance should be between 152-228 ohms - 190 ohms being target. next, the fuel pump wires are located under your dash pod and should be present after it is removed. check the two wires and it should just read that there is continuity. also check the wires that go to the stator, it should read 1.8 ohms plus or minus 20%. all of these specs are for a 99 zr 600 efi, basically the same.
try this and post back. if you need more, im sure we can come up with other options. also if you ever run into an efi analyzer, it takes all of the guess work out of it for you. i got one off of ebay for 104 bucks and they cost 900 from cat.

 

[SmackZ]

I know this may sound stupid but, how long has the sled been setting with that gas in it? And did you chk the fuel uptake in the tank? Have you chkd the airbox for blockages, had a buddy found a nest in his king cat airbox and the sled was stored in his new garage. Just some things to look at.

 

[canadianfcat]

Sounds like the same as alot of others... http://www.arcticchat.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=27548 .

 

[OTTERSF6NF--off]

Sure sounds like a bad stator. I had one go bad in my 98 ZR600 EFI, and also a 99ZL500 EFI. It did the same thing. I have been told it is a common problem in those EFI sleds

 

[maddess00]

Thanks for the tips guys. I'll check and see if the light blinks on the ECU. Well I've got it all apart I'm cleaning everything up.
I did think of the gas. I siphoned it all out and replaced it with fresh premium and replaced the plugs. The airbox was fine when we pulled it out. I'll take a look at the fuel pickup but if anything its getting too much fuel, it loads up pretty quick.
I might just have to load it up and haul it over to the Cat dealer in Nelson next weekend and let them put an analyser on it.
I'll keep you all posted as I'm sure it'll come up again with somebody else.
Thanks

 

[Thumperefi]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (OTTERSF6NF @ Jan 13 2007, 09:24 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Sure sounds like a bad stator. I had one go bad in my 98 ZR600 EFI, and also a 99ZL500 EFI. It did the same thing. I have been told it is a common problem in those EFI sleds[/b]

I agree with Otter sounds like the stator is junk. Buddy had a tcat 900 that did the same thing once it warmed up.

 

[maddess00]

We had almost given up hope. My sled is completely stripped down, and we didn't know where to go from there. So we decided to give up and reassemble it and take it to the Cat dealer. When we tried to plug the TPS wiring onto the sensor I found a bare wire that had been rubbing on the steering shaft, doh! Wish I would have noticed that when I tore it down! Anyways, ran out of time. Should get it together tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully the problem is solved! I'll keep you posted. Thanks!

 

[SmackZ]

hope it works bro, keep your chin up cuz sometimes its just something stupid ya overlook. Heck last winter I thought I had clutch probs and I rebuilt my clutches with all new parts and tried to fix it all year,come to find out it was the engine mount torque stop was broken off letting the motor twist and thus making my belt too long so it would slip like mad. Never even looked at that. My roomie spotted it when we was installing a new top end at the beginning of this season. lol

 

[OTTERSF6NF--off]

Well is that it. I hope so. That would be cool for your sake :beer_cheers:

 

[maddess00]

That was it!!!
What had happened is that the last owner must have hit a stump (or other hard object!) and bent the steering shaft. The steering shaft is normally very close to the TPS plug. being bent it actually rubbed the side of the plug open and grounded it out.
If I would have just flipped the ECU over and checked the error light as cat_crazy described I would have known that it was the TPS. But instead we tore it down.
Luckily I have a millwright buddy at the sawmill who took my steering shaft to work and brought it back better than new.
The only downer is the nasty crack in the tunnel I found when I had the sled upside down to take the steering linkages apart. Hopefully it'll hold till summer!
Thanks for all the advice!!!

 

[cat_crazy]

congrats! great to hear another cat is ready to dig in its claws again. thumbguy

 

[SmackZ]

Great job trouble shooting. Glad to hear ya got it. I think I will save those trouble codes. I didnt know what the blinks meant on the ecu other than trouble.

 

[medsker]

I've been chasing a problem for 3 years and was very happy to here about the blinking lights on the bottom of the ECU. I had one blink. I took my TPS off and checked it. I had a problem with mine that was a little different. I was getting the proper results at WOT and at idle but when I would go slowly thru the throttle about midway I was getting zero. There was obviously a short in the middle. We didn't find it forever because we just kept testing at the two places the specs were given and quickly going from one to the other. Just something for people to think about when they are trouble shooting. I've been chasing this problem for 3 years now. I ordered a used TPS sensor for $25...it's supposed to be in next week. I can't wait for it to get here to see if all of my problems will be gone.

 

[tcbendy]

Hello,
I posted something relating to this (http://www.arcticchat.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=51871) so I took a look at the ECU, if there are no blinks, then does that mean there probably isn't anything wrong with the ECU or the sensors it monitors?
And one more question about the ECU-it says something about disconnecting the plug relating to the type of fuel use..if using regular gasoline then leave it plugged but if using Ethanol or any other oxygenated fuel then disconnect the plug -- so if using fuel that is 10% ethanol (which just about every station has now) should I disconnect that plug and does this help with performance?

thanks for your time

bendy