ECU Poltergiest

[Sport]

So I'm slowly repairing my bike after a 'friend' drops my 2002 Sprint ST...about $1,800 worth of damage. (Rule #1~NEVER LET A FRIEND RIDE YOUR BIKE!) Nevertheless, I was able to ride her home.

Anyhow; I took the liberty to pressure wash the engin after removing the cowling and as expected, the bike started running on two cylinders several days later. I pulled plugs, dried out all the plug holes and rubbers that supposedly seal those holes, and it ran fine the next day. Two days later it began running on two cylinders again. so I dropped the bike off at Capital Triumph in Highspire PA to run diagnostics. Because I've been fighting cold start and idle problems for the last 5k miles I asked them to dig a little deeper. It so happens the ECU was completely out of wack. Ironically I brought the bike in a year ago and, although it was not out of wack, it was a digit off one of the variables...I never touched the ECU! They say the bike starts and runs great now.

Question:
Can anybody explain how an ECU's coding can be altered if nobody has hooked up any type of diagnostics or Tune-Boy? Can dropping the bike cause this? How about water? I pressure washed the engine with some caution about spraying the electrical, but...

Hopefully CATriumph in PA has resolved the cold start problem as well. I'l let you all know when I get it back.

[ This message was edited by: Sport on 2006-08-18 04:01 ]

[rodneybrown]

If I were you I would make an appointment at Kissell's in State College and make sure Tim is the mechanic to look at it. Something doesn't sound right and Tim is the best. Also, NEVER use a pressure washer on your bike.

[dolson]

Sometimes they go from closed to open loop in their sensing. Mine did this once after setting for a bit and wouldn't idle and felt off it's feed. I was close to my dealer and got it in where Clint put the gameboy on and we watched it go back to normal and it started running fine again with no adjustments necessary. After all, all the dealer can do is to look for faults, and see which map is loaded and make sure it's the proper canned one for the bike. Mine just needed to realign itself with the Earth's forces I guess.

Don

[rodneybrown]

You can reset the entire ECU as well and reload the map. The reason that I recommended going to the shop I did is because it is only about an hour and a half from Mount Wolf and I know the mechanic is very experienced with things beyond routine maintenance. I had a squirrelly problem with my ECU when new and it had to be replaced. The barometric sensor failed which is a component of the ECU. With the bike being more like a video game than a lawnmower, using a pressure washer could mess up a sensor and cause the ECU to go wacko. So could just about anything electrical these days.

[Sport]

rodneybrown,

Thanks for the advice about pressure washing...well taken

Although I agree with the video game vs. lawn mower analogy :wink: most vehicle circuitry should be solidstate and more resistant to inclimate weather. This is not to say I should be dowsing the Sprint with a fire hose :-D , but...

On 2006-08-18 08:49, rodneybrown wrote:
I did this because it is only about an hour and a half from Mount Wolf

In reagards to Kissell's in State College, I will consider them as a viable option the next time I'm in need of service. For now it seems CATriumph has resolved the issue. I pick it up tomorrow and will get back to you after some much deserved riding.