Idle Problems... Idle Adjustment....

[wilbur-t]

My idle problem is that my idle speed will go up to 12-1300 rpm sitting still in traffic. Guess thats better than stalling, but doesn't sound too cool. A couple of blips on the throttle will usually bring it back down. This has happened about three times in 2500 miles. I haven't been concerened enough about it to go through the hassle of taking it to a dealer.

[Toystoretom]

Dealers are whiners....

This little adjustment would be easy if you could use the Triumph scanner... it would only take about an hour or less. Since I've done this to mine my idle has been rock steady... its never idled so good.

Hey wilbur-t... try donig the 12 minute tune, sometimes that will clear up the high idle thing....

(If I could type... I'd be danferous )

On 2006-02-19 11:14, Toystoretom wrote:
Here is what I've got so far...

Some bikes have a problem with idle quality after they get warm, this seems worse after a lot of stop and go driving in hot weather. The bike's idle may drop very low and go up and down, and some will even die and the bike needs to be restarted. Some Rocket Captains have taken their bikes into the dealer and most times the dealer reprograms the bike which helps for only a few minutes/miles and the problem comes right back. Some have had the idle stepper motor replaced which doesn't seem to help either.
Go out and ride it and see if the idle is where you want it, if not repeat the above as needed. (I never said it would be easy :-D )


Tomo

I excised 90% of what you gave us Tomo, but I wanted to advise anyone interested in doing what you said (go back to go and re-read all!) that these instructions are very detailed. PRINT them, or better yet, copy paste to a doc processor, and break 'em into bite size pieces.

Tomo, I used to write test scripts in a different life, and these instructions are tops. I may not know the beast yet, but you know how to break down a multiple - point task with a nice clean touch.

best, Flip

[Pig9r]

Just curious is there a difference in the way those with the idle problems shut their bikes off verus those that don't. For example do those with idle troubles tend to shut down using the kill switch or kickstand instead of the ignition?

[Toystoretom]

I don't think that shutting it down differently has an effect on the idle... The kickstand switch and the kill switch are on two different circuits... if you use the kickstand to shut the bike off nothing bad happens... if you use the kill swich it messes with the ecm and the bike will barely run at all, and it takes several running cycles to "reset" itself, so don't use the kill switch to shut your bike off under normal circumstances. In an emergency, yes, use the kill switch..

If your new ride has this prob and Engle's can't fix it run her by the shop and I'll set it up for ya..once you do one it doesn't take all that long :-D

[glw]

Went back to dealer and they called triumph and they authorized a new stepper motor, they changed it out in a about 20 minutes, bike started and ran fine and when i went to use it the next day same problem came back.. this is getting old. back to dealer tomorrow. tried the 12 min tune and no good.

[Toystoretom]

rktmn3 says his dealer cleaned the throttle bodies and that fixed his. You also might have him balance the throttle bodies. If that doesn't get it done.... show him what I did... he's got a scanner, it would be easy for him. I've got a rock solid idle...

[glw]

UPDATE: Hey the dealer tech and i were talking about this idle problem and he noticed my throttle cable was tight, (no play) he said that triumph told him to check that, i told him it seems like i started having problems when i installed the Rivco risers, he then loosened my throttle cable a bit, retuned it with his hand held, and it seems to be working ok now. will know more in the next few days but may want to pass this on as i had not read it anywhere before that you need some play in the cable for the computer and stepper motor to function properly.. we'll see how it goes.

[SprintRide]

Tom, you've just shown everyone with a potential problem how to band-aid it. You have a good idea and in theory it should work, but there are things going on in that fuel injection system that maybe you don't know about, or eeek...don't understand. No worries, it took me quite awhile to figure it all out. Aparrently some dealers unfortunately still have not. By adjusting the throttle stop screw and not adjusting the primary TPS switch, you know that is adjustable right you have just changed the volume of air running throught the throttle bodies which will affect the M.A.P. sensor. The MAP sensor tells the ECU how much air is flowing at shallow throttle angles, i.e. 12% opening or less. So by changing that you have now reduced that range that the MAP sensor operates from 0-12% to say 2-12% opening. Did you set your stepper motor voltage afterwards? I didn't see it mentioned in your text. Everything you did only contriubtes to making the bike run richer at idle, which certainly will create a strong and stable idle, but it could contribute to creating other issues down the road because your not fixing the problem, just covering it up. I would recommend caution when considering attempting this procedure, you're opening a can of worms here. If those adjustments throw the throttle bodies out of calnration to the point that they don't opperate correctly, the throttle bodies while have to be replaced and you don't even want to know what they cost.......

Cheers and be careful out there Captains!

[Toystoretom]

Hi SprintRide!

You said:

Tom, you've just shown everyone with a potential problem how to band-aid it.

Yes.. you are right... I pretty much said that at the top of my post when I said we were going to fix the symptom, that I didn't know the root cause of the problem. If this "fix" works, I would think it would be more desirable than having the bike die in traffic.

By adjusting the throttle stop screw and not adjusting the primary TPS switch, you know that is adjustable right you have just changed the volume of air running through the throttle bodies which will affect the M.A.P. sensor.

Most of my post was in fact adjusting the primary throttle position potentiometer by back probing the required wire and setting it to the proper .6 volts after adjusting the throttle stop screw. I might suggest you re-read my post and also study the Triumph Factory service manual for the Rocket III.

The MAP sensor tells the ECU how much air is flowing at shallow throttle angles, i.e. 12% opening or less.

Yes it does, so it should automatically adjust for our new larger default throttle opening. Its not going to make a bit of difference what it sees (0-12% vs 2-12%) as long as it is still in the correct operating range.. which it is.

Did you set your stepper motor voltage afterwords? I didn't see it mentioned in your text.

A stepper motor isn't really a motor.. it is an actuator that moves in steps. It does this by responding to pulses sent to it by the ECM... hence it has no set voltage, and therefore there is no provision to adjust these pulses.

If those adjustments throw the throttle bodies out of calibration to the point that they don't operate correctly, the throttle bodies while have to be replaced

Throttle bodies are mechanical devices, if they go out of calibration you would simply need to recalibrate them. Being out of calibration will not physically harm a throttle body. The only damage that may happen is if the throttle plates close too far and actually rest on the inside walls of the throttle bodies themselves leaving a mark or gouging them. But by setting the mechanical stop screw to a wider angle you actually get away from this scenario

I've been running my bike this way for maybe a month now.. it doesn't burn rich at an idle as you describe... I have a very healthy idle at all times. The whole idea behind this post was to give some people an option as Triumph seems to be clueless on how to fix the stalling when hot problem. Who knows... maybe they will come up with something and we won't have to come up with our own fixes. :-D

Tomo