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Hesitation on a cold engine


Rogerl

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I have a 2013 R1200R with 16,000 miles. I bought it used January 2016 with 1300 miles. Ever since I have owned it on a cold start the bike will start fine but when I go to ride away the bike will hesitate and I will need to give it more throttle than normal to keep from stalling. After the bike is warmed up it runs fine. My 2008 R1200R did not have this problem. Is there something that I should look at? The bike has new spark plugs and a new air filter. The motor is 100% stock no additions and stock exhaust. Could it be a problem with the exhaust flapper motor. Any help would be great.

 

Roger L

Edited by Rogerl
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Danny caddyshack Noonan

2012 RT has pretty much always done that. Only takes about one minute to avoid on mine.

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My RT does the same until it warms up. All I can suggest is check your valve clearances. Try using fuel from a good top tier rated service station. You should be running nothing less than 89 octane. 91 octane premium is good enough.

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Hank R1200RT

Hmmm, 1300 miles in three years sounds like the bike sat around a lot. You don't say what the temperature is when this occurs but I'm assuming it's not terribly cold. I have noticed this a couple of times on my 2013, but the condition went away. I am guessing that it does not do this when it is warm.

 

My first suggestion is three or four tanks of good 91 octane - Chevron preferred for the Techron. If that does not help, my next suggestion is from left field: inspect the oxygen sensor. Make sure the heater element is working. Possibly a loose wire affecting the heater element. I do not recommend randomly replacing the O2 sensor - not at BMW prices, anyway...

 

Another left field suggestion is to start the bike and set off with the gas tank open. If it cures the problem, Maybe there is congestion in the vapor can system. I have not seen this on my RT, but did on a prior bike. Do not do this as a regular practice!

 

Good luck,

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I have a 2013 R1200R with 16,000 miles. I bought it used January 2016 with 1300 miles. Ever since I have owned it on a cold start the bike will start fine but when I go to ride away the bike will hesitate and I will need to give it more throttle than normal to keep from stalling. After the bike is warmed up it runs fine. My 2008 R1200R did not have this problem. Is there something that I should look at? The bike has new spark plugs and a new air filter. The motor is 100% stock no additions and stock exhaust. Could it be a problem with the exhaust flapper motor. Any help would be great.

 

Morning Roger L

 

Any chance of your bike having a Intake Air Sensor spoofer installed? (they go between the Intake Air Sensor on the top of the air cleaner box & the wire harness that plugs into the sensor) -- If so then remove that & see if the cold engine rideaway gets better.

 

Otherwise make sure that the Intake Air Sensor harness is fully plugged into the sensor & the terminals are making good solid contact.

 

A GS-911 on that bike could tell you if all engine sensors are working correctly cold.

 

The exhaust flapper motor has nothing to do with cold engine rideaway.

 

An oil fouled lower spark plug (usually left lower) can cause a problem like you are seeing until engine warms up & spark plug self cleans. Oil drips down past piston rings overnight & puddles in bottom of combustion chamber.

 

Are you allowing enough time after key is turned on before starting for the system to initialize? -- Probably not the problem but worth a try anyhow. (try waiting until dash fully goes through it's boot-up before starting engine)

 

Another thing to try is shutting engine down with kill switch at last stop of the day, after engine shutdown THEN turn key off. (just something to try)

 

There might be a firmware update for your 2013 so next time at the BMW dealer see if they can input your VIN into their computer to see if a firmware update is available.

 

The usual cause of what you are seeing is a lean cold run condition due to either a faulty engine sensor or incorrect fueling adaptives, or a lower spark plug not fully or properly firing when cold.

 

 

 

 

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freetime2247

Ditto on what Danny said. The 2012RT has always done that until it warms up. NP just have to give it a bit more gas!

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Dirtrider:

Thanks for the suggestions. I did not install a "intake air sensor spoffer" on the bike. I will have to check to see if the previous owner might have. Probably not.

 

Where is the intake air sensor located so I can see if the connectors are plugged in properly?

 

I have a GS-911. When I connect it and read what the intake air sensor is reading do I compare that value to the ambient air temperature? They should read the same correct?

 

I let the bike go thru all of the diagnostics before I start it. I wait until the yellow triangle disappears from the display.

 

The spark plugs were clean and dry when they were removed. No sign of oil fouling.

 

I will try shutting down with the kill switch. I normally use the key switch.

 

Thanks Again

Roger L

Edited by Rogerl
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Dirtrider:

Thanks for the suggestions. I did not install a "intake air sensor spoffer" on the bike. I will have to check to see if the previous owner might have. Probably not.

 

Where is the intake air sensor located so I can see if the connectors are plugged in properly?

 

I have a GS-911. When I connect it and read what the intake air sensor is reading do I compare that value to the ambient air temperature? They should read the same correct?

 

I let the bike go thru all of the diagnostics before I start it. I wait until the yellow triangle disappears from the display.

 

The spark plugs were clean and dry when they were removed. No sign of oil fouling.

 

I will try shutting down with the kill switch. I normally use the key switch.

 

 

Afternoon Roger L

 

With GS-911 (ON A COLD ENGINE) the Intake Air Temperature should show very close to ambient temperature where the bike is parked. (if this shows good then no need to check Intake Air Temp sensor connection)

 

XKL4zRv.jpg

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Dirtrider:

I hooked up the GS-911 to the bike this morning. Below are the readings that I took. My outside thermometer read 66 degrees.

 

Intake Air Temp 65.8

Engine Temp 63

Cylinder 1 64.4

Cylinder 2 64.4

 

Air Pressure 989.09

 

Just to make sure that the air temperature sensor was working I removed the air intake and the air filter and reached in a grabbed the air intake sensor in the air box. The temperature rose to 73.8 degrees.

From my analysis of the data it looks like the problem is NOT the air inlet temperature sensor.

 

The only diagnostic test that I have not tried is shutting the bike down using the kill switch not the key switch.

 

How do I know if the bike needs a firmware update? Can I check something on line? I only buy oil filters and have fuel strips replaced from my local dealer. He might not be very eager to spend the time to look up the information.

 

Thanks

Roger L

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Dirtrider:

I hooked up the GS-911 to the bike this morning. Below are the readings that I took. My outside thermometer read 66 degrees.

 

Intake Air Temp 65.8

Engine Temp 63

Cylinder 1 64.4

Cylinder 2 64.4

 

Air Pressure 989.09

 

Just to make sure that the air temperature sensor was working I removed the air intake and the air filter and reached in a grabbed the air intake sensor in the air box. The temperature rose to 73.8 degrees.

From my analysis of the data it looks like the problem is NOT the air inlet temperature sensor.

 

The only diagnostic test that I have not tried is shutting the bike down using the kill switch not the key switch.

 

How do I know if the bike needs a firmware update? Can I check something on line? I only buy oil filters and have fuel strips replaced from my local dealer. He might not be very eager to spend the time to look up the information.

 

Afternoon Roger L

 

GS-911 data looks close enough.

 

A dealer lookup is about your only choice. Nothing on line as BMW doesn't want to share anything. Even a dealer look up might involve hooking your bike to the dealer's computer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I took the bike to the dealer today and they looked up the VIN number and they said there were no firmware updates for the bike. I talked to one of the techs and told him about the cold start problem. He suggested taking the GS-911 and doing a idle actuator calibration and then checking the throttle body sinc.

I will try these tings and see what happens.

 

Roger L

Edited by Rogerl
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I used the GS-911 to do the idle actuator calibration. I then took the bike for a ride to get it good and warm. I then did the throttle body sinc. It was off so I adjusted it. Tomorrow morning I will see if it made any difference.

 

Roger L

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I took the bike for a test ride this morning. It was 62 degrees and it seemed to be better. I will need to try it over the next we mornings and see if the changes I made make any difference. Hope for the best.

 

Roger L

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I took the bike for a test ride this morning. It was 62 degrees and it seemed to be better. I will need to try it over the next we mornings and see if the changes I made make any difference. Hope for the best.

 

Roger L

 

Morning Roger

 

Yes, do let us know. I seriously doubt the idle actuator calibration did much as they self calibrate at every key-on but possibly the TB balance did something.

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You may want to try "reset adaptive values" with the GS-911. I recently had some idle concerns, after reset, was right as rain.

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I really have to say that the bike is much better at cold start off. I have rode to work every day this week and it has been in the high 50's to low 60's in the morning and I do not need to rev it like I used to. I think that the throttle body sinc did make a difference.

I did not do the "reset adaptive values" yet. The bike starting off cold is not as good as it is on a warm engine but if the bike keeps doing like it is doing I will be happy.

 

Roger L

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