Cold morning start issue...

I checked the forum and didn't see this exact issue...

The last few days the weather has been in the mid to low 30's(F) in the morning. When I start the bike (garage kept over night) the normal 2,000 rpm warm up idle immediately falls to 900 rpm and almost stalls. i give it a little gas for a few seconds and the idle will climb to it's normal warm up level with no further issues. the FI light does not come on and there are no issues or strange activity once the bike is moving. the dealer said it might be the computer compensating for the cold weather; it can figure out what to do and bogs out because of the cold. I'm not so sure...

Any suggestions or areas I might want to look at if this keeps happening? So far it's been 4 starts in a row with the same issue in sub 45 degree weather. The battery tests fine at off, idle and over 4,000.

 

mine does the same and has been chased to the battery.
put a batt tender on it for cold nights and no more problems

 

The cold start issues happens within 1-2 seconds of the engine firing. It cranks for about 1-2 seconds before start up; sometimes less. Within 5 seconds of starting and holding the throttle open at 3 to 4 grand it settles into it's normal warm up idle.

I haven't heard of the VFR having a start up program but it sure makes sense; I'll do a little research on that. Thanks

 

dont ask me why, it just is.
I went over everything 10 times and after putting multi meter on the batt.
just a split second after starting it just blinks out.
stator is fine. R/R is fine

 

then explain why the multi meter blinked to zero when hooked up to the batt?
again outside temp under 30 degrees

 

could it be that in the cold start situation, in this case that the battery isn't charging enough from the R/R to compensate for the juice it fully needs?? Since the alternator output at idle is minimum??

 

Is it possible that it was just changing ranges, due to the quick drop in voltage caused by the starter drain?

:crazy:

 

Mine has always behaved as you've described. Although I've never given it throttle while it's in the "bog" phase. Within five or six seconds of the RPM drop the "auto-choke" seems to find a mixture that it likes, without stalling, and the RPM's rise to 2100-2200 during warm-up. Never really thought of it as an issue, but I did have a stator failure at 16k, so maybe I was asking too much of the electrical during cold weather (non-riding) months??? Either way, I'm using a battery tender this season. I havn't yet had a cold weather start while using the tender, but if it's helpful I could fire it up late morning tomorrow and let you know how the bike starts? Should be 20f by 11am MST.

 

What mine did might be a hint at something; if started cold and allowed to warm up for 3 or 4 minutes, all was well. If it was turned off within about 1 minute of cold starting, re-starting within about 5 minutes would exhibit similar symptoms to yours, SS. It would run really rich and just kind of lope over unless some throttle was applied for about 5 seconds (2500-3000 RPM). Then everything was fine. I never pursued it, so I have nothing else meaningful to add.

 

This only happens on a cold start after sitting over night Lgn... I started again this morning and didn't touch it; it bogged out for a few seconds and then settled into it normal 2100 rpm idle.

It's just strange, i never had this issue with my 05. Could it be because the map is different on the 07 with the different VTEC engagement and higher idle speed (7000 vs. 6400 and 950 vs. 1200)?

I'm beginning to think it's just the cold weather. Once it gets past the bogging out it never gives me an issue. Maybe I'll cover with bike with a warm blanket for it's over night slumber...

 

Mines started doing that too!!!!!

Only started this year. On first start up after over night lay up she coughs into life at about 800 rpm, idles rough for 10 - 20 secs and then fast idles around 2000 rpm as usual. I've changed the plugs, balanced SVs, checked coolant and made sure cold idle linkages are free to move. Some info about it on Biker's Oracle, but no definite answer as to what causes it or how to stop it!!! My tick-over is now adjusted to around 1300 rpm to stop the initial bogging down. It's helped, but what's causing it?

 

I dont know if they do this in the UK but here in the winter they change the fuel mixture with additives and other crap that is supposed to be "good for the environment" and robs you of a few miles per gallon. maybe this cheap gas is screwing with the start up?

Did it again this morning.. no changes even though it did warm up to the high 40's this morning.

 

I've had carburated bikes that suffered, but injected bikes shouldn't suffer. She fires on all cylinders despite the slow tick over. The SV's open up more due to the wax idle unit on cold start to allow more air to bypass the throttle bodies and the ECU sorts the fuel / air mix. It only lasts for 10 - 15 seconds, but it never happened last year or any year before!!!!!!! Everything seems to do what it's supposed to do, just seems llike the ECU is a bit slow to make it's mind up about the fuel / air mix. Got to admit that first thing in the morning I don't want to make complex decisions either. Tea or coffee is about my limit!!!!! :wink:

 

I just started the bike for the first time in two weeks of cold tempertures, and with a battery tender on the whole time. It did not make one bit of diffirence, it still, without stalling or throttle input, dropped RPM's to about 700 for 5-10 seconds and then very quickly went to warm up RPM's.

 

I keep an 18" Golden Rod on under my bike 24/7 and never have a problem
firing up the bike during cold weather.
What's a Golden Rod you ask? . . . It's what I kept inside of
hanging lockers on my sailboat to keep things dehumidified.
It's similar to having a 15 watt bulb on all the time under your bike.
Here is the website that explains it better than I can . . .

GoldenRod Dehumidifiers - Introduction - Oxnard, California USA

On my Suzuki RG500 I noticed white powder on the enigne and
realized it was from the humidity.
After using the Golden Rod under the bike I never had that problem again.
Try it, you'll like it ~

 

For the wife I hope. Sorry, actually sounds like a usefull product.