[2500hd4x]

Bike: 03 DL1000,~65K miles. Power commander III.

Issue: Runs but NO power. Farts and burps a lot if revved. :headbang:

Situation: I am working out of town. A long way from home. Brought my bike over about three weeks ago to where I am working, just in time for tropical storm Lee to drop 15+ inches of rain on it. I am in a apartment complex, so it sat in the parking lot throughout the storm. Never flooded, but it rained sideways a lot here (Bay St. Louis, MS). Anyhow, today I decided to ride the bike as my passenger was not going to be working today. Started up fine, but burped and sputtered and did not want to rev. Idled it for a few minutes then hit Hwy 90 (65mph right after I turn onto it). It leveled out and felt like normal. As soon as I got into some turns going to the port, It fell down again and burped, farted, sputtered. It was quite embarrassing at the guard shack at 5:30 in the morning. After I got to work, I checked out all the connections I could with just the seat and side fairing off, nothing loose or corroded and no obvious water. Then I had to work for 12+ hrs.

The ride home was awful. It idles fine, but has no power at all. Then all of sudden it will surge with power and then fall right back off. It has a "flat" sound when revved in neutral. It seems to be running on both cylinders, but just way down on power. No FI light or anything. Any ideas? Take it out back and shoot it? Sell it for scrap? It ran fine before the storm. :cry Any help or suggestions would be most appreciated. I know it is hard to diagnose on a computer, but I was hoping there would be a relay or a magic button that when it gets wet, you have no power. Like I said, any help or suggestions as to what to tear into tomorrow would be appreciated.

 

[donstrom6]

The front cylinder sparkplug well can trap water, which will short out the plug. There is a drain hole, but it's typically plugged by crap. Take a look there first.

If that's not it, I'd be concerned with your mileage that the the fuel pump filter is clogged. There is a primary screen type filter and an internal mesh filter that is not replaceable. Rather than spending huge $$ on a new pump (that's not in stock anyway), you can mod the existing pump to bypass the internal filter and install an external one. VSRI has a thread on it.

But I'd go for the flooded spark plug well first.

 

[BumbleBee]

back to basics

sounds like a fuel issue, possibly fuel delivery, before we go guessing, do a search and checkout fuel pump volume test. Is it possible you got some bad gas? you mention pc III did it act up before the storm or after or did you have a chance to ride it.

dl 1000 quick check

throttle body boots- are they seated properly
fuel pump pressure/restriction- check volume spec.
check connectons on pcIII - hook up and check map or disconnect for test run.
vacuum line and plugs- are they all in place?
water in gas?- add seafoam or dump tank and start with fresh
battery connections- good and clean and, tight does it turn over good? check voltage
spark plugs are deep into the heads they are sealed with a boot-did water get down into that area? not likely but the back head is easy enough to check.

hope that helps

 

[2500hd4x]

The front cylinder sparkplug well can trap water, which will short out the plug. There is a drain hole, but it's typically plugged by crap. Take a look there first.

If that's not it, I'd be concerned with your mileage that the the fuel pump filter is clogged. There is a primary screen type filter and an internal mesh filter that is not replaceable. Rather than spending huge $$ on a new pump (that's not in stock anyway), you can mod the existing pump to bypass the internal filter and install an external one. VSRI has a thread on it.

But I'd go for the flooded spark plug well first.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will check that first thing in the morning.

 

[2500hd4x]

sounds like a fuel issue, possibly fuel delivery, before we go guessing, do a search and checkout fuel pump volume test. Is it possible you got some bad gas? you mention pc III did it act up before the storm or after or did you have a chance to ride it.

dl 1000 quick check

throttle body boots- are they seated properlyAs far as I can tell without pulling the tank, they seem to be in place.
fuel pump pressure/restriction- check volume spec.
check connectons on pcIII - hook up and check map or disconnect for test run. Good idea!
vacuum line and plugs- are they all in place? They seem to be. I checked what I could without pulling the tank.
water in gas?- add seafoam or dump tank and start with fresh Definitely possible, because it acted up again after the twisty port road. Will check in AM. This is the same gas from last week that ran fine though, prior to the storm.
battery connections- good and clean and, tight does it turn over good? check voltage Turns over like a champ. Clean connections, 12.5V DC.
spark plugs are deep into the heads they are sealed with a boot-did water get down into that area? not likely but the back head is easy enough to check. Will check this first thing in the morning.

hope that helps

:mrgreen:
It ran fine last Friday, the day before the storm. The gas is the same gas that was in it then. I ran it two days last week and it was fine. It has approximately 1/2 tank remaining. I will do the fuel volume test if it isn't water in the plug boots.
Thanks for the suggestions! I appreciate it!

 

[donstrom6]

Keep in mind that the plugs (for both front and rear cylinders) are kind of bear to get to. For the front, you'll need to remove the radiator bracket screw on the lower left side, slide the rad to the right to disengage the peg, and rotate the rad bottom forward. You shouldn't need to disconnect any hoses, just move it enough to get something in there to clean the well out.

For the rear, you'll at least need to lift the tank (not fully remove).

Once you get access, dry out the wells with paper towels or whatever, and for good measure disconnect each plug boot and hose down w/ a cleaner (contact, brake, carb, whatever you have handy). Let dry and reasssemble.

Hopefully it's just something this simple. There are a lot of threads on how to pull the cowling and remove the tank if you want to go that far, but you may be able to squeak by with just this.

Good luck!!

 

[2500hd4x]

It dumped about 12oz of water out of the front spark plug bore this morning after I cleaned out the drain hole. There was a dirt dauber nest in my drain hole for the spark plug. Cleaned it out with contact cleaner and a coat hanger, cleaned up the plug boot, plugged it back in and all is well. Full power now for sure. I guess it wasn't running on both cylinders. Went for a nice long ride afterwards. Thanks for all the help and suggestions! :hurray:

 

[donstrom6]

Great to hear that!!

Now go enjoy the beast!!! :hurray:

 

[BumbleBee]

It dumped about 12oz of water out of the front spark plug bore this morning after I cleaned out the drain hole.

that must of been some storm! glad to hear your back in the saddle!

 

[agrippa1]

I live next door to you in Long Beach. We got just over 12 inches of rain here.

We can get an awful lot of rain, especially in the summer and during tropical storm season. I suggest that you buy a good bike cover. My C 14 was completely covered during the storm and except for a bit of dirt that splashed up on the lower fairing she stayed dry. During a real blow she'll be inside, but that rarely happens.

Bike covers don't cost that much and give you piece of mind when it pours overnight.

Here's hoping that we're done for this season.