• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

  • Beginning April 1st, and running through April 30th, there is a new 2024 BMW MOA Election discussion area within The Club section of the forum. Within this forum area is also a sticky post that provides the ground rules for participating in the Election forum area. Also, the candidates statements are provided. Please read before joining the conversation, because the rules are very specific to maintain civility.

    The Election forum is here: Election Forum

poor idle low speed performance

R

rchrdn2916

New member
I have a 2003 R1200CL that I just got out of the shop for its annual look over and tune up. I took it for the first ride and noticed the idle was a little rough but kept going. When I came to my first stop the engine died. About every other stop the engine would stall after pulling in the clutch and coming to a complete stop. Then I noticed the engine would hesitate from a dead stop and I had to rev the engine to get going. Poor low speed performance. But after I got going it ran great at normal city & highway speeds. At idle it would be normal for 1/2 minute then all of sudden stumble and almost die for 15-20 seconds then idle normal. It kept this up as long as it sat there idling. As it idled, I put my hand behind the exhaust and noticed the miss was coming out of the right cylinder. Any ideas? A hose or wire came loose. Got some water in the gas? Of course, I'm going to call the shop and ask them what the heck happen after paying for their very expensive tune up.
 
That's a good idea, I looked in the repair manual under the battery section and one of the first things they mentioned was to check the battery first before diagnosing other systems. It also mentions the battery must be at a maximum charge for important systems to operate properly.
 
Also, check the air intake on the offending cylinder. Specifically, it's easy to dislodge or damage the intake runner (2 inch rubber hose between air box and cylinder), especially as the rubber gets old. However, go ahead and check the airbox also looking for intake leaks.

After that, is checking the spark... specifically the condition of the coil if you have the individual coils over each spark plug. The original coils tend to rust and start shorting to the cylinder head. The replacements are now chromed to stop the rust. I put heat shrink over mine to slow down this effect.

Last would be the hall effect sensor wiring. Check for cracked/degraded wire insulation between the sensor and plug under the tank. These are known to crack and fail, especially when they get hot (as in sitting still with no air flow to cool the engine). I don't know if the new replacements are better... but at least they CAN be replaced.
 
If it was idling properly before the tune-up, then demand that the shop fix it.

Ideally, learn to do it yourself. Tune-ups on the Oilhead motors are really very simple.

Check the right-side throttle cable, it should be fully seated in the cable adjuster at the throttle body. If it's sitting on top of the adjuster, that's your problem.
 
You may want to perform a Throttle Postion Sensor reset. It will take about a tankful of gas, mileage-wise, to start running smooth again.

Procedure for TPS reset: turn the ignition key on (do not start) and slowly roll open the throttle fully and back 3 times. Turn key off. After that, start 'er up and ride! It may take a tankful of fuel for it to take effect.

Cheers!
 
It's back in the shop, and hopefully they'll fix it at very little or no cost because, it was idling just fine before it went in the first time. This 'tune up' was way too expensive. Years ago, I owned three different Harley Davidsons and they very rarely saw the inside of a shop. I've always worked on my own stuff. What worries me about the BMW is bleeding the brakes and while it's in there they may just go ahead and check the valves and look for things I may miss. I do all of the oil changes and fluid Maintenace. I guess If I want to save money is to start doing more myself.
 
CajunRider said:
Also, check the air intake on the offending cylinder. Specifically, it's easy to dislodge or damage the intake runner (2 inch rubber hose between air box and cylinder), especially as the rubber gets old. However, go ahead and check the airbox also looking for intake leaks.

After that, is checking the spark... specifically the condition of the coil if you have the individual coils over each spark plug. The original coils tend to rust and start shorting to the cylinder head. The replacements are now chromed to stop the rust. I put heat shrink over mine to slow down this effect.

Last would be the hall effect sensor wiring. Check for cracked/degraded wire insulation between the sensor and plug under the tank. These are known to crack and fail, especially when they get hot (as in sitting still with no air flow to cool the engine). I don't know if the new replacements are better... but at least they CAN be replaced.
Click to expand...
R12CL, so it has but a single throttle body, if memory serves.
 
CajunRider said:
I was dumb enough to buy TWO ChromeHeads... which means I have FOUR of those crappy ignition coils that tend to rust to pieces.

I'm a glutton for punishment... :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
Last year I noticed the idle was getting a little rough, but it never effected low speed performance until this year.
 
vetbmwrider said:
You may have a battery that is going bad.
Click to expand...
As far as I know the battery is 4-years old, should I install new to eliminate this possibility? It cranks great, accepts a charge and shows 12.6 volts. But that may mean nothing if it's not putting out the amps.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

R
'04 R1150 new low idle (intermittent)
Replies
0
Views
2K
r65_steve
R
B
Strange tachometer behavior
Replies
3
Views
367
pauls1150
pauls1150
M
Voltage Issues - 2014 R1200GSA
Replies
9
Views
308
Omega Man
Omega Man
R
Pulls to the right?
Replies
11
Views
1K
mhines
mhines
akbeemer
Battery Woes
Replies
17
Views
966
globalrider
globalrider
Back
Top