Poorly Strom! (sorry it's so long!)

[VstromDan1000]

Today I went to my beloved Strom and she was not happy!
I hadn’t ridden her for a while due to the snow/rain/cold/being lazy.
She is kept outside but under a cover, she is somewhat neglected.  I normally ride very often and clean eeer not so often!  
She can be a touch temperamental when not ridden for a while and today was no exemption.
She wouldn’t start and just kept turning over, when she did start she was very rough and I had the FI warning on the dash.  
It may not surprise some of you to know I’m a complete fu&kwit when it come to mechanical stuff and I rely heavily on my dealer to sort things out for me at great expense.
I rode a lumpy and unhappy bike to work and hoped any issues would be fixed by the fairies, unfortunately they had taken the day off so I had a prod n poke with a bit of help from Google.
I searched FI warning indicators for the V-Strom and learnt some stuff so I thought I’d share it with you.  Forgive me if this is an egg sucking exercise for some but it’s raining outside, and I’m bored!!
I had always thought that FI stood for Fuel Injection, and when this flashed on the dash I thought it was an issue with the fuel injection.  WRONG, it means Fault Indicator!  OK so how do I know what fault is causing the problem?  Apparently I need to put the bike in DEALER MODE and check the FAULT CODE displayed!  Yeah? OK?  How do I do that?

What you do is this! (I did this in a shirt and tie in the freezing cold within 5 minutes, so anyone can do this and sorry about the quality of the photo's but they were taken with my phone)

Remove the seat from your bike, standing with the tank to your left look between the frame/seat rail and the exterior panel (please excuse the technical speak but as I said before I’m a fu&kwit)

In-between these two you will see two electrical sockety things.  One of  which is white with a black rubber cover.

Squeezing your fingers into the gap and pulling gently will bring the socket into the light of day, pull back the cover and you will see SIX little holes.  Out of these SIX holes the ones on the left (or right if it’s up the other way) are identical.
 
You need to bridge this cap with a small metallic conducting interface,  I used a paper clip (yes a paper clip!)  Turn on the ignition and bridge this gap.  Now on the dash where FI was flashing will be a fault code and it will be one of the following codes with the corresponding description of the fault!
C00 No error
C11 Camshaft Position Sensor (CMPS) - 1000 Only
C12 Crankshaft Position Sensor (CKPS)
C13 Intake Air Pressure Sensor (IAPS)
C14 Throttle Position Sensor
C15 Engine Coolant Temp. Sensor (ECTS)
C17 Intake Air Pressure Sensor (IAPS) - 07 & Up 650 Only
C21 Intake Air Temp. Sensor (IATS)
C22 Atmospheric Pressure Sensor (APS) - 1000 Only
C23 Tip Over Sensor (TOS)
C24 Ignition Signal #1 (Front Coil)
C25 Ignition Signal #2 (Rear Coil)
C28 Secondary Throttle Valve Actuator (STVA)
C29 Secondary Throttle Position Sensor (STPS)
C31 Gear Position Sensor (GPS)
C32 Injector Signal #1 ( Front)
C33 Injector Signal #2 (Rear)
C40 ISC Valve - 07 & Up 650 Only
C41 Fuel Pump Control System (Fuel Pump Relay)
C42 Ignition Switch Signal (Anti-Theft)
C44 Heated Oxygen Sensor (HO2S)
C49 PAIR Control Solenoid Valve

I discovered that today’s fault on my bike was a C28,  which in full proper definition means “When no actuator control signal is supplied from the ECM or communication signal does not reach ECM or operation voltage does not reach STVA motor, C28 is indicated. STVA can not operate. STVA, lead wire / coupler connection.” (WTF???)
so I rang my dealer and said ‘WTF???’  He informed me that this is a butter-fly valve that never goes wrong (feel free to prove me/him wrong!) in the secondary Throttle valve and it was a sensor that’s probably got damp/dirty and is not communicating properly, he suggested squirting liberal amounts of WD40 onto the sensor and this would cure it.  However when I asked where I would expect to find the sensor, his reply was ‘er, um, don't know!’  this did not inspire much confidence!  
So on returning home I have squirted the entire engine and anything else I could find with WD40 and now hope for the best!  Results as yet are pending cos its still raining and dark!  Stay tuned if you have trouble sleeping!

If you or anyone you know has had the same issues then please feel free to chip in!!

[Sven]

Nice work, Inspector Clouseau.  

[robby]

damn you v-strom dan
I felt I was your dopple ganger when you said u was a complete f@ckwit when it comes to mechanical stuff and was willing to be blood brothers but then you got technical....u r now black balled from the f@ckwit brigade and promoted to...them that know a bit brigade

[jonH]

this is quite useful info - worth a sticky andy?

[Fatbelly]

definitely stickable, I reckon.

[essexstrom]

Hi Dan look this up on the web the unit is on the throttle body and is fitted to lots of Suzuki efi bikes and fails a lot, you can try contact cleaner (spray) in the connections to the valve not the ecm, pm me lost your number
Les

[coopmick]

Nicely written any one wound think you had skills as a detective        

[VstromDan1000]

Nicely written any one wound think you had skills as a detective        

shhhhhh don't tell anyone

[2112]

Good work, informative. Any joy with the WD 40 bath ???

[VstromDan1000]

Good work, informative. Any joy with the WD 40 bath ???

I'll know on Thursday, which is when I'll next be on it (subject to snow!! )

[StromGeeza]

Thanks for the pics, nice to learn somehting about what's under the seat!

Looking forward to further tutorials on things like 'putting air in the tyres', 'installing a magic tree air freshener', and 'skimming 2 thou off the cylinder head in your lunchbreak'.  

Cheers!

Geeza

[Sven]

Looking forward to further tutorials on things like 'putting air in the tyres', 'installing a magic tree air freshener', and 'skimming 2 thou off the cylinder head in your lunchbreak'.  

Geeza

     

[VstromDan1000]

Q.  did it work?

A. yes! then no, the yes again, then no  

Looks like I might do what Essexstrom suggests and take the tank off and attack it direct!

Does anyone have a 'How to remove you tank and airbox' guide and a 'Poke around and see if anything happens' guide???  preferably with pictures??

[VstromDan1000]

Spent the day stripping the bike down, took the tank and airbox off, found all the bits and bobs (techno speak again, sorry!) and gave everthing the wiggle test and a squirt with some ACF50, put it all back together again and.................  its still broken

now booked into the dealer on Tuesday for open wallet surgery!!

[2112]

Bugger, I thought the WD treatment would have done it, keep us posted  

[VstromDan1000]

Spent the day stripping the bike down, took the tank and airbox off, found all the bits and bobs (techno speak again, sorry!) and gave everthing the wiggle test and a squirt with some ACF50, put it all back together again and................. its still broken

now booked into the dealer on Tuesday for open wallet surgery!!

Got the bike back today. Fully fit and working 8-)

It was the Secondary Throttle Valve Actuator (STVA) that was sticking, the spanner monkey took the tank and airbox off and lubed up the thottle body butterfly and other bits and bobs. Gave it a road test and cleared the FI.  cost £95  

When I took it apart and gave it a once over I think I could have done a bit more greasing and spraying and it would have been job done.  Oh well, its fixed now and I'll know for the future.  

[2112]

Pleased it's sorted, £95 is not too bad, I hope you have a trouble free summer  

[coopmick]

Glad it's all sorted    

[Backdraft]

 Chuffed u got it sorted.