October 16th, 2023, 09:06 AM | #1 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Brian
Location: Austin
Join Date: Aug 2023 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 250R Posts: 10
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'09 250 Drops to 1 cylinder on highway, I'm stumped.
Hey yall I'm a little bit stumped here and would like any ideas or suggestions. Randomly and infrequently (every 20-50 miles), only at high speeds such as on the highway, my 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 250 drops a cylinder. It runs only on one with a top speed of about 60 and when I come to a stop it usually dies. It won't start back up immediately but after a couple of minutes of sitting there (and with some choke) it briefly comes back to life for another chunk of time. I don't think it has ever lost it at less than 8k rpm and always at constant throttle. Works incredibly well and then boom, randomly down to one cyl.
Here's what I've done to try and fix it: - Full carb cleaning and rebuild - Leaned the bike out slightly - Brand new spark plugs - Checked plugs, boots, coils etc for cracks, none I could see. The connector between the coil and boots was maybe a little iffy, but everything reseated - Swapped the left and right coils for shits and giggles I've run out of easy things to test and try other than to just start replacing components and hoping for the best. I don't think its fuel anymore and am suspecting something electrical overheating and failing. Would love any kind of thoughts. |
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October 17th, 2023, 10:05 AM | #2 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Brian
Location: Austin
Join Date: Aug 2023 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 250R Posts: 10
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'09 250 Drops to 1 cylinder on highway, I'm stumped.
Hey yall I'm a little bit stumped here and would like any ideas or suggestions. Randomly and infrequently (every 20-50 miles), only at high speeds such as on the highway, my 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 250 drops a cylinder. It runs only on one with a top speed of about 60 and when I come to a stop it usually dies. It won't start back up immediately but after a couple of minutes of sitting there (and with some choke) it briefly comes back to life for another chunk of time. I don't think it has ever lost it at less than 8k rpm and always at constant throttle. Works incredibly well and then boom, randomly down to one cyl.
Here's what I've done to try and fix it: - Full carb cleaning and rebuild - Leaned the bike out slightly - Brand new spark plugs - Checked plugs, boots, coils etc for cracks, none I could see. The connector between the coil and boots was maybe a little iffy, but everything reseated - Swapped the left and right coils for shits and giggles I've run out of easy things to test and try other than to just start replacing components and hoping for the best. I don't think its fuel anymore and am suspecting something electrical overheating and failing. Would love any kind of thoughts. |
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October 17th, 2023, 11:26 AM | #3 |
Guy Who Enjoys Riding
Name: Jim
Location: North Carolina
Join Date: Jul 2016 Motorcycle(s): Ninja 250 Posts: A lot.
MOTM - Oct '18, Aug '17, Aug '16
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When the problem happens, can you pull over and figure out which cylinder is not firing, maybe by using and IR gun type thermometer aimed at the exhaust head pipes? Or run long enough for one pipe to cool, and then spit on a finger and see which pipe doesn't go "pssss" maybe.
If you know which cylinder is having the trouble, at least you'll reduce the possible sources. Also, you'll be able swap components and know when you've found the culprit, since the cold exhaust pipe will move. Welcome to the board, Brian! |
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October 18th, 2023, 08:59 AM | #4 | |
ninjette.org member
Name: Brian
Location: Austin
Join Date: Aug 2023 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 250R Posts: 10
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Quote:
I trimmed the ignition cable between the plug boot and coil so we'll see if that helped. Time will tell and if not I'll try to identify the side and swap or replace components. |
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October 18th, 2023, 12:34 PM | #5 |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: AKA JacRyann
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Join Date: Dec 2011 Motorcycle(s): CB125T CBR250R-MC19 CBR250RR-MC22 NSR350R-MC21 VF500F CBR600RR SFV650 VFR750F R1M ST1300PA Valkyrie-F6C Posts: A lot.
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You can also verify coil-triggers from ignitor using solenoid light. Will verify that you've got trigger signals to coils. These new-gen ignitors have been known to drop a channel. Amazon - solenoid test light
Can simulate on-road conditions in your garage for testing too. Idle bike and let it warm up. Then hit various electronics with hair-dryer: ignition-switch (jiggle key), start/stop switch, fusebox, relays, ignition-coils, ignitor. See if something acts up when you stress it with heat. Then you won't get stranded. |
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October 18th, 2023, 12:52 PM | #6 | |
ninjette.org member
Name: Brian
Location: Austin
Join Date: Aug 2023 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 250R Posts: 10
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Quote:
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October 18th, 2023, 03:41 PM | #7 |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: AKA JacRyann
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Join Date: Dec 2011 Motorcycle(s): CB125T CBR250R-MC19 CBR250RR-MC22 NSR350R-MC21 VF500F CBR600RR SFV650 VFR750F R1M ST1300PA Valkyrie-F6C Posts: A lot.
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heh, heh.. ignition is fully electronic. Ignitor uses bumps on flywheel to set off spark. Trigger wire at each coil should show signal like this. High full-time with occasional drops to ground to dump coil and fire sparks. Won't show up with test-light because pulses are too short. Solenoid lights have duration-extending circuitry so bulb stays lit long enough for human eyes to see. It always seem to be the left channel that goes out for some reason. Maybe sharing signal with tach may have something to do with it.
Definitely not fuel-related as carbs don't gum up suddenly, then clear themselves while you sit on side of road. |
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October 18th, 2023, 03:48 PM | #8 |
Guy Who Enjoys Riding
Name: Jim
Location: North Carolina
Join Date: Jul 2016 Motorcycle(s): Ninja 250 Posts: A lot.
MOTM - Oct '18, Aug '17, Aug '16
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1 out of 1 members found this post helpful. |
October 18th, 2023, 04:27 PM | #9 | |
ninjette.org member
Name: Brian
Location: Austin
Join Date: Aug 2023 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 250R Posts: 10
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Quote:
The connection seems to reestablish briefly (about 1 second at a time) if I cruise on a single cylinder, and comes back quickly after starting. It happened again today and when I got it started on one cylinder, I revved it a couple times and the second one magically came back. Gonna see if I can clean that terminal or just outright replace it |
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October 18th, 2023, 07:53 PM | #10 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Brian
Location: Austin
Join Date: Aug 2023 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 250R Posts: 10
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This is the connection I was talking about. Any thoughts on if this could be the failure point? Or how to clean it
Last futzed with by atxninjette03; October 18th, 2023 at 07:59 PM. Reason: Fixed photos |
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October 19th, 2023, 11:51 AM | #11 |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: AKA JacRyann
Location: Mesa, AZ
Join Date: Dec 2011 Motorcycle(s): CB125T CBR250R-MC19 CBR250RR-MC22 NSR350R-MC21 VF500F CBR600RR SFV650 VFR750F R1M ST1300PA Valkyrie-F6C Posts: A lot.
MOTY - 2018, MOTM - Nov '17
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Try some Deoxit contact cleaner:
https://www.amazon.com/DeoxITLiquid-...dp/B0015A5AAY/ Can convert to COPS to save some weight and clean ignition-system a bit. Also try opening gas-cap next time it dies to see if tank-vent is clogged. If that relieves built-up vacuum, blow out vent tube and do tank-cap mod. |
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October 19th, 2023, 09:14 PM | #12 |
EX500 full of EX250 parts
Name: Bill
Location: Grand Rapids-ish, MI
Join Date: Jul 2012 Motorcycle(s): '18 Ninja 400 • '09 Ninja 500R (selling) • '98 VFR800 (project) • '85 Vulcan VN700 (sold) Posts: A lot.
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MOTM - Aug '15
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Kawasaki ZX Ignition Coil Pack/ coil over plugs (CoPs) modification Zx coil over plugs Don't expect any measurable performance gains, but it gets rid of problematic spark plug wires, and cleans things up a bit.
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*** Unregistered, I'm not your mom and I'm not paying for your parts, so do whatever you want with your own bike. *** |
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November 3rd, 2023, 05:42 PM | #13 |
CPT Falcon
Name: J.Emmett Turner
Location: Newnan, GA
Join Date: Apr 2009 Motorcycle(s): '08 CP Blue EX250J, '97 unpainted EX250F, 2nd '97 unpainted EX250F (no engine), '07 black EX250F Posts: A lot.
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I definitely had similar behavior where it would run on one cylinder and then die. Usually happened when the tank rapidly cooled either by riding off after it had been parked hot (engine warms tank) or because it started raining. I obviously couldn’t just open the tank in the rain but I eventually realized that was all it took to get back on the road.
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November 3rd, 2023, 08:38 PM | #14 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Brian
Location: Austin
Join Date: Aug 2023 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 250R Posts: 10
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Well as much as I'd hate to admit it. It was the fuel filter. I replaced it with a new, slightly larger one and the problems have seemingly gone away completely. I'll post if it still fails but I doubt it will.
It must've been at the perfect restricted fuel flow where at a certain tank level the pressure wasn't enough to overcome the filter or something and it choked one of the cylinders dry. At 2 gallons left it would barely go above 6k and when I filled it up it fixed it, so I replaced the filter after that. A month's worth of headaches and a $6 fix |
2 out of 2 members found this post helpful. |
November 4th, 2023, 06:03 AM | #15 |
Guy Who Enjoys Riding
Name: Jim
Location: North Carolina
Join Date: Jul 2016 Motorcycle(s): Ninja 250 Posts: A lot.
MOTM - Oct '18, Aug '17, Aug '16
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I'm glad you found the trouble. I had the stock filter at the carb inlet cause trouble too. Without my realizing it, it slowly got more and more restricted until it got to the "perfect" point you said. I now run a pleated paper filter in the line.
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