Yep that’s pretty much what happens though it can occur while changing up/down in any gear. When the revs drop or the clutch is in it just loses interest- never know if its going to stall or not. Also noticed today and yesterday it feels a bit more gutless than usual and more ‘vibraty’. If it had more than one cylinder I would think one wasn’t firing! Still rideable but when I get time I’m taking it back to the dealer again.
Not sure if this is going to work but I’ll try cutting and pasting from an Greek via EU web site.
17
0175/07 Greece
Category: Motor vehicles
Product: Motorcycle
Brand: YAMAHA
Type/number of model: Motorcycles, model YZF MT 03 ‘06.
The recall concerns 2006 model year YAMAHA YZF MT 03 ’06 motorcycles.
Country of origin: Italy
No picture available.
Injuries
In affected motorcycles, high-pressure washing or long usage in rainy conditions can cause water infiltration inside the main wiring harness’ protection. This water could remain for a long time inside the wiring harness area, which is U-shaped and trickle down into the TPS wire through a joint. This could cause a corrosion problem, especially inside the TPS coupler. As a consequence, the TPS signal could be disturbed causing incorrect ignition advance and injection timing to occur, with one or more of the following symptoms:
- engine difficult to start;
- bad engine response;
or - muffler overheating that may cause certain plastic parts to melt and/or muffler damage.
These symptoms (especially the second one) could lead to loss of control of the motorcycle.
Moreover, this product poses a serious risk of injuries because breakage of the side stand bracket may occur when the product is placed on its stand and the stand is then used as a pivot and during transport. No breakages have occurred whilst the product has been ridden. The breakage is caused by stress concentration due to bracket shape and its fixing structure. Breakage of the side stand bracket could cause side-fall of the motorcycle, resulting in possible injury of the rider. During transportation on a trailer/van/truck, an accident is possible due to instability of the machine after breakage.
Voluntary corrective actions taken by the importer.
*Sort of worked!
Wish I was better at this stuff, then I could post the link. (If I get time, I’ll try that tomorrow evening. *
Any of this sound familiar?
Hi oldguy. Thanks for that. Its been cutting out on average once or twice per journey this week so its back to the dealer tomorrow morning. Maybe it is dampness in the wiring loom- I have ridden it in the pouring rain a few times. So frustrating as I’m just starting to get better at riding it but every time it cuts out or misbehaves it chips away at the confidence.
oh and there was me thinking we were talking about men…:D:w00t:
That’ll be the TPS then
Could be. Both the last two times I took it in they told me they had adjusted the TPS. Maybe it needs replacing.
I had a load of trouble of a similar nature last year on the V-Max; big diff is it’s carbs vs injection on yours. However, it was caused by a duff battery with the knock-on effect of the fuel pump not working properly, thus engine running lean, thus overheating (with a bit of evaporation in the carbs as a bonus). Damn thing used to conk out in summer traffic, guaranteed.
Whether this is true for any other Yamaha models or not, the fact is that at tickover, the V-Max generates barely enough voltage to charge the battery. Maybe worth getting that side of things checked out too?
Thanks. Oh dear, this problem just seems to be expanding by the minute! The bikes already on its second battery- the first one wouldn’t hold a charge for more than a few days so was changed under warranty. Shouldn’t the dealer be able to do some sort of diagnostic test to see where the problem(s) are? They’ve been pretty helpful so far but the problems still there and I’m not convinced that they are going to be able to find the cause by trial and error.
Shouldn’t the dealer be able to do some sort of diagnostic test to see where the problem(s) are? They’ve been pretty helpful so far but the problems still there and I’m not convinced that they are going to be able to find the cause by trial and error.
Of course. Well…in theory.
Like your doctor, these things diagnose symptoms and draw conclusions from what they know is variable and/or goes wrong. What they don’t know is that the water has got into point X and f*cked up the received information. That’s the job of the motorcycle techi to know about and to look for. That’s why decent manufacturers issue service bulletins to their franchised agents and, when realy feeling guilty or caught out, issue re calls. That stated, they try to keep them pretty quiet, for obvious reasons, and it’s down to the techi. in the back to keep on top of these bulletins.
I think the time has come for a thorough trawl through the internet, download the info and go see the supplying dealer again with the evidence.
Try simple searches first such as Yamaha MT 03 problems, recalls, faults, and so on. Don’t ignore foreign sites, particularly American.
Hope you have better luck than I’m having with the Aprilia importers.
Thanks again oldguy.
Okay, so armed with the advice on this thread I went back to Infinity again this morning. Gary (head technician?) met me at the gates and the first thing he said to me before even looking at the bike was ‘there’s nothing wrong with it’. Right- so I sort of new where things were going. Anyway, kept things polite and Gary took it out for a 3 minute ride and told me there was nothing wrong with it. Then the conversation went something like this: me: ‘What about the cutting out’- Gary:‘how often does it happen?’- ‘every day’- ‘how often each day?’- ‘at least once a day’- ‘yeah thats normal’ :ermm:–‘okay then what caused the oil to p*ss out over the engine casing and out of the reservoir pipe?’- ‘don’t know’ other mechanic-‘they all do that’
- ‘what about the TPS?’- ‘well there are some faulty ones but yours was changed at the first service’-‘why did it need adjusting again when I brought it in last week then?’-‘don’t know’. ‘what about the overheating then?’- ‘they do run hot, and look the fans cutting in.’- ‘yeah but it gets much much hotter than this in traffic then it starts cutting out every two minutes’- ‘they all do that’ :w00t:
Anyway Gary has offered to send it back to Yamaha next week but he’s sure they’ll find nothing wrong with it :D. In the meantime I 've asked them to fax through the paperwork from the work they did last week and a note to say they think ‘there’s nothing wrong with it’ (strangely he was a bit reticent about doing the latter so I might need to write a note to him confirm what he said!). I’m being patient because I want the problem resolved. If it means sending it back to Yamaha for a full check then so be it. And if all they come back with ‘they all do that’ ?? Well- Fitness for Purpose anyone…
Absolutely outrageous m8, if “they all do that” then they’re not much use. I’m surprised he didn’t say it would “ride up with wear” too. Hope you get a result.
So, if the front wheel falls off your car while doing a three point turn, that’s OK, cos “they all do that”.
No it aint, and if “they all do that” it’s product fault and they have sold you a product knowing it to be defective with, presumably, not telling you that “they all do that”.
If they’re sending it back to Yamaha, a couple of things are possible.
1: It’s beyond them to fix. (That might be a financial decision.)
2: They think there is an endemic fault that is for their supplier (Yamaha) to sort out.
I’d let them send it back, keeping carefull records. Just insist on a courtesy bike while you’ve not got yours. It could be gone a fair few days and you do depend on your bike for getting to work, I’m sure.
Er, you may have to accept a CG125 (the shame of it) but at least your still mobile.
Don’t start on “fitness for purpose”. It’s apparently an urban myth that some sort of legal status exists in this form. (I’ve had to strike it out of design and build contracts for some time since getting legal advice at Q.C.'s chambers level.) At best it’s a catch all phrase for circumstances covered by other legal rights to redress.
Now. I still need to sort out my Aprilia fuelling problems so watch for a new thread.
Keep us posted. This might influence some of us on future buying decisions.
There’s something else at the back of my mind about this - fuel quality. It’s an issue with my V-Max and I have to use regular shots of STP or Redex else it all goes pear. So, what fuel have you been using?
Larry Webb at PDQ is fond of telling me “modern petrol is rubbish” and “never buy petrol at Tescos, buy a name brand”. It appears to be true. With modern fuel, especially 95 octane “cheap” stuff, the idle jets on the V-Max carbs get clogged by a sort of gooey emulsion pretty quickly. Also, a guy at work who is a solid BMW fan had loadsa trouble with one of his bikes; the BMW techs told him that he either needed 98 octane fuel (pretty much unobtainable, so use an octane booster) or to have the chip remapped to cope with 95 octane and accept lower performance.
I really don’t have any knowledge about fuel injection systems tbh, but maybe this could also be an issue with your MT?
Possible, but with evidence from elsewhere, fairly unlikely given that this is a make/model with a known endemic fault giving exactly the same symptoms.
I’d still love to know what the manufacturers fix was on the re called batch.
Odd bit. My Pegaso has the same lump with separate twin exhaust and I don’t have this problem even using supermarket petrol. But I do have a different electrical package including the fuel injector assembly and ECU.
Odd last bit. Tescos super unleaded (part bio fuel) is the pump fuel of choice for a lot of production and lower formula car racers but it apparently has to be fresh in the tank that day.
Interesting - it’s rated 99 octane, but (Larry Webb again) “it goes off, if it sits in carb float bowls for a week it’s no good”. Maybe the components separate or exposure to air? Good info though oldguy, it all builds the picture. I agree that fuel is an unlikely cause of the problem in hand though.
To be fair to Infinity Clapham, Dean did fax me over a comprehensive summary of what they’ve done to the bike. I’ve got to call him Monday to see when a courtesy bike will be available but it should be going in to Yamaha Tuesday.
Don’t know if its significant but apparently the TPS wasn’t replaced, just adjusted.
Same sh*t, different country !!!Problemas mecanico MT03
Note: 2008 date.
2008 - 5 41
0172/08 Spain Category: Motor vehicles
Product: Motorcycles
Brand: YAMAHA
Type/number of model: MT-03
Description: Motorcycles with the following chassis numbers: RMO24000000301 to RMO24000006814 RMO24000000301 to RMO24000006814 RMO24000008001 to RMO24000009153
RMO24000008001 to RMO24000009153.
Country of origin: Italy
Burns
The product poses a risk of burns because there is a possibility that the left silencer protector of the MT-03 model’s exhaust pipe will melt, because its design is not suitable for the high temperatures that occur in the part during use.
The distance between the protector and the silencer is not sufficient to prevent the effects of the heat. Voluntary corrective actions taken by the importer.
Typical Spanish. Note and treat the symptom, don’t think about the cause.
Sorry, I only just found this thread. I didn’t realise the MT-03 uses the same engine as the XT660X I have.
I’m not technical at all, but from what I have read about the XT enigne is that there are some symptons that sound familiar, particular with the cutting out and running rough. I understand that there was a recall for some TPS some ECUs on the XTs. I wouldn’t have though the bikes share the same ECUs, but quite possibly the same TPS.
I would recommend registering on the XT660.com website and having a look through. There’s loads of information on this engine and there’s a couple of very technical guys, and everybody is very helpful.
Also, my bike ran really hot when I first had it (couple of months now). Like you said, particularly when stuck in traffic, fan goes on then all of the sudden you feel like somebody turned the heating on a bit too hight. The temp warning light never went on (there’s no gauge), but at some point, I had a coolant hose pop off. I still don’t know if it’s related (the crappy clamps yamaha use on these have a reputation of coming loose, so I consequently replaced them with normal clamps), but I had the bike checked out with Poleposition and while they were looking it through they noticed one exhaust manifold was consistently about 100C warmer than the other. They put it down to valve clearance, and they were right. They were way out and since they adjusted it the bike runs a lot smoother, and I have the feeling that it runs a little cooler as well.
Yamaha recommends the valve clearance check and adjustment should be done after 12k miles or something, but somebody told me it should be a lot sooner on singles because they take such a beating. I was recommend to have it checked at least every 6000 miles. And I think for less than £45 (that’s what I got charged) it’s definitly worth it.
Again, I’m not really technical, but just talking about personal experience. It’s really quite poor the shop you bought it from new is not giving a s***.
The XT660 and the MT 03 possibly do share a common TPS and ECU. It’s easy enough to re map the ECU to give the different performance characteristics needed for a trail or a sports bike.
Both engines are (reportedly) built by Minarelli who are (I think) at least part owned by Yamaha and produce this lump as a “customer engine”. Other manufacturers buy the basic lump and just tick the options boxes they want factory fitted. There appears to be a choice of two gearbox ratios, for instance.
Aprilia (reportedly) fit their own electronics package and I’m not aware of similar problems with the Strada/Pegaso which use this lump. (There are problems, just different ones.)
What is going to vary a lot is the installation detail and something like water getting into the TPS (EU report earlier) might easily be the cause of the problem. Friggin’ irritating if it turns out all this grief is down to the poor fit of a grommet or a missing shroud.
More irritating is that this is a problem known to Yamaha and should therefore be known to their agents, yet they are fannying about and not taking the problem on board seriously enough.
I think I’ll add Yamaha to my “never buy list”.
Aprilia are close to being added under the “never buy again” section for different, but just as irritating, reasons.
Thanks driesie sounds like you had very similar problem with your XT. I suppose the bad news is that the list of possible causes is getting longer! Valve clearance is a new one and it definitely sounds like a possiblity to me. The interesting thing about the valve clearance theory is that from what you say it affects the heat of one exhaust over the other. Seeing as its the left exhaust on my bike that gets really hot you could be onto something. I hope and expect Yamaha to check everything on the bike when it goes in to them but the list at the moment reads:
Has the TPS got a fault due to water ingress or otherwise and if its replaced whats to stop it happening again?
Is the left exhaust muffler itself faulty and/or is the valve clearance causing it to overheat?
Is the ECU faulty?
Is there a restriction or blockage preventing oil circulating and causing it to overheat?
Is there a blockage in the water coolant system causing not to be effective?
Is there a problem with the clutch (caused by heat?) that makes the engine cut out when shifting gear say at ~40mph (as happened again today)
Has the overheating at some point affected the piston ring seal or something?
Is it a problem with the fuel itself?
As regards Infinity as I’ve said before they have been on balance helpful so far and I think it’s a bit strong to say that they don’t give a sh*t. 