Hi guys. I'm having issues with my 2003 999. I'm hoping you knowledgeable chaps can give me some pointers before I just take it to Carl Harrison to look at. Starting issue first- From cold it takes a long time to start. It cranks OK (new battery and Exige lead set fitted). It tries to start/fire but if I go anywhere near the throttle or use the choke/fast run lever there is no chance! Once it has started for the first time I can switch it off, ignition on, prod starter and it will fire up instantly. This is still on a cold engine. Running issue- She still takes off like a scalded cat! I can't notice that much difference in first, second or third. Once I'm getting to the higher gears though she won't rev out! Fifth gear will only pull around 7K. At this point there is no sign of a misfire its simply like the last 1/4 turn of the throttle does nothing. I have noticed at this point that if I roll off the throttle slightly it will pick up slightly. It's difficult to do too much testing as my private race track isn't very long . I had another look today and noticed when simply keeping the revs at a constant speed it isn't running very smoothly. Even for a twin. I can notice a miss and an occasional pop. This isn't apparent while riding though. Different plugs don't make any difference (and they look fine) but that's all I've really tried so far. No black smoke from the exhaust and no fuelly smell. My initial thoughts are a suspect coil or TPS. Clutching at straws though. So. Any advise would be gratefully received. Thank you. Mark.
I believe chrisw is on the case, so you're in good hands. I spent most of the winter trying to get my 999 to start and run. I got there in the end after chasing all sorts of red herrings but there's no way I could have done it without Chris's help, as well as advice from Derek. As suggested, a tps reset is a good idea. Just done it on mine (as prompted by Chris and Derek) and starting and idling were immediately improved. Your high speed problems remind me of tank breather problems, so I wonder if you might have low fuel pressure? If you have rust and crud in your tank, you may well have a blocked fuel filter.
Yes there was rust and crud in the tank. Now cleaned, new filter, new in tank hoses and refitted. Whether it was wishful thinking or not but it did start better. I did notice one other issue. When removing and refitting the tank I had a constant dribble of fuel coming from the return. This would say to me that the fuel pressure regulator is goosed! That could be where my problem lies. I’ll try to source a replacement and fit it regardless. Thank you for the continued advice.
I would ask advice on whether that dribbling is normal and to be expected, before dismantling it all again but maybe that's me being lazy. Did you discover the quick disconnects that plug into the flange? I get the impression that lots of people don't know they're there. They are both held in by the same plate with a single bolt. I had trouble getting my tank to line up properly. The solution was to take it off again and apply lots of vaseline to the rubber grommets. In fact it's a good idea to liberally apply vaseline to all your rubber grommets, the ones at the front of the fairing as well as the ones anchoring the dash. One of the things I did in getting my 999 going again was to replace the crank position sensor. I followed advice on a thread and removed the shim under the sensor to reduce the air gap. This immediately brought signs of life to the engine, so I then replaced the sensor itself. Removing the shim is easy but you do run the risk of the crank contacting the sensor. Mine was actually fine though. Replacing the sensor is more involved, as you need to take the water pump cover off, which means draining the coolant.
Hi guys. Thank you all for the input and it seems we have the issue sorted. The main fault was with the fuel pressure regulator. It was leaking! I noticed this when I removed the tank and there was a small but constant leak from the return side of the tank. If it was leaking one way it must also have been leaking the other way resulting in low fuel pressure. This has made starting easier and she now flies!! The in tank hoses and fuel filter were replaced while I had it apart. I did have an engine light on. This was traced to the left hand fan being disconnected. The fan was actually seized and consequently replaced. @chrisw very kindly sent me his standard care package. I was able to use this to reset the TPS and clear any fault codes. Thanks again. Mark.
