Been loving my magna since I bought a it a few months back. It runs great!!
Except when running on the freeway for about 20 mins. Worse during hot weather or right after stop/go traffic and then I speed up.
Only fix that has worked is to sit for about 5 mins, and wait. I have popped the gas cap to make sure there isnt a vacuum, and I have switched from reserve to main to see if it was the petcock. It doesnt seem to help :(
A local dealer said it might be the fuel filter or it isnt venting correctly.
Its not overheating, and the the fluids are all up to par.
Not sure what to do. Its super annoying and is making me crazy! Im afraid to get stuck again on the freeway.
When it stalls.. are there any other symptoms??
Like the lights go out..
Does it sputter and die or does it just die
After the wait and you re-start it, does it go another 20 minutes and die again, or does it only go 5 minutes?
If you pull the choke out, does it try to start?
Just trying to narrow down possibilities.
What Hoot said.... Might also be the vacuum shut-off valve between the tank and the carbs. Symptoms sound like that might be it, but the failure rate on that valve isn't real high.
It happens most often like this:
-Driving, stop and go traffic on the freeway. Top speed like 25mph.
-I speed up once thru downtown and get up to 60ish.
-Almost like clockwork, I start to loose speed and it begins to act like its out of gas (sputtering, and when I try to increase RPMs, it just slows) at exactly the same area of the freeway it did the time before.
-While slowing down, when I put in the clutch, it dies, quietly :) The engine just stops and I slow on the side of the road.
On the side of the road, I do the following things (pretty much in order) as people have told me it could be a vacuum lock
1-take the key out of the ignition
2-open the gas cap
3-shake the bike a bit back and forth
4-Turn the petcock back from reserve to main and back again (running on reserve makes the entire problem happen less often)
5-Put the gas cap back on
6-pull out the choke and try to restart (without the choke out, it doesnt even turn over once after all this)
7-Pray....
About 3-5 mins after stalling, it starts up and runs like a champ. Like it never died. Does not happen in town, no matter how long I drive it. Its not over heating. All fluids are good. And the tank is normally over half full.
My guess is a fuel clog somewhere. But thats a bit of stuff look at, and, its doesnt happen every time. So I cant duplicate it in the garage or out and about.
Does all that help?
If it makes any difference, my bike used to backfire a lot when I first got her a few months ago. After a new fuel line from the tank and a bit of seafoam, no more backfires and performance got alot better.
Now is just stalls, lol. Electricity is fine, BTW. The battery starts her right back up after it stalls. I just have to wait for some mysterious thing to happen to the fuel before it lets me go again.
Maybe its Gods way of telling me to go electric!
You're most likely correct in the issue being fuel related, at least that's my opinion. I'd just clean everything fuel related because I doubt it will fix itself and it could get worse. It's a pain but once it's done you won't have to worry about getting stranded. If you drain the tank take a good look at the gas and look for any contaminants.
You may want to replace the vacuum line from the right front cylinder to the vacuum petcock. Maybe (and this is just my guess) during the stop and go riding it gets hot and collapses and cuts off the vacuum to the petcock, which slowly deteriorates and shuts off the fuel. After sitting it opens back up allowing the fuel to flow again. It's not expensive or hard to replace.
Update:
Same exact thing happened today. Same exact place on the freeway. I mean, within 100 yards! Since I am emptying the tank exactly the same each time (within feet), I am leaning towards a venting issue. The tank drops its level (lets say .5 gallons), a vacuum is created, less gas to the carbs, it stalls. Go the same route again, (which I do), so I use exactly the same amount of gas, and it stalls in the same place. I remove the gas cap, replace the gas cap, open the choke, it sputters (low rpm for about 15 seconds with a wide open choke), and then it revs back into life. Drove the rest of the way home no problem.
I bet you 100 bucks if I drive that same route again on the way home, it will do it again, within feet of the last time. This is the third time within 100 yards of each other. I drive about 20 miles from work to home.
The tank vent is on the bottom near the back, and the vent hose attaches with a slip fit. You need to remove the allen head screw that holds the tank to the frame after taking the seat off.
I live about half way between Oak Hill and The Salt Lick, and will be happy to help you sort this out if you can find a morning or afternoon to come here. Just send me a PM if I can help.
Sure sounds like my wife's Magna when I accidentally Pinched the vent line after removing and replacing the tank, I also heard of dirt dobbers stopping it up in a days time..
The exact same thing happened to me after I had the tank off. Like Charles, I'd pinched the vent tube. I reran it and problem went away.
So you stalled in the same place everytime too? Exactly the same place 3 times after driving for 20-30 mins?
Quote from: Charles S Otwell on May 21, 2010, 09:43:54 PM
Sure sounds like my wife's Magna when I accidentally Pinched the vent line after removing and replacing the tank, I also heard of dirt dobbers stopping it up in a days time..
Luckily no dirt dobbers since it stays inside. Honestly I have no idea what a dirt dobber is. Must be the Yankee in me.
Quote from: Jennifer F on May 21, 2010, 10:48:59 PMHonestly I have no idea what a dirt dobber is. Must be the Yankee in me.
That's because they messed it up.. It's actually a Mud Dauber (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mud_dauber).
AND un-pinch your vent tube already!!!
Quote from: hootmon on May 21, 2010, 10:59:14 PM
Quote from: Jennifer F on May 21, 2010, 10:48:59 PMHonestly I have no idea what a dirt dobber is. Must be the Yankee in me.
That's because they messed it up.. It's actually a Mud Dauber (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mud_dauber).
AND un-pinch your vent tube already!!!
Yes sir!
QuoteThat's because they messed it up.. It's actually a Mud Dauber
Sorry didn't realize this was spelling class :???:
Something else to check is the "open" end of the vent hose. Both it and the coolant overflow hose are (in stock form) routed so that their open ends are usually right beneath the front sprocket. I seem to recall that mine would get sluggish at times and when I examined the ends of the hoses, they were solidly plugged with chain wax.
QuoteLuckily no dirt dobbers since it stays inside.
Trust me, inside a garage does not stop them if they can find a crack to get in.
QuoteThat's because they messed it up.. It's actually a Mud Dauber
Sorry didn't realize this was spelling class
In Texas they are known as dirt daubers.
Quote from: DG on May 24, 2010, 10:38:39 AM
In Texas they are known as dirt daubers.
That's because we don't have enough water to make mud... :lol: :lol:
In order to build their nests, they have to scavenge water from my stock tanks. They light on the surface while they do this. They then proceed to "daub" dirt or mud in every nook and cranny exposed to them.