2010 vfr1200f - engine stopped no longer running

First post from me, would appreciate any help off of the information attached. I am very grateful for anyone that takes the time to read and be helpful, especially answering the questions I have attached to the end.

I have a 2010 manual vfr1200f with ~20k miles. In August on my way to work the bike stopped running. It's been a while and my recollection is hazy but I'm going to do my best to give some context.

Engine stop
It was only around 1 minute after setting off, the rpm were a little high for a cold engine but nothing serious, maybe 6k rpm in second gear. There was a loud noise which I think sounded like sudden over fueling and then nothing. In this context loud noise is not deafening bang, it is a noise that is louder than the normal engine/exhaust noise that could be heard comfortably with earplugs in. I don't think the back wheel locked but I pulled the clutch in fast. I had overshot the time between oil changes as I'd not ridden the bike during the pandemic (I'd entered pandemic with 3 bikes, and exited with just this, it was pressed into commuting again at short notice). I'd managed to do 3k commuting miles on it in the space of just over a month when this happened. I had maybe 3 years and 4k miles on that oil and filter.

Initial Diagnosis
I gave a limited time to diagnosing the issue in the weeks after. The HISS light and dial sweep indicated no imobiliser or ECU issue and my first thought was fuel pump. From memory, I didn't hear the pump prime when I turned the ignition on so I changed the fuel pump for a branded non-oem unit that I found on ebay. The new fuel pump was then certainly priming but the bike still not running. I also fed 12v directly to the fuel pump bybpassing electrical connector to rule out any fuses and relays but no luck.

The engine was turning over on the starter throughout and I measured the compression in one cylinder and it was fine. I did not put any noid lights on the injectors because since I had fuel to the rail and spark, and that compression indicated timing had not jumped, that I was not getting injectors.

It was at this point that I seem to recall noticing the rpm gauge did not pulse when cranked. From car troubles I am familiar with my revs pulsing when starting based on the Hall efect sensor signal. So I decided it must be the cps. I also found a workshop manual that indicated a lack of cps would result in no injection, I can find this source if this sounds wrong but of course the ecu should not run engine if it doesn't know where it is. It was around this time that my check engine light began to give me the ridiculous morse code engine fault codes I think they were something like 12-15 - it was definitely no power to injectors 1-4 anyway.

I pulled the cps from the side engine cover but was never able to find a replacement, and that's where my journey stopped.

When I had the side cover open something drew my attention and I was pretty concerned. The chain driven oil pump chain was visibly slack whereas I'd have expected it to be under tension.

Thanks for making it this far, I have two questions:
1. How much tension should be on the oil pump chain? It ran from crankshaft to oil pump; mm of deflection reading would be perfect
2. When cranking the bike, do you notice your rpm needle pulse? I checked on another bike of mine and realised that doesn't do it either, so figured maybe there's a low pass filter on some vehicles idk

 

Sounds like a bit of a messy situation - Sorry I don't have a 1200. But...... Why are you saying the DTC codes are ridiculous codes?? If you are getting a genuine active code of 12 or/and 15 being Injectors - this would be related to your fault - Dead Engine and Fuel Pump is disabled.

Why are you chasing a normally extremely reliable "cps" fault when you appear to NOT have a DTC for it? Are you referring to the CKP or the CMP sensor?

Suggest to see what active codes you have (Ignition On Sidestand Down) then read all the historical DTC's stored in memory and record these, go through the process of clearing these then re run your bike, see if the ECM picks up a current fault. If you can't start the engine work on what fatal codes that might be displayed in the stored or active memory.

If you do have Injector Issues as reported by the ECM follow the sugested diagnosis in the Service Manual, checking connections and wire continuity from the Injector back to the ECM etc.

Make sure you are hearing the Fuel Pump prime at every Ignition Switch On. If it doesn't then you'll need to check voltages and operation of both Engine Stop and Fuel Pump relays. And as mentioned if the ECM has a genuine Injector DTC it won't enable the Fuel Pump.

And especially important with the 1200 make sure your battery is healthy and the terminals are clean and tight.

Wouldn't be too concerned about the Tacho needle at this stage, unless it doesn't work if you do get the engine running.

As for the oil pump chain, can't help you there other than I've seen pictures of the oil pump chain of other VFR's and they do appear to be on the loose side, as to how loose don't know.

Good Luck.

 

Thanks for taking the time to reply

I find the way motorbikes display fault codes through short and long flashes on the eml pathetic, especially when there's a functioning lcd screen, and lack of native obd2 port without having to take a chance on ebay adapters equally frustrating. It wasn't relevant to the problem and I regret including this now. I find the fault codes themselves reasonable however and related to my issue. No injection is exactly what I've observed by tracing the fuel system.

Because in my experience fault codes aren't an absolute indication of the source of the problem, just an observed raise exception from the ECU - without looking at the code or having worked on hundreds of these I don't know what happens with fault codes if there's a race condition whereby no cps therefore no injection. If there is no power to the injectors then it raises fault code, but there are many reasons that the injectors may not receive power one of which is a wiring issue. I had read that a faulty CPS would result in the ECU no longer firing injectors which is what you'd expect because if the ECU does not know where the piston is in its stroke then how can it fire the injectors. I have gone back to the service manual to quote my source of this information please let me know if I am interpreting this correctly

Now, there isn't much in here that looks out of the ordinary, they've used CKP for CPS just so we're all on the same page. But it seemed reasonable to me that a faulty CKP or CMP would lead to display of a downstream code of lack of power to all 4 injectors (rather than any single injector). I combined this with my observation that I did not see the rpm needle pulsing. Having experienced faulty CPS in a car before and having seen no fault codes on the obd port, I was able to fix it roadside by observing a lack of pulse on the rpm gauge. This is the motivation for my question to other owners to see if a healthy bike pulses before it starts. Depending on how the gauge is powered and what pre processing is done on any data it receives, this may or may not be expected behaviour.

Thank you I will do exactly this. The bike is currently at a relative's farm some distance from me, but I will have time to go down to see it in the next few weeks hence why collating info now so I have many things to investigate when I am there.

I will put this on my list of items to check, but as I said from best recollection, I did indeed hear the fuel pump prime after replacing the pump. I do regret that I left it so long before making a post with the bike of the road and my memory fading but this is due to a personal distaste for internet forums in the general sense. I have found them to be unhelpful and patronising in the past, in no way a reflection of this forum as I've only been here five minutes. I can't recall if I checked continuity on any wiring, I probably did but I can't confirm. Again, on my list of things to check.

It really isn't my intention to start an internet war but I do think this is bad advice *unless* someone can categorically tell me that their healthy bike does not pulse. This would be invaluable information and I am hopeful that someone can answer this. For someone that has the bike to hand this is easy information to come by.

Thank you, and that is good information on the oil pump - this question was a bit of a long shot from me as I didn't expect many owners would have this measurement or an open engine casing to hand, so that is incredibly valuable information, I will deprioritise the scavanging pump accordingly.

 

Well Sir..... Refer to my "bad tacho advice". For what it's worth! My 2014 8gen does a full sweep test of the Tacho scale at switch On then remains at zero while cranking until engine is running. Your 2010 vfr1200 is the same!