FAIL-SAFE FUNCTION
The PGM-Fl system is provided with a fail-safe function to secure a minimum running capability even when there is trouble in the system. When any abnormality is detected by the self-diagnosis function, running capability is maintained by pre-programed value in the simulated program map. **When any abnormality is detected in the fuel injector, the fail-safe function stops the engine to protect it from damage.**
Can we assume a code would be blinking if a fuel injector fault shut the engine down?
Did they do the switch yet?
I think it would (which reminds me, I've been wanting to check codes since mine shut down again)...but the thing is, even if it detects a problem, it may stop the engine, but the rest of the system stays on.
I don't know if we all have the same problem or not. Seems like several have had it, so I keep hoping for one of those bulletins like
@HondaTech posts from Honda addressing the issue. It certainly seems like it's going to be one of those nightmare quirks...at least for me. The problem is so rare in my case, it's going to be difficult to duplicate it enough to see what's wrong.
Let me summarize my timeline:
Back in early summer, my machine shutdown for the 1st time. I cannot verify if the dash did the reset during this event or not. It did fine the rest of the ride. This was a HOT day, and the last time I would get to ride for a few a bit due to heat. In the down time, I poked and prodded, but didn't find any smoking gun. Maybe just some water in the gas I thought?
The next ride, it did something again (another 90 degree day). This time, I know the dash didn't reset...but this was an odd thing. It's almost like the engine braking increased for a few seconds like it lost spark, but the machine pulled out of it before I could hit the gas and never actually died. Ran fine the rest of the day.
Honestly, I'm not even sure if it actually died here. Could have simply been the PCM cutting the IACV down to help engine braking, as it does sometimes. This was very prominent on my 2014, but this one has never seemed to do that quite as agressively.
Somewhere in those 2 events, I "checked" the grounds, but didn't clean them (a bone headed move on my part).
Added some Heat treatment for water in fuel. Next ride, fairly cool day getting rained on, nothing. So I'm like...ok, for one it actually was "bad gas"...LOL.
Then the next ride was the big DNF moment (thus far). Higher elevation, so maybe 70's. A few hours into the ride, 3 times with like 3 minutes, the dash reset and shut down. I pulled over and looked, poked, and prodded. Nothing. Cut the ride short, ran fine all the way back to the trailer (several miles).
At this point, I purchased and installed a new ignition switch, new PCM (which I did not install), and removed and cleaned those grounds. Around 6 months and several hundred miles after, and not so much as a miss. To the point that I pulled the new PCM I was carrying out of the storage box and left it at home... because, you know...it's fixed?
2 rides after that (last weekend), hours into the ride, it shut down 2 times in about a mile...only the second time it's shut down multiple times in one ride. Did a trail side ground removal and scrape, and it ran fine the rest of the way back to staging...but as you see above, it doesn't always show its hand right away.
Took the grounds off (again), sanded the tabs and eyelets to fresh and clean, reinstalled and coated to keep corrosion out, which I didn't do last time. Poked, prodded, and tested. Found nothing. Made an emergency ignition switch bypass.
Went out yesterday. 46 miles in, it shut down once, then ran perfectly for another 15 miles back to the truck.
Clearly, it's not the grounds. Could be a bad ground wire/crimp (or power wire, for that matter) somewhere...but it's going to have to get worse than it is to find it.
If it's not the ground, then what inspired it to run for months with no issue? That new ignition switch? And if that's the case, are they really going bad that often? Is there a bad batch? Does the P1K use the same switch? Do I really have to buy a new switch for this thing every 6 months? At this rate of shut down, it's impossible to use my emergency switch to confirm.
And if course...there's the ECU/PCM. I hadn't installed the brand new one because I was hoping to find an answer to exactly what the cause was, and the "computer" gets blamed when people can't figure out the real reason. Guess I'm gonna install it next ride and just wait and see.
So glad I didn't buy that glitchy, overheating 1000 over the ultra reliable 700 now
