| Author | Message | ||
     Advoutlander |
I have just bought my new 08 xb12x and was riding her home.across North New Mexico. I was running low on gas and on this particular stretch of interstate there are not many gas stations. As I was about to fill I notices there was no premium. The highest they had was midgrade 87. I had a few hours left of light, the roads were getting icy and snow was falling, I had no choice but to use 87. I got back on the interstate after 2 miles the engine warning light came on and stayed on. After 30 miles there was another gas station with 91 octane, I topped up half a gallon with 91 with the hope it would dilute the 87. I continued my trip and the warning light came back on. Then it would randomly go of and then on. It stayed on for a while and has now gone. I tried to keep it around 60mph and didnt notice anything wrong, at low speeds I think it may be running a bit rough. Im not sure. What should i do? There is about 50 miles of gas left in the tank, I was thinking about running it nearly dry and filing it back up with 91. I really hope i've not damaged anything. | ||
| Skifastbadly |
I wouldn't worry about it. I was in the middle of Nevada once after riding the Pony Express trail from Utah and had to fill up with old regular gas. The bike pitched and missed until the next fill up and was good after that. As it turns out, even with the crap gas, I was able to hit 112 mph. | ||
| Advoutlander |
Thanks, after some further reading I believe the ecm retards to timing to prevent detonation. I guess the mixture of 91 and 87 kept tripping the engine warning light on and off. | ||
| Froggy |
Impossible,the bike has no knock sensor and no way to know what grade you are running. 87 can't possibly trigger the CEL, there is something else wrong, I would guess your exhaust valve actuator or fan. Pull the codes from the ECM | ||
| Advoutlander |
How do I pull the codes from the ecm? What equipment and software to I need? It is a 2008 model. | ||
| Advoutlander |
Froggy whats your opinion on the 87 gas, reckon its busted something or would that only happen If I consistently only used midgrade or regular. Should I add octane booster to the gas that is in there or just run it till its nearly dry? | ||
| Teeps |
I wold not worry about the gallon left in the tank. Just fill'er up with premium and ride. If you didn't hear the engine pining while running with 87; then there is little chance any permanent damage was done. I've run high performance 2 and 4 stroke dirt bike engine on Mexical Pmex fuel, back in the day. The engines would ping like mad at large throttle openings. But, I never broke one; of course your experience may vary. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Mid grade gas in colder weather and fairly relaxed riding should be a total non issue. Riding hard on a hot day it could ping, and lots of pinging will eventually hurt your motor. Something else is likely going on here besides the gas. | ||
| Froggy |
Follow the directions here: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/cgibin/discus/show .cgi?tpc=32777&post=514029#POST514029 Due to the age of that post it does not list the additional codes the 08+ bikes can report, so let us know what you find.
Every bike seems to handle it different, mostly due to the bit of a variance in tune and timing even on stock bikes. In general it is fine as long as it isn't super hot and you aren't putting the motor under heavy loads. One of my 06s would easily ping with 87, my other one never does.
No! Many octane boosters contain lead, which is harmful to your O2 sensor. Just run it dry and fill up like normal. | ||
| Motorbike |
I once tried to avoid running regular gas because that's all the only station in town had and it taught me a good lesson. I found out that my 08 XT will go about 38 miles after the fuel light comes on......  | ||
| Arry |
"I have just bought my new 08 xb12x..." Is your new bike all stock? If it had an aftermarket exhaust put on without reprogramming or upgrading the ECM, this could cause problems. Good luck with your new bike! | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
First thing I would of checked was the oil level. (Message edited by electraglider_1997 on January 14, 2013) | ||
| Sparky |
Probably if it was even slightly overfilled with gas, there can be a temporary over rich condition that can throw an ECL soon after starting and taking off. If it doesn't stall and die, the condition usually doesn't do more than the ECL and/or bucking and running rough for about a minute or two. Nothing harmful to the engine can happen though. It's just a wakeup to not do that again. | ||
| Advoutlander |
Ill report back with my findings. Yes my uly is all stock. Oil level is good. When you say overfilled, I filled the gas to the bottom of the filler cap. | ||
| Hdxbones |
Sparky, please explain how fuel level impacts air/fuel ratio..... | ||
| Tootal |
When you say overfilled, I filled the gas to the bottom of the filler cap. I think you just answered you own question. When you look down the hole you should see an inner hole in the frame. Don't fill over that inner hole and you should be good. | ||
| Sparky |
Hdx, what I think happens is that gas gets sucked up past the fuel tank vent valve and goes into the charcoal cannister where it would continue to get sucked into the intake manifold thus over-richening the calibrated fuel/air ratios. From there, I could imagine the O2 sensor goes blotto temporarily and confuses the EFI in the process until said gas no longer comes through the vent line from the cannister. It's just a theory though... and I may be totally wrong on any of this unless anybody reading can confirm or deny. |
