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2009 LTZ400 Stalls After Hot

11K views 23 replies 7 participants last post by  bblitz 
#1 ·
Hi All - Got a pair of 2009 LTZ400's that we've owned since new (recall done before delivery). Equal miles/hours (not sure of number off top of my head though) and both are maintained meticulously and I've have never had an issue with either one. Last trip out we just did about a 30 mile morning ride and the last couple miles mine just cut-out completely. No lights/faults indicated. Restarted ok, and would go a little ways then die again. Found that if I modulated the throttle a bit, or downshifted as it was about to die, it would stay running for awhile longer, but then eventually cut out again. Made it back to the staging area and looked everything over...no obvious issues. Decided to clean the air filter and it was fairly dirty (but has definitely been worse), put in new gas, and ran it around the house and up and down the block...seemed fine. Took it out again 2 weeks ago, this time it was hot (107degF at camp) and we did a short 1 hour night ride the first night, everything ran great. Next morning about 30 minutes into the ride, it cut out completely again. I was standing up at the time and it about threw me over the handlebars (same as the first time) when it died unexpectedly. Again got it restarted and would go about 100 yards seemingly fine, then cut out. Eventually after repeated starting attempts, it would die as soon as I started letting out the clutch. Eventually it wouldn't fire up at all, but the battery seemed strong and it was still cranking. Waited about an hour, fired up and ran for a couple miles before dying again. Finally got towed the rest of the way back to camp. Since the bikes are identical, I tried swapping the ignition module under the left side of the seat...no fix. Planning to swap ECU's after reading a few posts of problems, check the plug, and kill switch (I do spray them off with low pressure to wash after each ride, thinking maybe the switch is corroded or intermittent). Seems more heat related so I'm focusing on electronics, but open to any and all suggestions/ideas before I get time to tear into it next week.

Thanks for any input!
 
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#2 ·
check the gas cap . it may not be venting
 
#3 ·
The 09s are fuel injected, right? Is there a fuel pump?
 
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#4 ·
just for fun swap out the coil to
 
#8 ·
I've seen fuel pumps get too hot and short themselves out until they cool off.
 
#10 ·
Thanks, as soon as I get some time (hopefully this weekend) I'm going to start trying to narrow it down. The hard part is it never does it at home with limited riding/heat cycling. May end up just swapping the main suspects and seeing which quad dies on the next trip out...it may be my only viable option.
 
#11 ·
Must be nice having 2 Zs.
 
#12 ·
We had 3 before I sold Lisa's. One for each of us.:wink2:
 
#13 ·
i had that problem after i changed the rad fluid and i didnt burp it, so im thinking maybe it thinks its overheating some how? or bad thermo? also is the red light blinking after it dies?
 
#21 ·
All fluid levels looked great and I check them religiously. No warning lights or any symptoms other than it would die at seemingly random times once warm. I still haven't figured that one out. I would think with all the gunk it would have had consistent trouble at the top end, but never did. Weird...it was probably just floating around randomly and would suddenly align and clog I guess.
 
#15 ·
Hi All! Been slammed with work and other projects, but I did finally fix this a couple weeks ago and wanted to report back. Long story short, it turns out it was a fuel system issue and bunch of gunk (probably dirt) in the fuel pump and directly on top of the injector! It's amazing it even ran to begin with considering how much was in there! I tried everything suggested (new plug/cleaning filter/fresh gas/etc) and finally just started swapping parts between the two quads (definitely convenient and money saving!) until the problem transferred to my wife's quad...she definitely was NOT thrilled when I came inside and told her I fixed mine, but now her's is broken! ;-)

I was able to partially disassemble both the injector and the fuel pump and flush everything out. Reassembled everything and ran it for about 5 minutes, then took it all apart again and found about 10% residual and repeated the process. The third time there were no traces left and I plan to do it again after the next riding trip just to be sure.

Surprisingly, I then took my wife's apart and inspected everything too and didn't find a single speck of debris. I expected at least some since both are the same age and have pretty much always been ridden together and in the same conditions. The only thing I can figure is the fuel cap must have some caked dried mud on it when I refueled it at some point since I have been known to blast through mud/water from time to time and my wife never does. So, my suggestion is always keep your fuel cap clean!

Anyway, thanks for the input and hopefully this helps somebody in the future!
 
#22 ·
I just noticed the date and can't believe it; in my mind I thought it was just 2-3 months ago, but obviously time flies! There were a lot of trips without my quad, but 9 months???? I'm active on some other forums and hate it when people come in, ask for help with a technical issue, and never report back so my apologies and thanks again for the suggestions!!!
 
#24 ·
Yes, go back a page on this thread. It was gunk in the fuel pump screen and more importantly, on top of the fuel injector. The problem moved to my wifes bike when I swapped those 2, so I know that's the root cause. Disassembled, flushed it out, and reassembled. It's been fine ever since. Good luck!
 
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