Hey guys, after reading the long thread on the engine surging issue, I just thought I'd post my experience with the surging issue and the things we tried to do to fix the issue.
First off, has anyone fully resolved the surging issue? I have come to find out, a PCV with custom map still has not completely eliminated the surging symptoms see my post below.
My surging experience:
Bike setup – 2009 ZX6R with 3200 miles, all track miles with the exception of the first 600 for break in.
Akrapovic Full race exhaust
PCV with Attack custom map
Attack modified Velocity stacks
Power commander Quick shifter expansion module with sensor
BMC race filter
These are just the mods that could potentially affect the surging issue.
I have had my bike now for two years and have mainly used it as a track bike. I installed the Akrapovic full exhaust and PCV from day one, and was using a custom map provided by Cody. On the track I have never experienced any surging, stalling, power cutting in and out until just recently. First time it happened, on the race track going into one of the slower corners at Streets of Willow. I was off the gas, tapped the brakes, and dipped the bike into the corner, as soon as I got back on the gas, the bike surged like one of the spark plug didn’t fire, which threw my body (due to momentum) forward upsetting the bike at lean, almost causing me to crash, luckily I was able to stand the bike up, as I pulled in the clutch and got off the racetrack. I didn’t really notice it again the rest of the track day, but I made note of this since I was bringing my bike to Attack performance to have a custom map made.
So the Attack guys noticed the same thing when they ran my bike on the Dyno. The interesting fact is they didn’t notice it at a specific RPM, but at a specific throttle position. On the dyno, they noticed a surge at 10% and 20 % throttle regardless of what gear the bike was in.
Things that were checked:
ECU – they swapped out my ECU with another stock 09 ZX6R ECU, no change same surge indications
PCV - Checked all Power Commander connections to the lower injectors, and the upper injectors going to the quick-shift expansion module, all connections good
Spark Plugs – Pulled all plug to ensure no plugs were fouled, plugs were fine, but replaced them with new plugs just to make sure, no change, same surge indications.
Fuel – Though I might have possible had a bad tank of gas, they removed my gas tank and attack another gas tank on with fuel, no change same surge indications.
Air Filter – Removed airbox to check if there was any oil in the airbox or anything that could prevent proper airflow, no issues there.
They went ahead and finished the custom map which they were able to get 125 Whp (I’ll post pics of the dyno sheet later when I post pics of the bike) They were able to smooth out the areas where the bike was surging, it’s not completely gone, but not nearly as pronounced as before.
Possible areas we did not check:
Ignition coils – we did not swap out the coils due to time, and if it was one of the coils I would assume that the surging would be consistent though out the whole rev range.
Electrical wiring on the bike – Did not go through all the wiring to see if something got pinched or knicked where bare wire is showing.
If I were to guess, I think in my case, the surging has to do with the electrical ignition system or the way the exhaust collector is designed (scavenging) not the PCV air/fuel mixture. As stated earlier, I have always had the PCV and full exhaust from day one, and the surging issue just started recently, causing me to believe something electronically is failing or is degrading.
Hopefully we can find out a cause and solution to this problem. I have my last track day of the season this weekend that is more than likely going to get rained out so I don’t know how much riding I can get in.
Anyone else find a solution to this problem?
First off, has anyone fully resolved the surging issue? I have come to find out, a PCV with custom map still has not completely eliminated the surging symptoms see my post below.
My surging experience:
Bike setup – 2009 ZX6R with 3200 miles, all track miles with the exception of the first 600 for break in.
Akrapovic Full race exhaust
PCV with Attack custom map
Attack modified Velocity stacks
Power commander Quick shifter expansion module with sensor
BMC race filter
These are just the mods that could potentially affect the surging issue.
I have had my bike now for two years and have mainly used it as a track bike. I installed the Akrapovic full exhaust and PCV from day one, and was using a custom map provided by Cody. On the track I have never experienced any surging, stalling, power cutting in and out until just recently. First time it happened, on the race track going into one of the slower corners at Streets of Willow. I was off the gas, tapped the brakes, and dipped the bike into the corner, as soon as I got back on the gas, the bike surged like one of the spark plug didn’t fire, which threw my body (due to momentum) forward upsetting the bike at lean, almost causing me to crash, luckily I was able to stand the bike up, as I pulled in the clutch and got off the racetrack. I didn’t really notice it again the rest of the track day, but I made note of this since I was bringing my bike to Attack performance to have a custom map made.
So the Attack guys noticed the same thing when they ran my bike on the Dyno. The interesting fact is they didn’t notice it at a specific RPM, but at a specific throttle position. On the dyno, they noticed a surge at 10% and 20 % throttle regardless of what gear the bike was in.
Things that were checked:
ECU – they swapped out my ECU with another stock 09 ZX6R ECU, no change same surge indications
PCV - Checked all Power Commander connections to the lower injectors, and the upper injectors going to the quick-shift expansion module, all connections good
Spark Plugs – Pulled all plug to ensure no plugs were fouled, plugs were fine, but replaced them with new plugs just to make sure, no change, same surge indications.
Fuel – Though I might have possible had a bad tank of gas, they removed my gas tank and attack another gas tank on with fuel, no change same surge indications.
Air Filter – Removed airbox to check if there was any oil in the airbox or anything that could prevent proper airflow, no issues there.
They went ahead and finished the custom map which they were able to get 125 Whp (I’ll post pics of the dyno sheet later when I post pics of the bike) They were able to smooth out the areas where the bike was surging, it’s not completely gone, but not nearly as pronounced as before.
Possible areas we did not check:
Ignition coils – we did not swap out the coils due to time, and if it was one of the coils I would assume that the surging would be consistent though out the whole rev range.
Electrical wiring on the bike – Did not go through all the wiring to see if something got pinched or knicked where bare wire is showing.
If I were to guess, I think in my case, the surging has to do with the electrical ignition system or the way the exhaust collector is designed (scavenging) not the PCV air/fuel mixture. As stated earlier, I have always had the PCV and full exhaust from day one, and the surging issue just started recently, causing me to believe something electronically is failing or is degrading.
Hopefully we can find out a cause and solution to this problem. I have my last track day of the season this weekend that is more than likely going to get rained out so I don’t know how much riding I can get in.
Anyone else find a solution to this problem?