ST1300 ECU-Knock sensor problem

[Aladinbama]

I'm not sure I'd trust Ebay for such an important part.
You could try a cycle wrecker - probably a little more trustworthy and able to work with you if you got a defective unit.
With that said, I had a knock sensor code and after reading everything here, clearing it several times, paying $90 for the shop to diagnose nothing, and checking what I could, I replaced the computer and haven't seen the code for a few thousand miles already! I'll be putting some miles on soon, SO .....
Hopefully it's gone forever

 

[Ricardo Sim~es]

Hello everyone. Well, let me say that I´ve been trying hard to solve my problem. In January I´ve bought a used ECU on Ebay from a guy in Lithuania (very professional and responsive). It was a complete set with ECU, ABS unit, 2 keys and all the set for the keys (fuel cap, ignition, side case). But... the keys didn´t had the chip so the ECU didn,t start my bike. The seller still tried to solve the problem but with no success. He made a full refund!! Meanwhile, my battery went down. Didn´t even accept external charge. So I bought a new one, the indicated for my bike. Tested the bike and the error was gone!!! No more FI26. So happy!!
In that weekend, me and my wife went for a ride of about 700kms. With a lot of rain
First 150 kms, everything ok!!! But then that bastard alarm again... FI26 lighted again!!
Well, I´ve bought another ECU from another dealler from Ebay. This one with a HISS chip key working. Till now, everything ok, but because of this pandemic situation, I only ride it for a couple times. But so far, no error. Big diference on the engine response.
Hoping to be solved and waiting for better days to come.
Regards everyone.

 

[NewtonNole]

I chased ECMs on Ebay. I replaced the wiring harness. Just stop!

Buy a new one!

If you are negotiating an older bike, negoiate an ECM purchase. It's coming like death and taxes.

 

[Mustur]

I have a problem with error 26. That should be the left sensor.
I learned from your posts that the ECM must eventually be replaced.
I drive a ST-1300 Pan Europe 2002 with ABS.
What exactly is the ECM code and from what year should the ECMs be correct (without error 25 and 26).
Thanks

 

[Ian]

I respect all the views expressed regarding ECM replacement, however, this is purely my opinion on the matter, and my own experience. I had that annoying problem, my gut feel simply was that I did not believe, or rather , want to believe that Honda actually has many electrical issues, and through sheer stubbornness of not wanting to lay out that much money on a replacement ECM, I took my time ( I am NOT an auto electrician boff, by any means) but upon removing the fairing covers I found 2 things, the temp sensor was dangling, I put it back in place, and secondly there is a unit ( no idea what is...maybe temp sender unit? on the right side of the bike, very close to the exhaust, the connector plug was melted from exhaust heat, and wiring exposed. I insulated that lot, i then removed and cleaned every connector socket I could lay my eyes on, took advantage of covers being off, drained and replaced coolant with Honda spec whilst I was at it. 24 months later and approx 25000 to 30 000 km and no further issue. I guess my message is dont be too hasty to replace the ECM, try best possible to isolate as many basic possible causes, it worked for me, maybe luck was simply on my side. Good luck hope you solve it asap without too many $$$$

 

[bstig60]

I respect all the views expressed regarding ECM replacement, however, this is purely my opinion on the matter, and my own experience. I had that annoying problem, my gut feel simply was that I did not believe, or rather , want to believe that Honda actually has many electrical issues, and through sheer stubbornness of not wanting to lay out that much money on a replacement ECM, I took my time ( I am NOT an auto electrician boff, by any means) but upon removing the fairing covers I found 2 things, the temp sensor was dangling, I put it back in place, and secondly there is a unit ( no idea what is...maybe temp sender unit? on the right side of the bike, very close to the exhaust, the connector plug was melted from exhaust heat, and wiring exposed. I insulated that lot, i then removed and cleaned every connector socket I could lay my eyes on, took advantage of covers being off, drained and replaced coolant with Honda spec whilst I was at it. 24 months later and approx 25000 to 30 000 km and no further issue. I guess my message is dont be too hasty to replace the ECM, try best possible to isolate as many basic possible causes, it worked for me, maybe luck was simply on my side. Good luck hope you solve it asap without too many $$$$

That device is one of the knock sensors. The wiring getting burned by the exhaust is one of the problems to the earlier ST1300 that caused the FI light to display code 25/26. In my case, the wiring had been repaired. A few hundred miles later the FI light came on again with the same code. I found a used 2003 ECM on eBay, replaced my ECM and the problem is gone. I have put 6-7 thousand miles on the bike with no further issues. After changing the ECM, I no longer have a fast idle set up when the engine is cold.

 

[Truman]

I have a problem with error 26. That should be the left sensor.
I learned from your posts that the ECM must eventually be replaced.
I drive a ST-1300 Pan Europe 2002 with ABS.
What exactly is the ECM code and from what year should the ECMs be correct (without error 25 and 26).
Thanks

We did everything we could to rectify the problem but the only thing that fixed it was the ECM. It went away afew times for a few rides but kept coming back. I'll bet your bike is between 55 and 60 thousand miles. That's about when i am seeing the ECM go bad. I was getting a 25 error code and another guy on this site was getting a 26. Just for the fun of it I sent him my old ECM just to see what happened remember i was getting a 25 and he was getting a 26. when he put my ECM he started getting a 25 so we knew it was the ECM. Go ahead and buy one and move on and start enjoying it again

 

[Truman]

I chased ECMs on Ebay. I replaced the wiring harness. Just stop!

Buy a new one!

If you are negotiating an older bike, negoiate an ECM purchase. It's coming like death and taxes.

Yea.....what he said..buy an ECM and get back to riding......at between 55 and 60 thousand miles it's gona happen

 

[Truman]

Let me intrude and aport some info on this matter.
When I first have the FI light on it shows code 26.
I reach to the left sensor, tested and it was OK, then I switch left to right and vice versa. Check all the electric cables etc.
The light was off for about 300 miles until I reach 80 mph. Following the tips from Igofar I reset the ECU. I was happy for another 200 miles until I reach 90 mph.
I had the code 26 again.
So my solution will be a pain to the pocket: new ECU.
Best price at Partzila.
Good luck.

It has nothing to do with the speed your traveling. I could make my light come on just by holding it at 4000rpms for 10 seconds. that just happens to be about where 80 mph is on the tach was at 4000 rpms for at least 10 seconds

 

[Bern]

It blinks a '25,' which according to the errata comments I have (there are several out there and some match my Mar 2004 (03-05) manual and some don't) is the right knock sensor. I haven't done the continuity checks specified in the manual yet but have two new knock sensors on the shelf for this winter.

Mine started the 26 code, out of the blue one day, after consulting shop manual I found out it was knocking right side, so I replaced air filter, put in fresh gas, and new plugs.Still it lit up. After I put in new knock sensor it fixed it, for 3 or 4 days now it's back on. So now I checked wires for continuity,unplugged KS on one end and ecu on other end attach + lead& - on each end set on ohms, if good should read .00. then remove one end and attach to ground,if good should read OL meaning not shorted. All good. Some on the forem, said clean out the 5 way tee and vacume hoses under the air cleaner box,did that still flashes red. So, now white flag, I surrender. Made appt. with Honda for a 1 hr. $105 diagnostic, after a little while he came riding out,said that the diagnostic tool wouldn't recognize the ECM. Either bad wiring or bad ecu. They wrote up a 2456.00 dollar work order. I rode away as fast as I could, with the light still on. Next step is to take out my frustrations with a 15 # sledge.

 

[bstig60]

Ordered a new rear tire today. Dunlop Roadsmart lll to replace the existing Roadsmart ll which has 13000 miles on it. Dennis Kirk shipped it today.

 

[bstig60]

Mine started the 26 code, out of the blue one day, after consulting the shop manual I found out it was knocking right side, so I replaced the air filter, put in fresh gas, and new plugs. Still, it lit up. After I put in a new knock sensor it fixed it, for 3 or 4 days now it's back on. So now I checked wires for continuity, unplugged KS on one end and ECU on other end attach + lead& - on each end set on ohms, if good should read .00. then remove one end and attach to the ground, if good should read OL meaning not shorted. All good. Some on the forum said clean out the 5-way tee and vacuum hoses under the air cleaner box, did that still flashes red. So, now white flag, I surrender. Made appt. with Honda for a 1 hr. $105 diagnostic, after a little while he came riding out, said that the diagnostic tool wouldn't recognize the ECM. Either bad wiring or bad ecu. They wrote up a 2456.00 dollar work order. I rode away as fast as I could, with the light still on. The next step is to take out my frustrations with a 15 # sledge.

It's most likely that the ECU has gone south, at least that was the problem with mine and many others.

 

[professore]

I have only learned of this issue AFTER purchasing an ST1300. So far so good, but it's early days.

For those saying this is heat related - I have a few questions

1. Have we any users with failures that live in colder climes, e.g. Ireland where I'm from it rarely goes above 25C and 30C practically never. I have a 1300 with 95k miles I bought recently and it has the chips from old keys stuck to the top of the new ones so I suspect this has been done
2. Has anyone wrapped the exhausts in tape and used heat shielding on the knock sensor wires etc as a preventative measure and still had a failure?
3. Has anyone wired up a post 2007 ECM to a pre ECM bike?

Just thinking if there is anything I can do to reduce / eliminate the chance of this happening, I'd be open to do it.

 

[Igofar]

Wrapping pipes cause more issues than fixes them.
Your trapping heat, which often causes wiring and sensors to melt!
Sort the engine tuning out before you try and start masking things.
You may not feel heat after putting foil on things and using header wrap, but your bike will suffer for it.

 

[professore]

Wrapping pipes cause more issues than fixes them.
Your trapping heat, which often causes wiring and sensors to melt!
Sort the engine tuning out before you try and start masking things.
You may not feel heat after putting foil on things and using header wrap, but your bike will suffer for it.

OK, for me the heat isn't an issue, as I live in a cold climate, so it's actually welcome, and I've done a few trips already with it - and the bike is running great, no more heat than a VFR I had previously.
I'm going to do a full service, sync the throttle bodies, valve adjustment if needed etc anyway very soon.
What about using extra heat shielding on the sensor wires? Has anyone tried that?

 

[professore]

Wrapping pipes cause more issues than fixes them.
Your trapping heat, which often causes wiring and sensors to melt!
Sort the engine tuning out before you try and start masking things.
You may not feel heat after putting foil on things and using header wrap, but your bike will suffer for it.

The goal would be to prevent heat getting to the wires and/or the electronics. By wrapping an exhaust pipe (or part of it) I would hope to prevent excessive heat damaging the electrical wires, and therefore possibly causing a short somewhere in the ECU.

I'm a software developer for most of my career - not assembly though sadly, otherwise I'd have a crack at this, and am a physics graduate before that, which included electronics. To people saying this is a software issue, I don't think so - otherwise the ECUs would go bad almost immediately. It looks to me more like some rare condition that is triggered by say excess current in a particular input, that then damages an ECU component.

My first instinct would be that heat damages the shielding on (possibly) one of the knock sensor wires, that then fries part of the ECU. However having worked in software, it is well likely that the code is totally unrelated to the knock sensor, and could be a totally different sensor that fries the knock sensor detector in the ECU.

These guys claim to disable code 25 on a honda aquatrax jetski: https://www.gen-tune.com/products/honda-aquatrax-code-25-disable Of course disabling it might not be a great idea, as there are no details on what they do.

Doing some Googling this is also an issue on the FI Honda Blackbird.

 

[MidLife]

These guys claim to disable code 25 on a honda aquatrax jetski: https://www.gen-tune.com/products/honda-aquatrax-code-25-disable Of course disabling it might not be a great idea, as there are no details on what they do.

FI Code 25 Knock Sensor Issue - HEALED! | ST1300 Related

so there is one sensor for 2 cylinders. How can it do such a critical function I figured it was an alert and less of a calibration probe. I did not know that the knock sensor Advanced or retarded the timing. Does anyone have the maps that the ECU looks out? And, Can an ECU be re-flashed? Our...

www.st-owners.com

 

[aquaro]

So what's the harm/foul if you just ignore the code and ride it? I assume it might retard the ignition timing some but it might still run well...just curious, and it's the cheapest solution......ff

I've now got the same issue retarding the timing doesn't really change much.. the bike Still performs way better than you need it to and over 00kph is still possable and quickly I might add. My idea put some insulation tape over the light and act dumb.. retarding the ign timing on most engines makes them last longer..

 

[Andrew Shadow]

My idea put some insulation tape over the light and act dumb.

If you did that, how would you know when/if the FI light is trying to tell you of some other defect?

I'm assuming that you are asking about some other motorcycle beside the ST1100 that you have listed.

 

[professore]

Well I haven't got it at 95k miles, but it does look like a previous owner did, as the chips for the HISS system are stuck to both keys suggesting instead of changing all the locks they just kept the original keys and used the immobilizer chips that matched the new ECM when they replaced it.

I'll get some heat tubing for the wires and maybe wrap the exhaust if it passes near them to minimise the amount of heat dumped into them and see what happens. If it does come on I'll just ride it anyway - I seldom if ever go over 80 mph and the bike has more power than I'll ever need.