I have an 03 600rr that I have installed an 04 engine in due to bad rod bearings in the original engine (at 1000 miles). I bought it like this, with the original engine out of the bike and disassembled. I am trying to figure out why it won't start even though everything checks out and I am starting to wonder if there might be some differences between the 03 and 04 that I am not aware of that are causing the problem. Were any changes made between 03 and 04? I have the manual, and I don't see anything mentioned. I have searched.

In case you are interested, It has good spark and the injectors are firing. There are no trouble codes showing up. The fuel is fresh and the plugs and battery are new. It turns over and "pops" like it is trying to run, but it never does, even though the popping gets more frequent the longer you try to start it. It did this even when the weather was warm, so I don't think it is related to temperature. I welcome any thoughts or suggestions that you have, other than "take it to a shop."

Thanks,
Justin

 

they are the same motor. no changes till after 06.

did you pinch the fuel breather tube that runs down by the kickstand?

 

Actaully that's not totally ture. The 03/04 and 05/06 have a different head and ECU, but will bolt up back and forth, but the ECU must match the motor years i.e. the 03 & 04 ECU's are interchangable and the 05 & 06 ECU'sare interchangable.

Another thing is the ECU for the Calif models has a different calibration on all 03 - 06.

I would pull the motor number & the ECU number, Call Honda and verify that they are compatible (ie. both CA models or both 49 state models).

But your description sounds like it may be a timming issue, or the wrong wires on the wrong plugs.

 

The fuel breather tube is definitely not pinched. I wondered about that too so I removed the line temporarily to make sure that was not the problem.

The wires and plugs being mismatched is a good theory, but I routed everything following the manual and I don't think the wires would reach the wrong plugs. I will double check this. I also forgot to mention that I have an extra set of coils so I swapped them and didn't notice any change, so I would also rule out a problem with the coils.

It does act like a bike with a timing problem, so that would be a good idea to check. The manual calls for the bike to be idling while you check it with a timing light, so I can't do that. Can the "disk" that triggers the ignition pulse generator be moved in relation to the crank, or does it only go on one way? I don't think this engine has ever been apart, but I guess I have to check everything at this point. Is there anything else that needs to get timed? I am not an expert with fuel injection.

 

To answer my own question, I believe it can only go on the crank one way. I looked at the crank and disk from the original engine. The crank and the disk are splined, with splines missing in one area so that they can only go together in one position. I don't think that this could be the problem. It would be nice to be able to verify that the timing is correct. I am going to try the timing light while cranking it over to see what I get. Will this work?

 

UPDATE: It's running!

Thanks Jason748 for pointing out that the plug wires could be on wrong. I would have sworn that there was no way that the plug wires could have gone on wrong. I checked the wire colors against the manual and noticed they were all wrong. The wires will not reach where they need to go (with the airbox and everything else on) so I installed my extra harness and it started right up. I have been working on this bike for months and I can't believe I never checked something so simple before. I guess I wasted $80 on the new plugs, but thats OK. The next question is: why were the wires routed to the wrong plugs? I remember being very careful when I connected everything and I also remember that each wire seemed like it could only go to one plug. I will fix it tomorrow after work and post how it turned out. Thanks everyone for your help.

 

Don't sweat it, it's a easy mistake to make. When your looking at the wire diagrams, working on the bike going back and forth between them you can lose your mind... Been there done that. I always triple check EVERYTHING right down to bolt torque and it's not uncommon to find something I did wrong or flat out missed the first time around despite trying to be careful.