Coleman Outfitter 550x sometimes starts when weather is warmer

[jmutv]

Hello!  I have a Coleman 550x that has about 4.5 hours on it.  It's had an easy life waiting on the engine to break in.  I purchased it in June and now with cooler weather coming in, it seems to be not wanting to start.  If the temp outside is 70 degrees or less, it won't catch.  The lights all work, no error code.  I can turn over the engine and the battery is strong.  If I give it the slightest amount of gas, it will start.  However, if the RPM drop near 1500, it quits.  I've tried running it for 6-7 mins (with the accelerator slightly depressed) to see if when warmed it up it works, but still no go.  Perhaps the engine didn't actually warm up at that low of RPM and around 65 degrees outside.  If the temperature is warmer, starts right up and runs no big deal as if nothing is wrong.  I called coleman and they want me to take it to a repair shop and they didn't even try to troubleshoot.  Any ideas?

[aefron88]

The first thing i would do is reset the ECU and see if that fixes it.

 

Start the engine, run it up to redline in neutral (it has a rev limiter and wont over rev)

Hold it there for 5 seconds, and turn the ignition off, with the gas pedal still down.

Wait 15 seconts, release the pedal and restart as normal.

 

See if it idles properly after that, and starts ok in colder weather. LMK after you've done that if it fixes it, or you still have issues and I can walk you thru further troubleshooting.

[jmutv]

Hello there!  Thank you for your reply, I should have mentioned I was going out of town and wouldn’t be near it for a bit. I had the reverse of the issue in the past few days.  It would t start when air temp was warm (but would start with gas slightly depressed).  Then this morning was cool and it did start just fine like nothing wrong lol.  So I put a few hours on it and now am just under 10 hours.  I tried to get it to redline and lost my nerve twice around 7k rpm…. Dang that thing is loud.  Is there another way to reset the ECU? Also, isn’t it bad that it hasn’t broke in, but trying to redline it?  Thank you so much for your advice, I really appreciate it!

[aefron88]

The other option is some cabling and free software called "Hud ECU Hacker". I have a post in another thread about code reading that explains what you need and how to set it up.

Once you get it going:

-Click on the "Control" tab

-Click the "reset EPROM" button

 

This will reset the ECU back to factory and clear any codes. 

The software is also a way to further troubleshoot sensor issues, as you can see what the sensors are reading in the software. After resetting the ECU the next troubleshooting step, if you're still having issues, would be to see what your coolant temp sensor is reading. If it is failed or way off it can cause issues with idling due to the fuel mixture being too rich or lean. It is a good possibility since you only have issues idling at certain ambiant temps.

[jmutv]

Thank you so much!  I’ve ordered the cables/adapters.  Gonna take a while… sigh..

[aefron88]

Yes, unfortunately they seem to come on the slow boat.

The good news is once you have them troubleshooting sensor issues will be a lot easier. These things seem to have a fair number of sensor issues, and they can be very hard to troubleshoot.

Let me know once them come how the reset goes, if that resolves the issue, or if you need further help troubleshooting.

[jmutv]

Hello there again!  I got the cables in the mail.  Strange thing though, despite it getting colder, my Outfitter is starting just fine again. Not even one time has it not started.  I wonder if just getting it up to 7k for 10 seconds was enough.  I really appreciate you helping me work on this.  At least now I’ll have the cables when I need them in the future.  

[aefron88]

Good to hear!

Fingers crossed you don't have any further issues.