| Author | Message | ||
     Portero72 |
Hello boys and girls, quick question. I just got my 06 Uly back from major engine work-new rings, valve guides and seals. About 200 miles after getting it back, at the end of the first long, warm ride(it was at least 90 towards the end), my engine light flashed at me periodically, accompanied by a bit of rough running. No codes were stored, however, and the tech working on the bike couldn't reproduce it. It has since done this a few times, but only after it gets hot, and conditions are right-say, 1st gear, 4000rpm, 30mph, or city traffic with ambient temps over 90. Reason I ask is because this never happened prior to the engine work, and I HAD ridden in some hellish temps(100 plus in N Chihuahua). Is this skip spark mode? It may be worthwhile to mention that good running returned as soon as the flashing light went away. Thx for the info. | ||
| Froggy |
Yes skip spark is the flashing check engine light and running like crap.  | ||
| Muppet |
Check your fan is working properly. | ||
| Hughlysses |
+1 on the fan. It should be running at high speed during those conditions. | ||
| Portero72 |
Muppet-good point, the fan is brand new, however. Went in with the motor. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Defective temp sensor? | ||
| Portero72 |
90 percent sure the tech checked the temp sensor, as well as the o2 sensor, plus a myriad other things. Skip spark mode does make sense, since it IS still effing hot over here(about 95 today), and it goes away after I get some good air. Maybe the hot new engine? | ||
| Hughlysses |
It shouldn't get that hot with a new engine; hopefully a rebuild wouldn't be any worse. Oil cooler plugged? Left a rag in the left side scoop? | ||
| Davo |
I would check the static timing as well as the condition of the wire leading to the ET sensor in the rear head. | ||
| Hmartin |
Retarded timing will make it run hot. How many miles / hours are on the new rings? I had a water-cooled metric bike a while back, pinned it against the rev limiter a few too many times and had to have the same type of work done. For the first 500 miles or so after that, it ran hotter than normal, especially at stop lights. The more miles I put on it, the better it got. Funny thing; I would up the idle to 4k rpm and the water pump would actually cool it back down a little. I doubt the Uly's oil cooler would do the same. | ||
| Etennuly |
I had a similar symptom for months on my bike that finally revealed itself a month ago or so. When the temps were above 90F, the bike was in a load(uphill long pull), the red light would begin to flash followed by what seemed to be run/skip. Back off the throttle it would run OK again, try to accelerate it would skip. The engine did not show signs of being overly hot. One of the ECM wires was hanging in a loose loop allowing it to just barely touch the anodized battery box frame. Close examination of the blue/orange stripe wire, showed the tiniest bit of silver wire showing through a little flat spot in the insulation. It is the wire for the #2 Coil according to the SM. The heat would allow the wire to hang loose enough to touch the frame, and the up-hill load would be enough load to make the #2 cylinder misfire. I found it through stopping when the problem appeared and moving the wiring harness around. Do it enough times and the problem presents itself. I unplugged the ECM, taped the offending wire, put a single twist in the harness and plugged it back in. It has been good for the last 3000 miles. It held no codes, imitated the run/skip perfectly, and was small enough to be unseen. But a simple fix. | ||
| Ksc12c |
Ditto: Checking the wires on the ECM plug. Riding out to Big Bend a couple of weeks ago my Uly would go into Skip Spark mode. I finally noticed a couple of wires with worn insulation. | ||
| Sekalilgai |
Hmm mine did the same thing earlier in the week... I just thought that I had to really get serious about that diet...me go checky tonight....thanks for the tip Vern! | ||
| Portero72 |
An update- Seems the bike really was going into skip spark mode due to the fact that it really was overheating. The tech working on the bike had the 'magic box' hooked up as he rode and logged info when he reproduced the problem. Seems internal temps were north of 500f and external head temps were just south of 500f. All this on a motor with fresh rings and valve guides/seals. Odd, it never went into skip spark on the 'old' motor, even when riding in Northern Chihuahua/Southern AZ in temps well over 100. I've spoken with the tech several times, and he appears to have checked everything-oil pressure, static timing, etc. He is now waiting on a call from Buell Tech Svcs for assistance...who don't work on weekends. Hooray for my XR650! At least I have something else to ride. | ||
| Froggy |
Fudged up a sensor? | ||
| Portero72 |
I asked that, too. Tech told me the wiggle test was performed and the sensor also showed proper voltage. hmmm | ||
| Hughlysses |
Mechanic didn't gap the rings properly? | ||
| Mad_doctor |
That Was kind of what I was thinkin, If the clearance between the piston and cyl, wall were too tight,or the rings weren't gapped right, that WOULD create more heat. the engine cranks hard, especially after it has run for a while. Just my .02 | ||
| Dr_greg |
Not to derail the discussion, but... why the top-end engine work? I've got 52K miles on my '06 and plan to keep it forever. What engine behavior caused this work? Thanks for any info. | ||
| Portero72 |
DR_greg... No idea what caused the rings/seals to fail, but during the TX to MEX to AZ trip I noticed it going through a quart of oil about every 500 miles. Leakdown tests revealed bad compression. Teardown showed bad rings/seals. I bought it new, as a demo, in 8/07, with about 600 miles on it, so MAYBE it was poor break in. No real idea, though. | ||
| Portero72 |
An update- Got the bike back today after the tech replaced the ECM(as a last resort). Seems he had been waiting for Buell Tech Svc to call or email him for a few days(he's still waiting). One of the other techs recommended trying a new ECM, as he had seen problems like this before. After test riding it, the tech was not able to reproduce the problem. After 70 miles of riding 55-65mph, various rpm's, the overheating seems to have stopped. Fan runtime after shutoff seems reduced dramatically, as well. I am hoping this solves this particular issue. Not sure what could fail in an ECM to cause overheating, but what the hell do I know? I know I am psyched to have my Buell back. I had been missing Big Power. Thx y'all. |
