| Author | Message | ||
     Stevem123 |
This may be a long post so grab a beer and get comfortable. I have been having issues with cold start and wierd things like the bike not wanting to idle properly for a few minutes after a re-start from stopping for gas or something like that. I had also noticed it was getting hard to start when cold to the point I had to crack the throttle to get it to fire. This is on my 06 Uly and an early build date at that. The bike has the stock non modified race ECM, factory race muffler, factory race air cleaner, modified air box cover, and I removed the failed "77" connector a while back to fix the charging issues. I have about 36K on the odometer and the bike has been wonderful and reliable until the recent wierd niggles. Besides having to crack the throttle to get it to fire, I also noticed it ran like crap when cold until it fully warmed up. By running like crap I mean it would surge badly unless I was giving it gas to accelerate. It would typically take 8 to 10 miles before it would settle down and run like it's supposed to. I thought maybe the injectors were cruddy so I ran a couple tanks through with fuel system cleaner but that didn't seem to make any change in the symptoms. So next I thought maybe the intake seals were leaking when cold until things warmed up enough for things to expand and seal so I pulled the airbox, removed the IAT sensor from the baseplate and re-connected it in order to start the bike up and check the intake for leaks by speaying some brake cleaner around the intake while it was running cold. No change there so no leaks... Before I started it up to check for leaks, I connected up with my Ipaq and VDSTS to watch the temp sensors, advance, TPS, AFV, Etc. I really didn,t see anything unusual there either so I backed away from replacing the O2 sensor as this was also something I had planned to do thinking maybe this could be the culprit as well. So with nothing really pointing towards a true cause for the problem, I decided to go ahead and add a ground strap from the grounding point on the seat rail back to the engine in order to eliminate that as a possibility even though I haven't seen the issues others were having with grounding problems. I found a nice braided wire ground strap at the local auto parts store in their "Help" line of parts. The part number is (60213). It is 15 inches long and has the perfect size eyes at each end and fits perfect between the front ground screw and the rear bolt of the upper engine heim joint bracket right behind the ingition coil. The first thing I noticed when I removed the seat rail grounding screw is that whoever installed it put locktight on the screw!  Locktight on a grounding screw? That's just totally stupid as the locktight acts like an insulator. So obviously I clean the screw threads and finish the job, button it all back up get ready for a ride to see what happens. That fixed it!!!!  The bike runs better than it ever did and I didn't even have to replace any bad parts! I can't imagine any dealer ever figuring that out without charging me hundreds in labor and keeping my bike for months especially with the wierd sometimes symptoms. I hope this helps anyone experiencing wierd stuff that you can't seem to find the problem. BC Steve | ||
| Rwven |
Tell me about it.....  | ||
| Mnrider |
Thanks Steve,I was thinking about adding a separate ground strap. I have an 06 with low miles and it sure is good to have a heads up on any issues. |
