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Etennuly
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 - 05:05 pm: | 
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Fl-lime, My '06 had the same exact symptoms last year when I was leaving for a trip. It only did it on the Interstate at 70 mph+ and just on up hills. The red light would flash,the bike seemed to go into run-skip mode, as in over heated.
That one drove me nuts for a while. I finally got off the highway, tired of running up to 70, light flashing, engine stuttering, and having to slam the throttle shut, coast back to 55 and normal running. Pulling into a gas station I thought about the "wiggle" test. Not being happy, I grabbed every wire under the seat and moved them about. Back on the road it ran great, for a couple hundred miles. Then it came back.
I pulled and wiggled the wires a few more times to continue my trip of 750 miles. It made it home.
I was going to tear the whole thing apart to fix this gremlin, no matter what it took. First I unplugged the ECM. There I found the little yellow wire with a blue stripe had been touching the metal mount where the BAS had originally been mounted. With a magnifying lens I found the culprit. That wire had worn through to where it had one tiny sliver of wire showing through.
In order to make it arc out it had to be warm enough to soften up so it could hang loose, it had to be going up hill so the engine required more power, then it would just barely touch.
The flashing light was indicating an ignition fault, but no codes. The thing I thought might be run-skip(it wasn't physically too hot) was in fact a cylinder not firing. The wire was the power lead to the front cylinder's coil. I taped the wire and the bike has been running flawlessly since.....until last night.
75 mph on the Interstate, up hill, flashy red light, then engine stutter. It was back!. So I stopped at a well lit gas station, pulled the seat and found that the same wire, from a year ago, had found its way back to hanging down where it was and had the tape worn nearly through. So I re-tapped it and off to the Interstate, 80+ the last fifty miles home. It was perfect again. |
Etennuly
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 - 05:29 pm: |
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Do a search for "run/skip". the first thread that shows up is "save Verns Trip". That is what it is about. |
Florida_lime
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 - 06:08 pm: |
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I did do a quick check of the wires under the seat, but maybe not close enough. I'd check again, but I dropped it off this am at my "local" dealer, 90+ miles away. $50 in gas and tolls with the van just to drop it off and get back home. 
I NEED to have this sorted by the 4th of July, or it will be the 3rd vacation of mine messed up.
The dealer is going to call Buell tech assistance first, but I don't get a good feeling since the service department's "Buell guy" just left that store. |
Etennuly
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 - 07:31 pm: |
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Sorry to hear that. "The Buell guy left" is never a good thing to hear when you take the bike in for a problem.
Mine usually only acts up when it knows a trip is near too.
Good luck with that, I hope it is simple. I found that some service guys are receptive to ideas from the bike owner. You could suggest a look at this or other ideas on threads here to help them find the problem if they come back with nothing.
I didn't take mine in because I could not successfully make the problem repeat. |
Florida_lime
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 - 08:09 pm: |
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I told them they wouldn't get it to repeat also. Today was raining pretty hard, and it was much cooler than the last few days.
My suggestions were to check the fuel mapping (mileage has gone up slightly very recently, still sucks compared to the '06s !) or the timing. I doubt it's a temperature sensor, it WAS running hot, but you never know. Intake seals seemed to check OK with the contact cleaner test at idle.
I'll give them a day or two, then call. Thanks for the ideas. |
Mad_doctor
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 24, 2009 - 08:54 pm: |
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I put the lead split shot on the cable, and we are back to wheelie-ville, got that normal power back. called the dealer, and he wants to see the bike, which means I have to ride for 3 hours to get there. The owner assured me ,"they will have all the parts in stock, and they will start on the bike as soon as it hits the door". we will see. |
Florida_lime
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 24, 2009 - 09:14 pm: |
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Tim,
Good luck with yours !  |
Florida_lime
| | Posted on Friday, June 26, 2009 - 10:43 pm: |
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Update:
When I dropped off the Uly, I told them it was unlikely that they would be able to duplicate the skip spark problem, unless it got back into the 90's, and they ran it at highway speeds for 45 minutes. I also told them not to replace the actuator; I would do it myself UNLESS Buell was going to "goodwill" it since I was only out of warranty a couple weeks.
I called after 2 days, they said that they were waiting for the actuator to come in before they did anything else.
I told them to at least check the fuel mapping and ignition timing.
I called back today, and they said they have been taking it out between rain showers for TEN WHOLE MINUTES at a time, and they weren't able to duplicate the problem yet.
I might go pick it up tomorrow afternoon before I go ballistic. |
Mad_doctor
| | Posted on Saturday, June 27, 2009 - 07:53 am: |
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So, I take it, they are going to "goodwill" the actuator, if they have one ordered. I hope it's not back ordered. I would try to get it before the 4th. It would be a drag to have the bike down for the holiday. Good luck, Tim |
Florida_lime
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 01, 2009 - 08:14 pm: |
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Picked the bike back up yesterday -- they checked everything that Buell Tech support had them check, plus more.
They could find NO reason for the skip spark running. The actuator even started working properly, and since the (non-updated ) replacement wasn't in, I took it. No charge, even out of warranty.
Put new tires on today (PR2) and took it out to scrub in the tires. I stopped to get gas, and as usual the fan came on when I shut it off. When I got home (only another mile), and pulled into the garage, I shut it off.
Fan did NOT come on. ??????
Turned ignition on, then off. Fan came on, and even seemed to run even longer than usual. Could just have been the "watched pot" type of thing, but hopefully something else is not going on.
I'll run it again tomorrow, then head out for NC Friday AM. |
Mad_doctor
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 01, 2009 - 09:13 pm: |
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I know on my 08XT, if I run it until it gets hot, the fan comes on. Then if I start it up and only ride for a mile or so, shut it off, the fan does not come on. I think the temperature sensor must not get hot enough in a short trip. Maybe when you turned the key back on, the head temperature must have risen. I don't think you should be concerned (yet). |
Florida_lime
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 01, 2009 - 10:22 pm: |
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I'm hoping it's as simple as that. I rarely notice my fan running while I'm riding, even though I'm sure it does.
I'm just so used to the fan coming on when I shut it off - when it doesn't, it gets noticed.
Like my first 2 fans that died.  |
Mad_doctor
| | Posted on Thursday, July 02, 2009 - 09:42 pm: |
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The ONLY time my fan came on in traffic, I got caught in a traffic back-up. the weather was 100 degrees, and we would move 10 feet at a time, for five miles. The fan would cycle on for two minutes, and off for about five minutes. It did that for about 45 minutes. once the traffic started to move, it never came back on. But it really kicked out the heat when the fan was on. Other than that, it only comes on when I turn the ignition off. |
Florida_lime
| | Posted on Thursday, July 02, 2009 - 10:40 pm: |
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I guess that's the difference between Michigan and Florida, my fan is running most of the time while I'm riding.
Once everything is up to temperature, if I reach down, I can feel the hot air blowing out from under the seat any time I check it.
That really doesn't bother me; that just shows it's working. |
Xbimmer
| | Posted on Friday, July 03, 2009 - 08:48 pm: |
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Florida I know I posted earlier that my new O2 sensor fixed my problem similar to yours but I don't think it has. I've been too busy to take it out for an extended ride and sure it does run better than it did with a three year old sensor and 57K, but a couple days ago I headed down the freeway in 90+ heat and skip-spark set in within three miles...
I'm banking on the intake seals, I picked up a couple of stock seals and I can imagine that those dinky little rubber rings have probably gone bad by now and are throwing off the O2 sensor, since it keeps giving me that trouble code.
I'm hoping that's it, I'll have time next week to tear into it... |
Mad_doctor
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 08, 2009 - 02:06 pm: |
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I just spoke to Greatlakes H.D. in Bay city MI., They need to keep the bike for tests, and parts replacement. They will either let me take an S3T, or a Harley Ultra, until the bike is ready to come back home. I'll tell you what, this is an awesome Dealership!!! I you ever want to buy a bike, I would Highly recommend these guys. Jay Anthony, or Anthony Derrico, (the Owner). |
Xbimmer
| | Posted on Saturday, July 11, 2009 - 10:20 am: |
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Well I replaced my intake seals this past week, what a royal PITA... used every trick known to Man and BadWeB to try to get the manifold bolts out, ended up cutting a 1/2" piece of the end off a 1/4" Allen wrench to use as an insert. Applied force to that with the box end of a 1/4" ignition wrench persuaded with a flattened piece of galvanized water pipe as an extension. Then it was one little twist at a time, took over an hour to remove two screws...
Bottom line is the new seals definitely helped out, performance is good and the ECM has stopped throwing O2 Sensor codes.
I got the chance to tidy up the wiring and stuff in there too.
Took it for a test ride, no skip-spark! Took it out later, there it is again, and so bad it did it all the way home on surface streets. Bumped the timing back up (I've been running it retarded a bit to lessen the pinging it's had since new), went for a ride and it was fine. Ran some errands, blinking light again. No trouble codes to point me anywhere. This sucks.
Good news is, since I left the fuel rail and injectors intact and pulled them from the manifold for better bolt access I needed to replace the outlet seals. Local dealer wants $11 apiece for two rings!
I remembered reading here somewhere about the various automotive parts in our XB's so I went to my local AutoZone and asked for injector seals for a 2004 Mustang.
Received a box of Felpro #ES-70599 seals identical to the one from my bike. Cost $4 for the set of four. Something went well at least. |
Mad_doctor
| | Posted on Saturday, July 11, 2009 - 12:15 pm: |
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Took the 08 XT to the dealer, the throttle body had some issues, so they are going to replace under warranty. they let me take a New Ultra Classic. Boy what a difference!!! The bike cruises great, corners well, but talk about your butt draggin the ground! It feels like I'm setting in the basement. (the funny thing is, I used to blast around on my 66 FLH, and never had a problem, except dragging metal on the corners). I certainly miss the Uly. The good thing is, she will be back in about 2 weeks. I REALLY miss the performance on take off. I realized the dresser is an old man's bike, and I'm not ready to go there.
P.S. the wife wants me to trade the 66 FLH in on the Ultra, That's not gonna happen |
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