| Author | Message | ||
     Oddjobb |
Hey guys. Well this is the first time I have been on the forum since starting my cross country trip a few weeks ago. I just recently got back from Iraq and decided to buy a used Ulysses and ride it across country. . . maybe not the smartest thing I have ever done. I have had nothing but problems with the bike, the kickstand broke off at a gas station. The bushing that holds the muffler to the block was missing and caused my rear exhaust studs to break and the exhaust to almost fall off the bike. I fixed the exhaust studs and the exhaust is held securely on the bike now, But I rode 350 miles yesterday from Jacksonville, FL to Alexander City, AL and the bike almost didn't make it. The problem is this. Sometimes the bike runs fine, but wants to idle at 2100 rpm or so at a stop. At other times the bike barely will hold power and spits and sputters like crazy. It seems if it is at 4k rpm or more it runs better, but the bike will hardly idle if at a stop light while it spits and sputters running. Throttle response is horrible. The check engine light was coming on and going off intermittently, will this give a code in the ecm even if the light is now off? Any help is appreciated. I would really like to finish the trip, but have to be back by tuesday and my other option is to try and find a place to have the bike shipped from and fly back. . . I would really like to avoid this if possible. my number is 360-632-0305. If anyone has any insight that would be great, I do have internet right now and can reply on here as well. Thanks Jimmy | ||
| Uly_man |
It could be anything but as a easy start. Remove the Earth bolt next to the fuse box, clean the paint off the subframe mount and re-fit the bolt. | ||
| Oddjobb |
ok, I will go do that. I am also going to check the o2 sensor wires to be sure they are alright. Will check out the TPS wires as well. | ||
| 7873jake |
Gonna brainstorm out loud for a second: What, if anything, do you know about the battery? Age? Check the battery leads and make sure they are tight. Not every replacement/aftermarket battery has the same lug/pole configuration as the OEM H-D batt and this can make those connections not seat/bite like the others. Check them either way. Are you familiar with the 77 connector and have you taken a peek at that? Checking the grounds has already been mentioned...+1 on that. Do you know how to do a roadside ECM port read using a jumper and reading the flashing check engine light to see if a code has been stored or triggered? | ||
| Hughlysses |
Jake- for local help, check the BRAN listing for Alabama at: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/cgibin/discus/boar d-auth.cgi?file=/42/42.html&lm=1302549624 You have to log in to access the list. | ||
| Rwven |
Idle Air Controller...there's a thread here on it somewhere. Same symptoms I had when mine failed. You can ride it without damage...or at least I did. Edit: I'm assuming the 06 does have an IAC. (Message edited by rwven on May 26, 2011) | ||
| Uly_man |
Edit: I'm assuming the 06 does have an IAC. No it does not. | ||
| 7873jake |
At the risk of stepping in to Jimmy's party here, I had the afternoon off and saw the post so I called him on his cell after my random brainstorm post above. He has the BRAN in his tank bag but was going to wait a little before ringing anyone in the area near him since it was around noon when he posted the initial msg. He has an Autozone near him and was going to head over and see if the battery was still good on their tester as it is the stock original on his '06. Related that the dealership that replaced the stator recently said it seemed to be good still but decided there was no harm in checking it either way. After that, he was going to proceed with checking things like the ground(s), 77-connector, and trying to get a read on the ECM codes, if any, for more insight. He does not have an ECM cable so reading the codes via the C.E.L. is his only way to peek into the brain at this point. He does have internet access on a laptop so he has access to diagrams and diagnostic suggestions that anyone might come up with. | ||
| Oddjobb |
well i took the battery over to autozone and they told me it was at 12.92 volts, so good. Then I went across the street to O'reilly's and they said it was at 11.5 volts. . . so, I am having it charged right now for a few hours and I will pick it up. Gonna head out and check my 77 connector, battery ground, o2 sensor wires and when I get the battery back in I bought some jumpers to check the ECM codes. Thanks for all the input! I need to pull the BRAN out and see if anyone is near. I am lucky that my brother is here from washington doing tornado damage cleanup and I can stay with him at the hotel and use the internet. | ||
| Oddjobb |
oh and this may be a stupid question, but could this be caused by something with the fuel filter? If the bike even has one that is assessable? Pretty new to the Buell's. | ||
| Hughlysses |
I'd say it's very unlikely it's the fuel filter (can't remember ever seeing a report of a fuel filter problem with an XB) plus it's not easy to get to anyway. Seems like the O2 sensor would be a good thing to go over with a fine-tooth comb. If you broke the header studs and the header was giggling around, it may have frayed the wire or caused some other problem. If one of the BRAN contacts has ECMspy, he can hook your bike up and possibly quickly identify the problem. | ||
| 7873jake |
The fuel filter is on the fuel pump and, unfortunately, not easily checkable without removing the fuel pump. I'll have to defer to someone with experience on the fuel filter but I don't recall reading about issues with the pickup filter or fuel filter causing issues. Most often, its the wiring on the pump itself. Here are some fuel pump views: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/370305.html http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/442427.html | ||
| Oddjobb |
I am thinking the o2 sensor may be the culprit as well. It is nice that they make it so easily accessable. . . . NOT! haha. will be looking into it after i grab some food. Anyway, I took the fuse box out and filed both the grounding points on the frame as well as all of the ground connections and torx bolts. So that should not be the problem now. I checked the 77 connector (the long, two wire connector behind the right cover) hope that is it. The connector has dielectric grease in it and does not look burned, chaffed or anything. There was a chaffed spot, but it is tapped up and the wire was not broken, just where the insulation chaffed on a mount. I looked at the fuel pump threads and I will have to go turn the key on when I get the battery back to see if the pump turns off. no fuel could cause my problems I suppose. the bike has 17,000 miles on it and i am pretty sure it primes and shuts off. i hear it do it every time and think that would sound weird if it did not. I will check the BRAN right now and see if anyone is close by. | ||
| Etennuly |
How much stuff did you have to take apart to get to the exhaust studs to fix it? Double check the o2 sensor wire and the ETS wire where they run between the head and the fuel tank/frame. They cannot touch the head, it will melt them, short to ground. Check the wires out of the right side of the engine cover, the Cam Position Sensor, make sure it is not pinched or rubbing hot stuff. Also look for any wires running above or near the top right side of the muffler for pinched in a clamp or rubbing on a sharp edge. If your battery was at 11.8V I doubt it would crank the engine over, but it needs to be above 12.4 or so to run correctly. Iratic high idle speed can be caused by the idle speed being set too high. It is supposed to be at 1050. I found that 1000 rpm fully warmed up is better. If it is set at say, 1100 rpm, it will seem to hang at about 2200 when you come to a stop, then it will float all over for a minute or so before it will come down some. The idle adjuster is between the left air scoop and the left engine mounting bracket. It is an allen head cable affair. Did you have the air box base off? Plugs out or wires off? Check plug wires at both ends for good connections. It could have fouled a plug with the problems you had. It would be a good idea to check them. If one is wet at all that may be all you need. | ||
| Ratbuell |
If you still have an exhaust leak, via the broken studs, your O2 sensor is getting a bad read (lots of fresh air going past it that shouldn't be there), and is trying to compensate by whacking out your AFV. My 06 behaved badly when I boogered a TPS reset. (you need either ECMSpy or a dealer with a Digital Technician to do the reset on an '06). A high idle can cause hanging revs and a little sneezing, but I have yet to see one want to die from it. Kickstand broke? Or three bolts that hold the base to the engine broke? Mine were starting to stretch so I replaced them with grade 8s and red loctite about 21,000 miles ago. No issues since; they're part of my "critical fastener" list to check at service intervals now. Jumper the pins and pull the codes, see what it tells you. Sorry to hear you've had a run of bad luck. Unfortunately, though...sidestand bolts and improper exhaust installation are kinda known issues, especially on used bikes with unknown wrench-work...much as I hate to say it, a good pre-trip checkover would likely have identified the issues before they...became issues. Oh, and re-reading your original post...one other thing that can cause rev-dependent wonkiness is the muffler valve. I'm guessing you have a stock muffler - the valve controller is under the airbox outer lid and there is an adjuster on the cable. Loosen the cable, pull the cable out of the actuator motor, make sure you can pull the cable and open/close the valve. Then on/off/on/off/on the kill switch and you should see the actuator do a self-test cycle. Won't help with your high idle (still think either TPS reset or idle speed adjust on that one)...but could definitely be a factor for the 4000 rpm difference. And depending on how far "off" the exhaust fell...it could well have damaged that cable. If you're headed Maryland-way, let me know. Happy to pull it into the garage, give you a cold one, whip out the laptop and ECMspy, and get 'er fixed for you  (Message edited by ratbuell on May 26, 2011) | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
TPS reset. First try setting your idle to no more than 1000 rpm. Sorry that you are having problems with your ULY. They are a real nice bike but shiite happens. When that side stand broke your bike might of injured itself on the fall over. Maybe a wire to the ECM got smashed in the wire loom that goes around the steering head. You need to find a knowledgeable ULY owner near where you are at. We are all over the place. Good luck and keep a positive attitude. If you keep looking and looking, God will reward you with the fix, guaranteed. | ||
| Oddjobb |
I had the engine pretty much dropped out of the bike. All of the mounts were loose and I had it on a scissor jack with the suspension jacked up to access the top rear exhaust stud. I am going to go out and check all the routing over the heads and stuff. I am pretty sure it was all good, but will double check. I went out to do it a little while ago and it started raining again. I did have time out there to pull a code by jumping the diagnostic port. It gives me a code 21, which is for the interactive exhaust control valve, but the thing is I have a HAWK muffler on the bike and the valve is not utilized anymore. I dont think this could be causing the problem? I spoke with Randy who makes the hawk mufflers and he said he has had those actuators pulled off the bike, from under the airbox and it did not make a difference. He also said when his TPS went bad that the bike behaved almost exactly as I am describing. Do you guys think it could be the TPS? The nearest dealer is 70 miles away for a TPS reset. But there is a guy in the BRAN in that same area. I know that I should have done a more thorough inspection of the bike prior to riding it, but this is my first buell and I was not really sure what to look for. I guess I am just living and learning. I was really hoping to ride the bike back across country, but I dont know if that is going to be an option. I called allied and they will ship it from Atlanta for $670 and I could grab a plane back. . . . hopefully it does not come to that. | ||
| Oddjobb |
Oh, and I do still love the bike, just want to get this all sorted out lol. I really like how it rides and the comfort. I will be selling my Aprilia RSV once I get this one to be reliable. | ||
| Oddjobb |
Is there a way to clean the TPS at all? There is some oil down in the throttle body and stuff, could that be gumming it up or something? | ||
| Rdkingryder |
You might have a bad bank angle sensor. Pretty common failure on early bikes. Good luck. | ||
| Ratbuell |
When that side stand broke your bike might of injured itself on the fall over I had a parking brake fail on an M35A2 deuce and a half. It parked itself on my Ulysses. The front brake lever broke off the bike, and the right mirror was broken. Falling off the sidestand won't hurt it YES, I think it could be TPS. No, I don't think cleaning it will help. A proper reset should do it. Think "volume knob" - that's all the TPS is. A volume knob that tells the computer how far you've "turned up" the throttle, so it knows how much fuel to put in the engine. If it doesn't know where the "off" setting is...it won't run right because there's no baseline "zero" point. And a bad BAS wouldn't cause it to hiccup and snort. It would shut it off, like you hit the kill switch. The 21 is precisely because you are missing the muffler valve. Won't cause a running condition here, but the computer "sees" something missing so it tosses the code. Again...if you're up Maryland-way, I can fix it. | ||
| Xtdave |
a intake leak between the induction module & head will also cause the symptoms you described. I also had the same symptoms on my 03 firebolt @ the 13k mile mark. the cure for my problem was the nut holding the throttle plate shaft facing the front of bike was loose, giving the same symptoms of a air intake leak. figured this easy fix out after replacing intake seals twice. a tps re set should be done at the 1k svc & every 5k after or any time a ecm is replaced or a new tps sensor or induction module is instld. done properly the tps re-set re-zeroes the setting for a closed throttle letting the ecm know where zeroe throttle is so the rest of the fuel/ timing map that is in your ecm can corealate properly to throttle position. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
TPS reset has to be done with a thoroughly warmed up engine. Don't do it on a cold engine otherwise you'll be in the same boat as before. | ||
| Oddjobb |
I will check out the nut you are referring to on the intake leak. I had thought it was an intake leak before because it was idling so high at 2100 rpm when warm, kind of like a car will with a vacuum leak. I did find this nipple on the right side (throttle side) of the bike that is missing a cap. It goes straight into the throttle body and could be giving too much air. I am going to cap it as Jake told me his is capped. Maybe I will catch a break. . . . probably not haha. I had a member email me and he is about an hour from where I am in Alabama. He has ecmspy and the cable and will help me out with the tps reset. Does anyone have the procedure on how to do the TPS reset? He has not done it in a while, but I am sure we could figure it out. Here is a pic of the nipple  | ||
| Froggy |
The caps often blow off when the bike backfires through the intake. While it is advisable to keep it capped, it is the least of your worries right now. | ||
| Oddjobb |
Is there any way to trick the TPS? Jump it at make it go to default or anything? I am guessing not, but thought I would ask. | ||
| Oddjobb |
well pensacola, florida harley davidson has a TPS sensor that I can buy, but they said they dont know if they can fit me in for the install and TPS reset. Is it absolutely critical to reset a new TPS after install? I can install it myself I am sure. | ||
| Murf |
Just a check to make sure you're not sucking air somewhere; with the bike running spray carb cleaner or WD40 all around the intake system including the manifolds. If anything changes you have a split, crack, or some other cause. Jiggle the throttle body as you do it if possible. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
 TPS Reset procedure straight from the 06' ULY service manual.  While hooked up to ECMSpy make sure the bike goes to CLOSED LOOP from OPEN LOOP. Closed loop means the bike is warmed up and using the O2 sensor. If it is still flagging Open Loop then the engine still needs to warm up more to do a proper TPS Reset. Have at it. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Don't buy a new TPS, just reset the one you have. And yes, you'd have to reset a new one if you wasted your money buying a new one that you don't need. ECM has to know what the zero point is and either way you have to provide that zero with a reset as outlined above in the manual. |
