| Author | Message | ||
     Zane |
Is there a solution to the surging and in general crappy running for the X bikes? For the entire time I’ve had my XT (2009 with 18,000 miles), it’s been great, never a problem. During my last ride in Arizona, the XT because sick. I made it home but when the RPMs were below about 2800 it would shake, surge and stall. Highway mileage drop to about 30mpg instead of the expected 48-50. Sounded like fouled plugs so they got replaced. Helped for about 1 tank of gas. By the end of the tank it almost wouldn’t run at low RPMs. Took it to the dealer and they put a new set of plugs, new Fuel Injectors and replaced a faulty Idle Air Control Actuator. The bike ran great for the first half tank of gas then Back to surging and stalling and just no power. Tried to ride it several different ways to be able to better inform whoever is doing the troubleshooting. At low RPM it doesn’t even want to run, especially when the engine is cold. It back fires, and stalls and surges. Went out on the express way, dropped down to third and cranked the RPMs up, or at least tried to. It would not go above 4000 RPM and bucked like a wild horse. Ran it up again and this time it made it to 5000 RPM before it stopped accelerating. Then it started to buck and feel like it was coughing up a valve. One more violent buck and it start to accelerate. I slowed down and it ran fine. Idled fine accelerated evenly and ran strong, Is it possible that it blew something out of the throttle body or maybe out of a cylinder? Ran great for a while and now it back to unable to idle surging again. Any idea where to start this time? | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
ECM? | ||
| Zane |
Hope that's not the case. I'm already $650 into this. Really don't want to spend the money for a new ECM. Still, it makes sense. | ||
| Bdub_uly |
Thats the way my '08 acted when I got it. Got mad and rung it out and it would run nice next time. So I'd take it easy on it. Next ride would be from hell. Got mad again and whupped the sheite out of it. Next ride would be docile. Finally broke down and bought the EBR ECM. Happy, Happy, Happy ever after. | ||
| Skifastbadly |
Most likely culprits are the fuel pump and the ECM. Sounds like your dealer is a spray and pray kind of place. Have you relocated the ECM? Cracked connectors are common without relocation. Try running the bike with the seat off and wiggling the connectors. If there's any change, that's your problem. Fuel pump wires can short out....That's a bit harder to diagnose, you have to pull the pump to inspect. Suggest you not do this with a full tank. I'd say 60% chance of ECM, 30% chance of fuel pump, 10% chance I don't know what I'm talking about. | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
We have had to replace both ECMs on our two Ulys and the symptoms sounded similar to yours in both cases. I hope for your wallet's sake it is something else but if there is a silver lining, our XT runs light years better with the EBR ecm. | ||
| Buewulf |
Speaking from experience with my bike, I'd say 90% chance it is the ECM, 5% TPS sensor, 5% cam sensor. OK, so maybe 99% ECM. Reach out and see if someone has a spare ECM they can loan you for diagnostic reasons. Lots of people have the EBR ECM which probably means a lot of people have a stock ECM lying around somewhere. | ||
| Metra6924 |
Did you check the engine temperature sensor? I had similar troubles and that turned out to be the culprit. | ||
| Zane |
I was thinking maybe a vacuum leak or the ECM. The fuel pump pressure is in the normal range but don't know if the filter was changed. At this point I'm thinking ECM. What Does EBR get for a new one? | ||
| Mhevezi |
Zane, I believe a new ECM from EBR is about $300. Very happy with my EBR ECM. | ||
| Zane |
Hmmm. At $300 I'd go that route for sure. What would I need to do the set up or is it plug and play? {edited because I can't spell} (Message edited by Zane on August 14, 2013) | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
Two plugs then ride around for a few miles at 3000 rpm. I'd check the old ecm and the connectors for any cracks. The XT's original ecm had a hairline crack, almost invisible to the nekkid eyeball. You may consider doing the ecm relocation as a preventative step. Do a quick search here for that process. IIRC, it took Greg about 10 minutes for the ecm relo and no ecm related problems with either Uly since. | ||
| Zane |
Hoping it's something cheap but can't see putting in another stock ECM if I can get one from EBR for $300. | ||
| Uly_man |
"Is there a solution to the surging and in general crappy running for the X bikes?". Yes there is. | ||
| Zane |
Funny Uly_man, funny. So what is it?  I've pretty much resigned myself to having to spend the cash for a new ECM. If I do break down and get a EBR ECM how does th at effect gas mileage? Before all this started, I was using the bike for a daily driver and errand runner. | ||
| Uly_man |
http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/clipart/bigw ink.gif | ||
| Zane |
Well, the verdict is back. It was the ECM. It was installed and I got the back back 2 days ago. Fires up without a problem, idles steady and runs strong as it ever has. I've got about 150 miles on it since it came back from the shop and no problems. Now here's the kicker: Great Lakes Harley Davidson said that felt bad because I had oever $700 in the repairs without them actually fixing the problem. So they bought and paid for the ecm and ate the labor. They even detailed the bike before giving it back. I thought that was pretty decent of them. I'm going for a ride this weekend. | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
"Now here's the kicker: Great Lakes Harley Davidson said that felt bad because I had oever $700 in the repairs without them actually fixing the problem. So they bought and paid for the ecm and ate the labor. They even detailed the bike before giving it back. I thought that was pretty decent of them." Wow! How nice to read about a dealership that did something right by us Buell riding red-headed step children. As long as you are happy, it's all good. A couple questions: Did you get the OEM or EBR ECM? Did you do the ECM relocation? Happy rides! B. | ||
| Zane |
It was an OEM ECM. They had already ordered it when they talked to me. They did not relocate the EMC but that's on my weekend chores list. I need to find the write up here and the make sure I don't drill through something important like the rice bike owner did a couple of years ago. Remember the guy whose friend drilled though the ECM installing something else? (Message edited by Zane on August 23, 2013) | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
"It was an OEM ECM. They had already ordered it when they talked to me." They replaced our cracked ECM in the X under warranty with the OEM version. We would definitely consider the EBR ECM for it at some time in the future. IMHO the performance improvement is worth it. "They did not relocate the EMC but that's on my weekend chores list." Do a quick search on here for the step by step instructions. Greg relocated both of ours and it was not a difficult task, just took a few minutes, IIRC. Not surprised that they did not do the relo for you. I don't think the relocation is an *ahem* "harley approved procedure". I recall a tech mentioning that doing the relo may void the warranty. In any event, glad your bike seems better. I'd hate to be missing out on the upcoming cooler weather riding! B. | ||
| Zane |
Road the bike to work and back today. Took me 20 minutes to get to work today and an hour and 10 minutes to get home. Wonder how that happened...lol | ||
| Slowride |
Zane, I'm glad to see you got the Uly up and running again. I just picked up another Uly from Wolfridgerider a couple month back. I just couldn't stay away from one of these things. | ||
| Zane |
Hi Micah, Yeah, they do become a part of ya, don't they? Every time I get on "our" Uly, I love it just a little more. |
