| Author | Message | ||
     Ratbuell |
OK. My cluster resets at random. I'd say "bag it, I don't care"...but it resets my trip odometer. Grrrr.... I have the front end apart. Started stripping the wiring. Found the 3 way splice. And noticed that the gauge needles do their "sweep"....about 1.5 seconds after they REconnect. Any suggestions on finding the bad wire? I'm probably going to take the front end OFF - the bike is due for neck bearings anyway, they've got a nice on-center notch - but if anyone has any tips...I'll take 'em! If it helps - ignition-on? I've never seen a gauge reset or failure. It's only key-off, and I've seen it happen (pre-disassembly) sweeping the handlebars back and forth while pushing the bike out of the garage. And I've never...EVER...been able to purposely reproduce it.  '06 Uly, 33k (ish) miles. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Run each wire through your fingers for it's full length. Push with your thumb like you are holding a pencil so it is putting a slight bend in the wire and follow it's length. If the internal conductor is broken, you will feel a sharp angle instead of a smooth radius. If that doesn't work, jiggle the crap out of stuff.  | ||
| Ratbuell |
I've been doing the wiggle test...like I said, the problem with that is the gauges sweep when the connection is reset...not when it breaks. So I'm another 1.5 seconds into the wiggles...on another part of the harness. I just need to pull the whole front end off and run each wire...ick...I just hope I remember where everything goes!! | ||
| Reepicheep |
That's annoying! Maybe you could figure something out with ECMSpy and the tach needle diagnostic so you can see it drop immediately (as opposed to the delay for it coming back). I can't remember how long that test runs. Or even let it idle with the rear wheel turning on jackstands and rebar. A terrible idea of course, but I'd probably do it if I was sure the nieghbors weren't looking. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Ratbuell, I've fortunately never had that problem but who's to say that the problem isn't within the instrument device itself. The instrument cluster sure does dance at idle and might have broken something. Could be an instrument clusterfyuck so to speak. | ||
| Buewulf |
Wiring issues are frustrating. I value time and sanity, so my first step without checking or disassembling anything would be to replace the two spliced wires and see if that fixes it - they should be replaced anyway. If that failed, I'd see if someone here knows which wire(s) go to that instrument cluster and replace those. If that failed, then and only then would I do things the hard way. Wire breaks are usually pretty obvious to the touch as suggested, but not always. In any event, that is the best way to check for them IMO. Also check the wire bundles going into the ECM connectors. I've had to tape up three or four wire over the past several years due to insulation rubbing off. | ||
| Ratbuell |
The bike is chocked into my lift by the rear wheel, so I can disassemble the front end for the bearing replacement. The gauge sweep occurs with wiggle tests...but the hard part is going to find when it DISconnects as opposed to when it REconnects. Never does it when running...only when the key is off. I have the FSM and wiring diagrams, its either battery (red) or ground (black)...I just have to chase until I find it (shrug). | ||
| Cyclonedon |
Last year I was having a problem with my turn signals not working so I assumed that it was a steering head ground wire or a damaged wiring harness. I took my bike to the dealer and the Buell tech found that when I wired both headlights on while running the high beam it burned up the ignition switch. He replaced that switch and removed the duel headlight conversion and it's worked fine ever sense. He said that when both headlights are on it's pulling too much amperage through the ignition switch. | ||
| Etennuly |
I had the ground wires on the steering neck behind the head lights break, but they still looked fine. I un screwed the bolt and they fell apart. That red wire splice carries all of your power to the cluster and accessories up in the fly screen. Cut the splicer out, add a foot of red wire, make a new triple splice in the fly screen space, leaving a single splice in the steering neck area. Might as well move that turn signal triple splice up there while you are in there. Doing it with the key off tells a different story. That would suggest a problem in the ignition switch or that area of it's plug or wires leading to and from. More beer.  | ||
| Rayycc1 |
"More Beer" I think this is essential to coping with and fixing any and all electrical gremlins .  | ||
| Jcbikes |
Mine did that when the battery was starting to go bad | ||
| Ratbuell |
New battery. Thought it was dead battery at first so I replaced the original battery (!) earlier this season. Problem still exists. I think I figured a test method. I'll post up when I get a chance to try it (got multiple gigs this weekend, no sleep for the weary...) | ||
| Ratbuell |
Well...my method worked Test light/probe. One end inserted into the red wire socket for the cluster (battery), one end hooked to ground on the chassis (NOT steering head). Move the bundle? Test light went out. Need to strip back the bundle further - I was in the middle of unloading a project Ninja 250 but couldn't walk past the Uly without at least trying - but at least now I know which wire! | ||
| Reepicheep |
I have that same problem Rat. My broken motorcyle projects keep distracting me from my other broken motorcycle projects. I am bouncing between a mystery carb problem on the KZ-400 and the mystery rattle on the Uly. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Yeah...multiple bike projects (like the S2 rear signals that fell off the other night riding home in a monsoon)...multiple gigs for the sound company...pesky day job...standard chores like food and laundry and house and yard work...eh. I'll sleep the next time I'm dead  | ||
| Ratbuell |
Finally got five minutes to dig into the bike. There's a triple splice for the hot wires too...that was the failure point. Found...fixed. Replacing the neck bearings too. 32k miles. Wouldya replace the iso too? I don't see any rips...but its like *right here* I have a new iso but no new bolt...OK? No-no?  | ||
| Etennuly |
You would not believe how much smoother your ride will be with the new one in place. The replacement bolt is mostly there because it gets rusty and stuck in the center of the mount IMHO. Wire brush the original and slather it up with anti-sieze. Torque to recommended number(50 ftlbs?~memory). A new isolator every ten thousand or so is what makes my Uly ride so smooth. Those little cracks you see in the rubber are weakening of the web that will cause it to max out against the bolt. Glad to see the wire failure was the standard failure point, if there is such a thing!  | ||
| Reepicheep |
Every time I look at my isolator, I think I should replace it for exactly those reasons. Then I walk inside, and think about $75 for a block of rubber and aluminum, and think about other things I can get with that $$. Then I walk outside and think I should just get it anyway. Then I walk back inside.... It's hard to be a cheapskate... | ||
| Teeps |
Reepicheep Posted on Thursday, October 09, 2014 - It's hard to be a cheapskate... I feel ya 'bro... me too! | ||
| Ratbuell |
I'll be sure to post up any rideability differences...just have to get tape for the harness and slap er back together. Bearings are in, iso is on and torqued, wire is fixed, just needs wrap and reassembly. What's the opinion of the group - I antisiezed the crap out of the iso bolts. Should I remove and reinstall with threadlock? I (as always) did my paint-dot-mark for quick preflight checks... | ||
| Reepicheep |
Now ya'all have me thinking of pulling my isolator, packing the open spaces with RTV, and putting it back in. Mainly just because I can. To do it right, you can buy polyurathane epoxy in any durometer you want, and use that to build up your own custom isolator stiffnesses, or rebuild the ones you have. Some Saab guys did it. The mix isn't cheap, but at $75 or whatever for the isolator, HD gouging is making bad ideas like that look attractive. I wonder if there is a readily available solvent for silicone that makes it pourable... | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I'm having to chase some wiring issues on my 2008 now too. Speedo sometimes just stops reading. Not resetting and sweeping but just not registering any speed. Perhaps it's just the sensor. Anyone here know any trick to test the hall-effect sensor without having to buy a new one and try it? | ||
| Reepicheep |
Yeah, if you have an oscilloscope (which you can get for under $100). Hook it up (right at the ECM probably, with a paperclip into the back of the deutsche connector for the wire the service manual tells you is the right color). Have the bike on jackstands, and spin the rear wheel by hand (or carefully in gear). You should also be able to pull it from the bike (leave the connector) and put a magnetic tool on it and off it, you should see the signal (not power or ground) alternate between 0 and 5v I think. I tried bench testing one a long time ago without being hooked to the bike at all. It didn't tell me anything useful, but I didn't try very hard. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I popped off the flyscreen and found nothing odd. Put it back on and speedo worked all the way to work this morning. I'll check the sensor next for shavings I guess. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Got 'er all together today - new bearings, LED high beam bulb, still has the HID low beam bulb, swapped the $10 cheap-o aux lights for a pair of PIAA's I had on the shelf, redid a ton of wiring splices, repacked all twenty pounds of shit into the five pound bag that is a Ulysses flyscreen - LED flasher relay, horn relay, Stebel horn, aux light relay, HID ballast and assorted wire looms, LED wire loom with silver-dollar size regulator, plugs for heated grips and Garmin tapped off the aux outlet, and the wiring for the kuryakyn meter - got it all buttoned up, took it for an after-dark spin, everything worked great....except the heated grips. (insert string of expletives here) Get home, open it ALL back up. Peel back the layers. Found a bent pin inside a connector - fix that, grips work. Put everything back in, one layer at a time - and it NEVER goes back the same way! - get it all buttoned up again, test everything - gauges, yep. Low beam, yep. Grips, yep. High beam with aux, yep. Stebel, yep. Try to start....CLICK. (insert LONGER string of expletives here) So...out she sits, on the tender. Here I sit, with a margarita. (Message edited by ratbuell on October 11, 2014) | ||
| Ratbuell |
Much better. Half hour on the tender...fired right up. Grips got nice and hot, stebel did more than squeak, high/aux lights are super-bright...much happy. She'll tenderize overnight, then out to check the front end tomorrow in the daylight. Tonight was nice, gave me a chance to aim the lights | ||
| Ratbuell |
Well after a few days/miles...the iso change is not exactly a "eureka" change. Its a little (and I mean LITTLE) smoother at cruise, but almost seems buzzier on engine braking decel. Odd. If it ain't broke...leave it be. I didn't have any tears in the old one, simply did the swap because I was there...but now I know. And, now I have a perfectly viable replacement iso on the shelf in case I DO rip one. |
