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Ratbuell
Posted on Monday, August 29, 2022 - 07:34 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

So, the last couple days my Uly has been acting up. Been riding to work daily for pretty much the whole summer so I'm ruling out "weak battery" and rodent damage, right off the bat. She don't sit still these days!

No check engine light.
No front end power drop - gauges stay lit, voltmeter stays lit, HID headlight stays on.
Tach will drop when this happens.
It will just...drop spark. Not one or two cycles...but for like five or ten seconds' worth. Almost like hitting the kill switch.

I know it isn't fuel because the usual fuel stumble doesn't make the tach drop, and if it does this for a few seconds it will eventually backfire when spark does return, due to fuel loading.

It's not the neck wiring - again, front end electrics stay solid, I've wiggle tested that harness, and years ago I ran a new ground and installed the wire guide (preventative) anyway. I've also jiggled the key while riding, as well as swept the steering slowly at idle - no effect.

It happens at cruise throttle, but (more disturbingly) it also happens at "passing" throttle, so I've now ruled out TPS dead spots. Totally random. I can't "make" it happen. It also idles beautifully, with zero issues.

Oil is fine. Fan is working. And, skip-spark would turn on a CEL anyway, wouldn't it?

I run the tall seat, and I have had spacer blocks on BOTH ECM mounting screws for more than a decade. And bouncing on the seat does not induce or change this behavior.

I have a spare coil I'm going to swap in after work today to see if that makes a difference, as well as checking all my connections. Any other ideas are welcome!
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Hughlysses
Posted on Monday, August 29, 2022 - 09:20 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Coil seems like a possibility, or the ignition trigger sensor, although both of those seem to generally fail intermittently when they get hot and then go back to normal when they cool down. It would be worth tracing out the wiring to those components to make sure a wire’s not rubbed through somewhere.
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Ratbuell
Posted on Monday, August 29, 2022 - 10:51 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Yeah, that's on the list as well...but a coil swap is relatively easy compared to toning out wires (and I can swap it in a parking lot, where wiring needs my VOM which is at home).
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Buelltours
Posted on Monday, August 29, 2022 - 11:40 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

can you reproduce issue by slightly moving key in the on position? My 09 Uly has an extremely sensitive ignition switch and I can make it sweep when riding by wiggling the key. Didn't experience dropped spark yet though.
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Ratbuell
Posted on Monday, August 29, 2022 - 01:14 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

The gauges don't sweep - speedo stays solid. It's the tach needle that will drop when the spark shuts down, then it comes back when spark comes back. No warning lights (battery, CEL, oil) EVER.

I've done the key jiggle. I've done the harness jiggle. I've done the steering sweep. Nothing - so far - reproduces it for me on demand.
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Hughlysses
Posted on Monday, August 29, 2022 - 08:33 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

can you reproduce issue by slightly moving key in the on position? My 09 Uly has an extremely sensitive ignition switch and I can make it sweep when riding by wiggling the key. Didn't experience dropped spark yet though.

Cornel- I had something similar with my Uly many years ago. I removed the flyscreen and found there were a couple of small holes provided on the electrical portion of the ignition switch. I sprayed contact cleaner into those holes and then cycled the switch several times. 10+ years later, it’s never given me another problem.
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Ratbuell
Posted on Tuesday, August 30, 2022 - 08:52 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Well, the coil definitely did NOT fix it. It actually died on me on the way home last night, at 60mph. Key off, key on, clutch in, start button, fired back up with a backfire. Stumbled a bunch heading home.

So.

Once I got home (aggravated), I pulled the cam sensor out of my '07 parts bike. Let the bike cool off a bit. Pulled the cam sensor out, checked the harness side (seems ok), installed the replacement sensor, put pins back into the connector and hooked it all up, fired it up, idled nice...it was late, I was tired, so my commute today was my shakedown. With tools and a spare ECM in the trunk, just in case (the three pieces for ignition are coil, ECM, and cam sensor...figured I'd cover third base just in case!).

Not a single stumble.

Idle hung up a bit, so I backed out the adjuster screw (I suspect I installed the new sensor a degree or two advanced, but it runs fine so I'm leaving it). So far so good!

So, there's a YUGE hole in the bottom of the cover where the cam sensor wires pass through. MUCH bigger than the harness is. That was wide open on both my donor bike, and the one I ride. Has anyone sealed that with RTV? Or leave it open? I never noticed it before...just curious if it's a needed-vent for condensation and doesn't get much spray in it when riding in the rain, or if it'd be ok to seal it up? I'll leave it be for now though...it's running. I don't want to mess with success!

(Message edited by ratbuell on August 30, 2022)
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Tootal
Posted on Tuesday, August 30, 2022 - 02:21 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

I wouldn't worry about it. Every big twin Harley evo has the same hole and wiring. I don't think water could get up in there enough to do any damage unless you submerge it and even then it'll just run back out.
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Tempest766
Posted on Tuesday, August 30, 2022 - 03:10 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

I'm inclined to also suspect the coil or plug wires.

But I see testing shows it more likely to be the sensor...Fracking age of sensors...grumble grumble.

(Message edited by tempest766 on August 30, 2022)
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Sagehawk
Posted on Thursday, September 01, 2022 - 10:46 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Ratbuell, curious as to condition of camshaft sensor. did the outside of sensor seem to be melting or deformed in any way? I have a 96 road king that happened to. pretty much quit running and I went looking for problem. that sensor had the appearance on one side of melting away. bought new one from Dunc's Hawg Shop, and Dunc shared that any time one of those had that appearance, it was toast.
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Ratbuell
Posted on Friday, September 02, 2022 - 05:08 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Nope, no toastiness, no bubbling, no discoloration. It actually looked pristine. All it is, is a hall effect (magnetic) pickup that sends pulses through the wiring; it doesn't generate or absorb any voltages or anything, simply switches it on and off based on when the posts and gaps on the cam cup pass beneath it.
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Etennuly
Posted on Tuesday, November 22, 2022 - 11:02 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

That is a vent hole. I wrapped my wires then sealed it with silicone. It did not like being sealed. Shortly after I was leaking oil down the wires. Don't know if it was related, but it was a result.

Try swapping one of your other batteries in. A cell can die a little at a time.

Check the wires that run from the VR to the tight wad by the front drive pulley under the cover. I pulled mine out, left the cover off, and zip tied them out of harm's way. I rode it a couple hundred miles. It fixed a couple little wiring issues.

I also found the three wires that came out of the cam sensor were bent over the edge of the chin faring. They wore through. Every time it got damp it quit.

I sure miss that Uly.
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