| Author | Message | ||
     20xb12s04 |
WARNING: This may be a bit of a long thread, so I apologize for that up front, but I am out of ideas and need some help. I realize this thread should probably be in the KV, but I really need the exposure of the XBoard. Moderators, please be gentle. I’ll start with the stats. I have a 2004 XB12S with a full race kit (race muffler, race ECM, and high flow air filter). I bought the bike new in October of 2006. I purchased the race kit used from a fellow BadWebber in July of 2007, promptly installed the muffler and air filter, then rode to the dealership where I installed the race ECM, and had them perform a TPS reset. While performing the TPS reset, the idle adjust cable broke. They did not have the part in stock, but the tech was able to work around the broken cable and finish the job. I told them I would just contact them at my convenience for the warranty cable replacement. Fast forward to this spring. My bike started occasionally idling rough on cold starts. It would die several times before it would stay running, unless I kept my hand on the throttle with at least 1500 RPMs, but even then it would barely keep running until the bike was fully warmed up. Once it reached operating temperature, the bike ran like a raped ape, so it was hard to stay mad about it for long. I lived with the problem for some time, bearing in mind that I would need to make a trip to the dealer for the warranty replacement of the idle adjust cable. This July, I took the bike in to have the cable replaced and told them about my cold start issue. The tech told me that with the cable broken, the screw that the cable is attached to can loosen and not properly hold the butterfly valve open at idle. They also told me that they would reset the TPS after the cable replacement and all would be well. Perfect. When I picked my bike up it ran great, as promised. But within a week, the problem came back. I started researching the trusty ol’ BadWeB to see what others had to say about similar problems, and began compiling a list of things for me to check. I checked and replaced the spark plugs and wires (the rear plug wire was corroded and had fouled the rear plug), performed an intake manifold leak test, cleaned the throttle body, replaced the little rubber vacuum cap (which was cracked) on the fitting that sticks out the side of the throttle body, and finally ran injector cleaner and fuel dryer through the system. I also came up with a list of things for the dealer to check: the intake air temp sensor, the cylinder head temperature sensor, the O2 sensor, and test the fuel pressure. They told me everything was within spec, and that Buells with race ECMs just run that way when they’re cold. They reset the TPS again and sent me on my way. At that point I was getting a little frustrated, wanting to give into the “that’s just the way they are” mentality. But the thing that bugged me the most was that the problem was intermittent. Some days it was just fine, other days it was terrible. Just last week I made another appointment with the dealer, but this time I did not direct their diagnosis. I just told them that my bike was not running properly on cold starts and left it at that. I also brought in my stock ECM and left it with them, just in case. Here comes the kicker…This Saturday I received a call from the service writer telling me that I had a bad race ECM. He stated that they swapped the race ECM out for the stock ECM and the bike started up and idled just fine, and that there was basically nothing more they would be able to do for me under warranty unless I had purchased the race ECM in the last 90 days. Now for my questions… Is the dealer just blowing smoke up my a$$, and trying to take the cheap way out? Is there anything else that I should check for that might be causing this problem, especially something that would be covered under warranty? In the midst of all this, I have purchased a cable and installed ECMSpy on my laptop. If it is indeed the ECM, can I flash the race ECM data into the stock ECM? If so, what is the best method? If you read all the way through this, thank you for your time, and thanks for any advice you can provide. | ||
| Xoptimizedrsx |
you can flash the fuel and timing maps to the stock ecm from the race data. what you want it the 2007 stock ecm data. burn that to the bike then get the 2007 race data and burn the fuel and timing only. load the 2007 stock data to ecmspy then load the 2007 race fuel/timing files. to get these they are listed on my website. then turn off the exhaust servo, and reset the tps. after you load everything to the bike. resave the finale data as it will contain your tps files. start the bike warm it up. take it out for a ride so the afv will settle in and your done. note : the afv is a overall setting for the map. it raises or lowers depending on the ego/tps values. mike | ||
| 20xb12s04 |
Thanks for the reply Mike  Just one question. My stock 2004 ECM is a GB231, and the stock 2007 ECM is an IB310. Is that a problem? | ||
| Moosestang |
Bad race ecm, but it ran just fine except for cold starts? Sounds like BS to me. With ecmspy you can adjust the cold start fuel enrichment and also the fuel cells that are used at idle. I would try increasing or decreasing these and adjust the idle screw accordingly once it's warm to get the 1050rpms or whatever you prefer. (Message edited by moosestang on October 14, 2008) | ||
| Moosestang |
When you get the bike back, hook it up to your laptop and report back with the tps %. I wouldn't trust that the dealer did it right. Dealers make mistakes just like you and especially me.  | ||
| Moosestang |
Also you can verify yourself that the temp sensor is working properly. Just look at the cold enrichment %. It should be 140-150 if the temp reads 20 deg C or less. | ||
| 20xb12s04 |
Thanks Paul. I'll be picking it up from the dealership today, and will continue the investigation. | ||
| Randomchaos |
I actually had the same issues with mine when I had the racekit on it. It would turn over, start ok, then about 10 seconds later the idle would dip, then come back up. Would do it a few times until it would just completely die. Sometimes it would die on the first dip. After a TPS reset, it would run perfectly fine, for several days, then would start acting up again. I swapped the bike back to stock, as well as made sure I warmed the bike up enough to kick on the fan each time I rode it. It has since stopped dieing after startup, but now runs noticable worse as the tank gets past 2/3 empty =\. The guy I sold the racekit to had no issues out of it either, so wasnt an issue with the ECM. Im guessing the dealership did a TPS reset after they swapped out your ECM back to stock? Did they actually test the ECM to see if it was potentially bad? They tested the ECM on mine one of the times I had it in, and it came bike 100% fine. (Message edited by randomchaos on October 14, 2008) | ||
| Moosestang |
I would also download the race eeprom for the 2004 xb12 from Mike's website. Don't burn it to your ecm as the firmware must match. you can burn the maps if you wish, but don't burn the eeprom. I would compare the maps from yours and his. maybe some of the cell values got mixed up. Once you've save your eeprom, it wouldn't hurt to just burn his maps onto your ecm. you can always burn your back. They should really be the same unless your race ecm had an updated map. Be sure to fetch eeprom first thing and save it to your hard drive. My bike was hard to start cold after I started messing with the maps and timing, but I think it's straightened itself out now. The last 3 times I started it, it fired right up. Mine also idles pretty low when cold, around 800-850 (guesstimation) | ||
| Snowscum |
I burned the race eeprom from Mikes site to my ecm and have had no problem. This firmware match your talking about. Why did I not have problems? | ||
| Snowscum |
Well I looked at the versions of my orginal and that of the one I burned to my ECM and it has the same numbers so I guess I am ok. Whew! While I was in there I lowered my cold enrichment percentage numbers cause it runs way to fat when its below 40 degrees. | ||
| Surveyor |
I also burned the race eeprom data from Mike's site to my stock XB9r ecm before I was told just to burn the maps....I've had no problems either |
