| Author | Message | ||
     Hughlysses |
It would also be a really good idea to check the static ignition timing; I believe you can do this with ECMspy. Maybe the adjustment plate slipped throwing off the timing drastically? That would fit with your symptoms. | ||
| Toddlmr |
I visualized the wiring when I had the motor down. Everything looked good. I replace plug wires and plugs with new. I can pull cam cover and look. Timing it would be hard if it don't idle. Thanks for your responses! | ||
| Hughlysses |
Todd- It doesn't need to run to set static timing. You remove a plug on the left side of the engine between the cylinders and rotate the engine until the timing mark shows which corresponds to TDC on cylinder 1. Then you adjust the ignition sensor plate using ECMspy. I believe the ECMspy instructions explain the procedure. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Backfiring could also be a sign of a cam position sensor starting to fail. That will NOT throw an ECM code (though the side effects of it might if you are really stubborn trying to keep it running and banging away). | ||
| Uly_man |
Yes to ALL of those suggestions. The problem is that this sort of thing can be as simple as a bad wiring connection and/ or faulty electrical component. The trick is to use logic to track down the problem. In this case the bike WAS OK but now it is not? Ask yourself what that suggests to YOU. | ||
| Toddlmr |
What would be away to test it besides putting in a new one? | ||
| Toddlmr |
"Ask yourself what that suggests to YOU." Something is broke and the only way to fix it is to start throwing a lot of parts at it. I am worried that my other problem, the noise is a worn crank bearing... I need to pull off and cut up oil filter to see if it is that before spending anymore money on it. | ||
| Hughlysses |
What would be away to test it besides putting in a new one? Checking the static timing using ECMspy might reveal a bad sensor. If the thing won't consistently indicate the timing is set correctly when following the procedure, that would seem to indicate a bad sensor. | ||
| Uly_man |
"Something is broke and the only way to fix it is to start throwing a lot of parts at it". You could, as others have/ dealers DO, but you will be surprised at how a minor/ cheap issues can affect this bike. Trust me Dude I know. Yes do the oil check thing. It is cheap and easy. And thats the point. Do the basic, easy and cheap things first. | ||
| Toddlmr |
Thanks guys! | ||
| Etennuly |
Unwrap and trace all of the wires under the engine. Those being the cam sensor wires, VR wires, etc. and all of the wire connectors. I have seen and fixed a rub through or broken wire in just about all of these wire bundles on several XBs. | ||
| Toddlmr |
Update! I changed oil and cut apart oil filter. No metal particles at all. Also, here is a photo of the drain plug. Concerning? Next, I pulled off cam cover and pulled sensor. No obvious damage. Static timed with the help of my wife. It was slightly past the center of the mark so I retarded it a very small amount. Next, I will start unwrapping the wiring harness. I feel a little better that the filter wasnt full of metal. Thanks!  | ||
| Reepicheep |
That looks a *little* heavier than mine generally looks, but not a lot. Though my crank may be failing too, so I'm probably a bad data point.  | ||
| Toddlmr |
I had a day to break away and see what was going on with my buell. Here is a video of it running and backfiring. I tried to capture ecmspy data. Notice the sound in the background. It is a rattly kind of sound. That is the sound that started all my problems. Any input is appreciated! Thanks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=889VQkzq0ok | ||
| Toddlmr |
Here is another video with the noise I am trying to troubleshoot. It is the lower sounding rattle that gallops. https://youtu.be/yBHnuDFF-RI (Message edited by toddlmr on September 09, 2015) | ||
| Toddlmr |
I also unwrapped the wiring harness, checked all the wires and then checked resistance in each wire. All look fine. I redid my grounds. Cleaned each and applied battery terminal coating. It will run and is rideable but still spits and sputters and backfires. | ||
| Uly_man |
I have to say that I can not hear anything unusual in either of those videos. As best as I can tell it sounds normal. The idle issue still sounds like a TPS re-set problem but could be something else. Wind in the idle adjuster until the bike does not miss/ back fire (even if the idle is higher than normal) and take the bike for a ride. If you do not get this fault while riding then it is the TPS re-set issue. Any faulty wiring/ electronic part will show up on riding the bike. It would also be a good idea to start logging data to see what the problem may be. | ||
| Toddlmr |
Thanks for your response Uly Man. It is hard to hear in both video's but it is there because my wife even noticed it. I did 2 TPS resets. Fist after getting it back together, then another after disconnecting and reconnecting battery. I am thinking I'll ride it and deal with the big problem when and if it occurs. thanks! | ||
| Hughlysses |
I agree; I don't here anything out of whack with the engine noise. My engine sounded like somebody was beating the inside of the cases with a ball peen hammer when the crankshaft went. These are inherently pretty noisy engines. Etennuly said his runs quieter with Dino oil (especially when he runs straight 50W in the summer) if you want to try that. | ||
| Etennuly |
I have listened to that video a few times on my PC and turned up the sound. What I am hearing is a reason for concern also. That sounds like the beginning of a knock to me. I would take that pile of fuzzy stuff off from the oil magnet and have it analyzed. I think Hugh said it was when the silver content is high you have bearing residue. In the mean time I would put in an oil additive like STP or Lucas. Then run it(locally of course). If it is going to be a bad bearing, or perhaps a broken piston(guessing at this time) you may as well run it until it confirms itself as bad, or that the noise is something else. I would hate to go to the effort and expense of a tear down without conformation. If it gets worse you will KNOW. Have you done a compression test on the cylinders yet? A piston with a hole in it will cause running problems that cannot fix. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Have you done a compression test on the cylinders yet? A piston with a hole in it will cause running problems that cannot fix. That's an excellent suggestion. I once spent weeks troubleshooting an issue with an old car which I "knew" had excellent compression based on a test I had done a couple of years and just a few miles before. When I finally went back and checked, the head gasket had blown and two cylinders were WAY down. | ||
| Reepicheep |
How long does it take to go from "that sounds odd" to "that sounds like it is going to explode any second" for the crank knock? Tens of miles? Hundreds of miles? Thousands of miles? The suspense is killing me.  | ||
| Hughlysses |
^ My hearing is not the best, and I always ride with ear plugs, but my bike went from "I don't hear anything unusual" to "I think I hear something" to "Holy crap that sounds REALLY bad" in about 150 miles. It's possible someone else might have heard it much earlier, but I don't think it could have taken more than a few hundred miles to go from "normal XB" to "jack hammer". | ||
| Reepicheep |
That's what I would have expected also, which is odd, as mine went from "kinda sounds a little odd" to "kinda sounds a little odd more consistently" over the course of a thousand miles. It is getting worse in the RPM and temperature range where it occurs, but its not really sounding any louder or worse when it does occur. I'm still trying to convince myself it's just a healthy sloppy noisy air cooled high horsepower twin. It messes with my head though... | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Etennuly is waiting for global warming to ratchet up so that he can put a grease zerk directly in the middle of the swingarm oilplug. 4 tubes of grease and a couple of extra shots every thousand miles and his ULY will survive the looming apocalypse.  | ||
| Rdkingryder |
Geez, that bike runs terrible. could it be as simple as the front plug wire grounding out on the idle adjustment cable? Mine was nearly worn through when I went through my engine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDqI1mgtiRw http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142838/647353.html?1313245882 (Message edited by rdkingryder on September 10, 2015) | ||
| Toddlmr |
Ettenuly- I agree, something sounds bad. I am running Lucas 20w50 synthetic. I could add some of their oil additive too. I am thinking I am gonna use for commuting and it will either go or not. I can't do more damage too it. I will do a compression test next week. I hope the engine doesn't blow but I am not gonna fix it. Just gonna scrap it. Hugh- Thanks for taking another listen. I agree, I'll do another compression test. Rdkingryder- I installed new plugs and wires this week. Thanks for your suggestion. Reepie- I'll let ya know how long it lasts. I'll post results when I do a compression test. Thanks guys... | ||
| Toddlmr |
For a motor swap, are all 07 motors risk to having crank failure? (lightning) | ||
| Hughlysses |
I don't think we've seen many other 07 model crank failures reported, but it's hard to say. The XB12 engines are supposed to be identical between the X, S, Ss, and R, so it seems like the possibility of having a problem would be just as high. OTOH maybe by some fluke all the engines with bad cranks wound up in Ulys. Maybe something about the way Ulys are used makes them more susceptible to failure.  | ||
| Rdkingryder |
I just thought of something. Could you have swapped the injector wires? I believe the rear injector gets more flow due to the extra heat. I know when I put my engine back together, I swapped mine and it ran terrible. |
