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Dbf
Posted on Thursday, March 02, 2006 - 06:31 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Back in January, my Ss began a seemingly downward spiral. I was out on a 10-15 mile rip to warm the bike up on a cool, dry day. It started to hesitate, miss, backfire and then stall. It was throwing codes when I would turn the key on and re-make the kill switch. The fan would come on for no apparent reason. It took me about 30 minutes to get the bike home. Once home, I found the negative cable on the battery was not as tight as the positive. I tightened it up and the bike ran OK from there on.
Two weeks ago, again on a cool, dry day, I decided to take the bike for another spin. It started the same thing, backfiring, and stalling outright. Again, it took some massaging to get the bike back home. The difference this time was the CEL did not flash and the fan did not act weird.
The similarities between the 2 occasions were it was cold, between 32 and 40 degrees and the bike was hot, meaning I had run about 8 miles at 65-70 mph before any of this would start happening.
I was able to replicate the stalling thing by tugging 'gently' on the wiring harness with the black plug to the ECM. As well, the bike would stall sometimes while I was putting the seat back on after trying to troubleshoot the problem on the side of the road.
Between these 2 occurrences, I installed a drummer original.

I mentioned my woes to the dealer and they have since had a look at the bike. Although the tech was able to pull the stored codes from the ECM (all indicated a ground fault...as it was explained to me), nothing has stuck out to indicate what cased the problem. He pulled the plugs, checked all the obvious stuff, to no avail.

Just wondering if any of you guys have experienced similar issues, or have any words of advice. As far as the dealer is concerned, they have gone as far as they can, and I'm not particularly happy with that. Nothing was found, therefore nothing was fixed.

Dan
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Black_sunshine
Posted on Thursday, March 02, 2006 - 06:38 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Dan....I had a similar issue. Couldn't find the problem for a few months. Finally it completely died. It took the dealer about 6 hrs to find the culprit. Under the ECM, I had a bare wire that was grounding out. It had rubbed through causing weird issues. One day it would be fine, the next, terrible. Your problem sounds similar. My bike is a '03 XB9S.
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Dbf
Posted on Thursday, March 02, 2006 - 06:48 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Thanks for that. Since the bike is still at the shop, I'm going to call them this AM and mention it to them.

Dan
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Dbf
Posted on Friday, March 03, 2006 - 04:34 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

I dropped in to the dealer on the way home tonite and had a look at what black sunshine suggested. On the Ss, there are no wires under the ECM, there are a couple that run alongside, but not under it. The service manager is still reluctant to start looking any deeper, not that I blame him though. I hate electrical problems!!
The bike is staying in the shop (where it's nice and warm) until the new tires, race ecm and TPS reset are installed/done.

Still scratching my head.
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Tank_bueller
Posted on Friday, March 03, 2006 - 05:50 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

I was able to replicate the stalling thing by tugging 'gently' on the wiring harness with the black plug to the ECM

That's totally weird, dude.

I don't think it's supposed to do that.

Could be a bad connection at/inside the ecm, but more likely a wire rubbed through somewhere.....

You(or the dealer) will find it, be patient.
(or if you're lucky, the new race ecm will fix it??)
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Rageonthedl
Posted on Friday, March 03, 2006 - 07:53 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

yeah sounds like when a guy brought in his bike it had a bad Race ECM. you would think that the buell tech would have a take off ECM in his box....well i do
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Dbf
Posted on Tuesday, March 07, 2006 - 07:15 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

I brought the bike home tonite, with the new race ecm and k&n to complement the drummer original I installed a few weeks back. What a difference is all I can say. Once it was warmed up and I was on an open road, I snapped the throttle a bit before shifting to 3rd at about 4 grand. The bike felt like it wanted to slide from between my legs!! It is an amazing gain. The bike runs smoother, idles better, pulls better, better throttle response, sounds better...it's just frigging better all round.

It never hesitated, lugged, missed, farted, stalled, backfired or left me on the side of the road. If I was a betting man, I'd say I had a bad stock ecm. The tech never did find anything wrong with the bike. Luckily, it was warranty work!!

Dan
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Hogs
Posted on Tuesday, March 07, 2006 - 07:35 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Hey DBF,

Thats good to Hear,Must be that Filter ya got from me LoL watch out for that Black ICE...
And Keep your fingers CROSSED..!
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Dbf
Posted on Wednesday, March 08, 2006 - 06:05 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

It was good to be able to ride the damn thing without the worry of it acting up. That's not to say I didn't for the first 10 miles or so. The first time I started it up at the shop, it sounded different to me..almost stronger, if that makes sense. Before, when the bike was cold was cold, I had to feather the throttle to start it. Now, you hit the starter and it catches on the 2nd roll and settles into a 1000rpm idle almost immediately. Never did that before. It seems like an entirely different bike.

As for the tires, initial impressions are good. Granted I only rode about 45 miles last night, the rounder profile of the front really evened the steering plane. The bike settled into corners much differently, although I was very cautious of my speed due to the temp and the sand on the roads. The tread depth is much deeper than the Dunlops...I'm happy with them so far.

Thanks for the filter, fit like a glove. This weekend I'm going to re-route the puke tubes and I think all that's left are bar end mirrors and warmer weather!!! Roll on spring!!

Dan
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