| Author |
Message |
    
Cycletherapy
| | Posted on Saturday, August 09, 2008 - 04:25 pm: | 
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My 2004 xb12s appears to have an intermittent electrical failure of the valve in the active-exhaust system. When it fails, which is often, the engine light comes on, I get error code 21, and the bike does this mild cyclical surging thing, more heard than felt. It's been hell to track down... I wiggle wires to no avail. Lately it seems to happen whenever I sit on the seat, but not with the seat off, nor with the seat on but no weight on it. I assume the underside of the seat is pressing on something. It's a little tough to ride without sitting on the seat. Anyone run into this before? |
Cycletherapy
| | Posted on Sunday, August 10, 2008 - 07:36 pm: |
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Following up my own post, I don't think the seat thing is true... I got the engine light on without sitting on the bike today. I went through the service manual troubleshooting chart again for error code 21. The actuator motor doesn't move at all, and none of the wires test as short/open. Apparently the actuator motor is broken.  Which is odd, since it cycled ok the last time I checked it a few months ago. I wonder if the intermittent failure (from a bad wire or something) eventually fried the little motor. The active exhaust isn't working at all now. Will it hurt anything to ride it this way? |
Cycletherapy
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 02:53 pm: |
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Heh, I think I'll make this my own little active-exhaust troubleshooting blog. Y'all can chime in if the spirit moves ya, but don't feel obliged.
The actuator motor still works. The cable, or the butterfly valve itself, started to make a chirping squeak about once a second. This told me the system was "trying" to work, and that maybe it was hanging up mechanically. I removed the chin fairing and showered the cable/valve with WD40 until the noise stopped. I visually confirmed the actuator motor operated as intended (it didn't before), and remounted the plastic bits. The system worked fine until I put the seat back, sat on it, and rode the bike a few seconds. So I'm back to thinking it's an intermittent electrical problem I still haven't localized.
Anyone know if I'm hurting the bike to ride with the exhaust valve inoperative? |
Cycletherapy
| | Posted on Thursday, August 14, 2008 - 09:02 pm: |
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To all my loyal readers,  I seem to have solved the problem. I dug into it again today, tracing all the wires from the ECM to the actuator motor. For the first time, I pulled the battery and examined the 3-wire sub-harness that lurks under/next to it. (The service manual has this located "under the airbox". It isn't.) To my happy surprise, I found the white wire (which runs from ECM to the motor and signals it to operate) had rubbed and shorted against the battery tray. A little electrical tape and a brief test run, and all seems well.  Man, this has had me going, on and off, for months... and indeed, sitting on the seat pressed the battery down, helping to assure the short circuit.
So if this ever happens to you, check under the battery. Over and out, unless I spoke too soon.
(Message edited by cycletherapy on August 14, 2008) |
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Intermittent active exhaust failure (04 xb12s)