| Author | Message | ||
     Ikeman |
If anyone remembers I had my Uly crap out in the rain on my second day of ownership. Well, it has happened again. I haven't really had it out in much wet weather since it happened the first time (maybe 10 minutes in a very light drizzle). This time I was about 150 miles from home this past Saturday with my son on the back. It wasn't raining but we were trailing a pretty decent storm cell and the roads were very wet. We rode in the road spray for about 10 miles and the motor just shut off at about 50 mph. Just like the first occurrence. All the same symptoms - all the gauges and lights function, I can hear the fuel pump running and the starter cranks but it won't fire. Everything under the seat was bone dry. The insulation/conduit for all of the wiring coming from the instrument cluster was pretty well saturated so I'm guessing it's probably shorting out at one of the low points in the harness once enough water gets in there. Right now, I'm waiting on call backs from BRAG and Road America because Road America had it towed to the nearest HD dealer which ISN'T a Buell dealer. I've talked to the dealer (Chambersburg HD in Chambersburg, PA) and they've got no problem hanging on to it til I figure where it needs to go. I'm guessing that'll be Battlefield Buell in Gettysburg. I know a couple of you (SeanP?) bought your bike there but I've never been there. As it stands, I don't trust the bike in any kind of wet weather which pretty much makes it useless to me for anything other than pleasure cruises when there is no sign of rain. That's not why I bought the bike. Not sure what I'm going to do at this point but my frustration level is way up there. Updates as events warrant. | ||
| Thunderbox |
Get in touch with Buell and see what they say. They do have some of the best factory service around. Don't wait till they call you let them know pronto. | ||
| Ikeman |
My first call this morning was to Buell customer service and they told me to call BRAG. I called BRAG and they said to follow up with Road America which I just did. They will cover my towing from the HD dealer to the Buell dealer. What happens from there is yet to be seen. | ||
| Davo |
Ikeman, I had a similar experience. When mine shut down it was because the ignition fuse blew. The second time it was raining. If yours still cranked the fuse should be ok. Please check and advise. "Spoof" and I have both had this intermittent problem. I have been through the wiring harness. I share your frustration. | ||
| Ikeman |
I actually swapped out the ignition fuse with one of the spares (assuming the spare was good) with the same result. I think I swapped out several of the fuses while waiting for the tow truck, made sure all the fuses and relays were seated, checked the plug wires, battery connections, etc, etc. Nothing. The last time this happened it sat in the tow shop garage for a day and a half. When they unloaded it at the dealership on Monday morning it fired right up. They thought I was an idiot. No such luck this time since I believe it sat outside in intermittent rain until this morning. Dealership tried to start it - no go. It's on its way to Battlefield Buell in Gettysburg, PA as we speak. I was curious if anyone else had any problems in the rain because I don't remember reading anything here other than mine. | ||
| Ikeman |
And I forgot - I can't check anything at this point because I'm in Pittsburgh and the bike is halfway across PA... | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
I had a Honda CB900 that wouldn't run in the rain and I finally found out that the coil had a crack in it. Jolted the heck out of me. I filled it with Epoxy glue and never had the problem after that. Anyway, it might be something similar where something around the coil is not sealed and it is leaking high voltage to the frame. Check your plug boots. Good luck. | ||
| Davo |
Ikeman, Please keep us posted. I am very interested in the fix. If Battlefield can't find it let me know and we will see if we can chase it down. | ||
| Davo |
Also, I had mine shut off in the rain once w/o a fuse blown. The engine light came on and then it started missing and then cut off. I pulled over and restarted and went about 100 miles and it happened again. The second time it wasn't raining though. I have not had that problem since I replaced my exhaust actuator. I pulled the trouble code, 21, by jumping 1&2 on the data link connector and counted engine light flashes. Now I never leave home w/o a jumper wire, copy of the trouble codes, a pocket full of fuses and one relay. Thats' my Tuell kit!! | ||
| Ikeman |
I don't know yet about this time around but last time this happened I had no check engine light and there were no codes when the tech checked for them. Also, the bike was running just fine - no misses, spitting, backfiring, etc. Cruising along and it just shuts off. Seems to me there has to be a short that's cutting the signal from ECM or one of the sensors. I'm guessing ECM since it doesn't even throw a code. But again, I don't know anything yet about this time around. | ||
| Crusty |
Maybe a little water in the kill switch? | ||
| Ikeman |
Got a call from the dealer a little while ago. Luckily this time around the bike didn't have enough time to completely dry out so it wouldn't start for them either. Short version is the connector for the cam position sensor (the one under the timing cover) was full of water. They thoroughly dried it out and packed it full of dielectric grease. Put it back together and it fired right up. After they had it running they doused it all down again with a pressure washer and it still ran. So from their standpoint it's fixed. The guy I spoke to on the phone said that Buell Tech Services sounded pretty concerned about it and said that just shouldn't happen. No kidding. Once I pick it up I'm taking it right out in the rain again and see what it does. | ||
| Mb182 |
Cleaning and Packing all the electronic connections with Dielectric grease is one of my winter maintenance chores. A little water causes havoc!! I think I will do a spot check on my Uly to see if they used any or not! MB | ||
| Dennis_c |
I hope that fixed it. If it didnt drill a 3/8" weep hole in the timing cover ha ha just pulling your leg a little  | ||
| Snub13 |
Rich that sucks... I hope it's all sorted out this time. This is too good of a bike for some glitch to get you down. On another note, how is Battlefield H-D? I'm sure to get to Gettysburg this summer. Good Luck Tim | ||
| Ikeman |
Tim, Tom at Battlefield has been great over the phone but I haven't actually been to the shop yet. I'm hoping this fixes it as well but I'm still wondering if it's normal for water to be getting in behind the timing cover. The dielectric grease should keep the water out of the connector but where else is it ending up under the timing cover? | ||
| Johnplank |
I'm from Gettysburg but I got my uly from lancaster. One of the sales men said they are getting rid of buell, and they never have buell parts. | ||
| Guybones |
WTF??? just went on an 800 mile ride out here in Cali, and had more rain than I ever wanted, and the bike ran fine, no prob. When I stopped for fuel, RV's were not going out - to many holes??? hmmmmm | ||
| Ikeman |
Well, picked the bike up this past Friday and rode it home - about 2 hours of the trip in the rain. Bike ran great. I was incorrect about the location of the problem. The cam position sensor is under the timing cover but that's not where the problem was. It was the connector up under the seat. I was told the tech repositioned the connector and packed it with grease. So far, so good but I'm going to do as MB said above - pack all the connectors on a regular basis. By the way, I got 53mpg on the trip home. | ||
| Guybones |
53 mpg? Ikeman, may I, um, gently ask how much you weigh? Thanks | ||
| Ikeman |
Last I checked about 185. That should drop a bit - I still have the hibernation pounds on me. | ||
| Ikeman |
I don't think it's so much my weight - I was on mostly 2 lane roads and rarely exceeded 65 mph. So I was loafing along at 2500-3000 rpm for 4 hours or so with a little bit of sitting in traffic thrown in. |
