| Author | Message | ||
     Uly_man |
I have been checking under the seat and it had no marks in the past from the ECM apart from the post. The bike had started giving the odd miss but no revs drop, not always and only when the bike got hot. It did it with hard "power on" and sometimes with bumps to the rear end. I found a mark on the seat of the vent hole grid from the gray socket of the ECM. The ECMs gray socket has cracked on the glue joint on both sides. It is almost nothing and hard to see at all. I moved the ECM and run the bike which was fine but that of course that does not mean it was the fault so we will see. As I have said before the design of these things is crap. Way to many wires and the sockets are not fixed to the ECM in a good way. They need more support to the ECM body. It looks, to me, like you could damage the ECM just by unplugging it if you did not take great care doing it. The 10 bike has the low "normal" foam seat and my 06 bike had the low gel seat. The 10 seat has broken in now and is very comfy were as the 06 bikes gel seat never was. (Message edited by uly_man on July 20, 2013) | ||
| Steveford |
Yep, a very poor design and a really cheap seat pan which will eventually start loosening the battery leads as it collapses further. My cut a hunk of wood paneling to prop up the seat fix looks ridiculous but it works. If my second ECM fails I'll get ambitious and make a wiring harness to stick it back by the BAS where it belongs. Wrap your ECM in bubble wrap, make sure it can't bounce around and hope for the best. If I had to do it over again I would have coughed up for the Corbin seat and saved a lot of aggravation. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I agree with the crappy design comment. I saw my uly leave marks under the seat so I ate away the plastic in that area with a dremel. I hope that works since my ECM won't fit elsewhere as others here have done. If my ECM does get killed, I will get a EBR race unit and bend what I need to bend to ensure it is protected. | ||
| Uly_man |
"I hope that works since my ECM won't fit elsewhere as others here have done." I moved mine between the battery and fuse box. You need to bend the fuse box mounting tabs along a bit as well as the battery location lugs at the base of the battery plate. I fitted cable ties all the way around each of plugs, sockets and cables of the ECM. This makes the whole thing very solid and nothing will move now. The ECM now drops very nicely between the battery and fuse box without the socket clips touching anything or the seat resting on the cables. Once I have finished messing about I will add foam around the ECM to ensure all stays good in the future. Doing this also makes a nice space for the tool kit which the seat base now rests on but does not effect anything else IE It adds support to the seat but with no adverse effects. Ok. This has NOT fixed the problem but what I have found is that the revs do drop a touch once it does it. You can see the rev meter flickering very slightly. It could, of course, still be the ECM or anything else for that matter. I may buy another as a spare would be handy given that they will become rarer, as time goes by, and not as easy to replace as other parts of the bike. Right so it is now "brain on" mode. I will start with the basics and use logic to trace the fault. First will be a logged run, using Tuner-Pro, while the fault is happening and go from there. I think that I may have had two problems? Moving the ECM has made, yes I thought it was my imagination, the bike run better. When I first had the 10 bike I could run it at low revs/gears, like my 06 bike, with no problem. Of late I have been slipping the clutch, for better control, and changing gear more often. Now I find I can run around in VERY low gears/revs with no problem or the need to change DOWN. The bike will pull (moving) in second at 1000 rpm (idle) at 15 mph. It even still moves at 5 mph uphill, at idle, in first and pulls away fine. I tried VERY, VERY hard to make the engine stall at these speeds and it just would NOT do it? Amazing for this engine. The engine has also seems to be more "alive". Apart from the "miss" the "pick up" is much better. Before it would "get there" (speed) but not always as easy as other times. Which to me is a possible issue from the bikes engine control system IE The ECM or other. | ||
| Buewulf |
My ECM woes started out just like yours - an occasional miss every now and then. As the weeks went on the miss became more frequent. Eventually, the bike would become unrideable. And like your experience, the bike wouldn't do any of this until it was at operating temperature. Good luck. I hope you find a simpler (and cheaper) solution to your problem, but I think your initial suspicion will play out to be correct. | ||
| Teeps |
Uly_man, Have you seen this thread? http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/673617.html?1333122196 The my Uly's ECM failed in the same manner as the one pictured. Once in this condition, no amount of external countermeasures will eliminate the problem. | ||
| Uly_man |
Teeps. Yes I do recall reading it. A good write up and the sort of thing that helps a lot with these bikes. Thank you Lee. As can be seen the sockets only mount to the PCB, not the box as well in a good way, and therefor have NO mechanical strength. It is just a cheap design. It is possible that the ECM has been at fault in the past. The problem is that it is just not possible tell, most of the time, the very tiny adjustments the system makes or at what point it is doing it IE Timing, fueling, etc. It could still be something else but I am going to buy a new ECM anyway. I know it is going to cost a lot but I think the bike is still worth it and it will be better value than the black fuel cap I was looking at for $185. At the end of the day, or in my opinion, the costs of running a Uly are no worse than any other bike of its size/type. It is just that you pay less for somethings and more for others over other bikes. This is normal with bikes and just the way it is. In my case I save a small fortune in insurance alone with the Uly and the difference, over another bike, will cover the cost of a belt or ECM. | ||
| Danair |
I have 3 Uly's. All at some point have wierded out. Read every thread, did all the tips and tricks, race ECM's, replaced sensors, and a million TPS resets. Hell, I even high potted the wires I could get to both ends of. Main bike is running better and smoother and faster than ever. I take the long way everywhere I go. But it donned on me because mine is doing it subtly but noticeable. Why is 3000 rpm common to everyone's gripes? Is it a resonant freq for the tps, cps, bas, etc? Is the throttle shaft worn and wobbling at this point from spending the majority of its time right about there? Is it something in the ecm where its shifting from one algorithm to another kinda like carbs getting off the low speed circuit to the needle?? I do know on mine its the start of a power band that really kicks in at 4500. Just wondering. | ||
| Uly_man |
Thank you for the info Danair. All the "bits" involved in making the fueling/timing and the ECM itself is very complicated and MUST be perfect. Even a bad Earth at some point will throw it out of wack IE The sub frame mount lug on the 06 bikes. Mine is still doing it and at all points in the rev range and even today when it is cool weather with a cooler bike. Sometimes it is a little bit and sometimes it is a lot. I have never had, as yet, the 3000 rpm or fouled plug problem myself. This is one of those typical "pain in the ass" intermittent faults you get with these bikes. I would say it is a electrical break of some sort in either the ECM, wiring or other part. It could even be a plug or HT wire breaking down. I will, I hope, find it sooner or latter. The funny this is that I do not care all that much anymore. It has got to the point, with me, that it is a challenge to make these bikes work right. I repair mechanical/electrical devices for a living and a bike is NOT going to get the better of me. It will work right even if I have to strip the bike down to its last atom. Oh and the front exhaust bracket has just broken as well. Ho Hum follow the yellow brick road? | ||
| Uly_man |
Err that cost a few bucks? A ECM, a front exhaust strap, a battery strap and two plugs inc shipping - $756. And that was with the dealer trying hard with a discount. Thats life I guess. |
