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Buell Motorcycle Forum » XBoard » Buell XBoard Archives » Archive through June 08, 2007 » My Uly May blow up? WTF??? Help « Previous Next »

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Nutsnbolt
Posted on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 - 08:29 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Okay,

Got a ULY about a month ago, used. Came with the race kit... I'm not impressed. SO, I went back to stock. Got a new Cable since the other was cut that goes to the stock exhaust, and put the original ECM back in. Started it back up, to hear it go and just idle for a bit, and my header (front header pipe) is GLOWING RED!! I mean, Rudolph red.

WTF??

So, also, I might add, that the little springy thingy on the exhaust.... Where does that hook to, and what is it's purpose? I couldn't figure that one out.

Anyway, There's an adjuster on the cable, but I dont' know to what adjustment it needs to be at, and so on and so forth. What do you think would cause my header to glow RED in just 4 minutes?

I'm clueless.

Did I miss a step? I mean, I've swapped out Race kit's before, on my xb9r, but, I just can't figure this one out.

Help, the weather's great and I'm grounded, now.


Mark
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Moondust
Posted on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 - 08:32 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

get that back to the dealer asap...
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Lost_in_ohio
Posted on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 - 08:45 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

did ya reset your throttle position sensor????

or more to the point set your ecm to your throttle.

(Message edited by lost_in_ohio on May 30, 2007)
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Jackelfox
Posted on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 - 09:51 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

yikes



er the spring on the exhaust regulates a valves and adjusts the length of the path the exhaust has to flow. This helps your exhaust system be ideal in any given situation. (or rather in a given set of situations)... this certainly isnt whats causing the header problem though, just an explanation.
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Teeps
Posted on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 - 09:56 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

The spring on the interactive valve pivot shaft, as near as I can deduce is there to prevent it from rattling. The return spring is inside the muffler and not serviceable.
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Saintly
Posted on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 - 10:03 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Glowing red header usually means a lean (mixture) condition.

Ie. vacuum leak.

Or it could be ignition timing, but that would affect both cylinders / pipes.

So I'd be looking at a intake leak on the front cylinder side of the manifold.

This will go unchecked by your ecm, as the oxygen sensor is on the rear pipe.
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Nutsnbolt
Posted on Thursday, May 31, 2007 - 05:22 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

You guys are great.

As far as reseting the TPS. No, I didn't. It was the stock ECM that came with the bike originally, so I just threw it on there. The bike's got 7600 miles on it, so I'm a few thousand off taking it in for it's 10000 miler. However, it is still under warranty, and as much as I hate the idea and thought of trailering ANY bike, yet alone, my ULY, I think it best, I do so. Take it in and let them deal with it.

Here's why I took off the race kit. It used to sputter and kind of feel like it was falling on it's face sometimes between 2500-3300 RPM's when you were just trying to maintain idle at those RPM's. Well, I took it into HD, and they basically told me there was nothing they could do about it, seeing that the Race Kit was on there. So, I put all the stock stuff back on. Also, I was having to deal with that popping on decel and backfiring at times that comes with the race kit. So I said, bag it, and will probably sell the whole race kit.

Plus, I thought I would give it a shot with all the stock stuff on it. The only thing I did not change back to stock was the air filter.

So, that's the long of the short.

Mark
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Hughlysses
Posted on Thursday, May 31, 2007 - 05:46 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

You shouldn't have to reset the TPS if that's the original ECM that came off the bike, but it certainly won't hurt to do it.

It sounds like you had a lean-running problem all along that the race ECM may have just masked.
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Spike
Posted on Thursday, May 31, 2007 - 10:03 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

For what it's worth, I've seen the headers on my XB12R glow red when the bike was completely stock. It was when the bike was new and only had a couple hundred miles on it. I was letting the bike warm up before riding home one night and ended up talking to a friend for a few minutes while the bike idled. After a while I noticed the headers were starting to turn red right out of the head. If it hadn't been dark outside I probably wouldn't have noticed.
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Reepicheep
Posted on Thursday, May 31, 2007 - 03:46 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Ditto spike... let the bike run for a while at idle in the dark, and you will see a dull glow from the headers at night, at least on my old M2.

You hooked the exhaust servo back up, right?
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Nutsnbolt
Posted on Thursday, May 31, 2007 - 05:29 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

yeah, I hooked up the servo.

And it was at a slight dusk.

SO is this normal?
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Djkaplan
Posted on Thursday, May 31, 2007 - 05:44 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

"Or it could be ignition timing, but that would affect both cylinders / pipes."

I don't think timing is causing the glowing problem in this case, as you point out, but that was still a very astute comment. I had a friend that rebuilt the engine in his GT6 Triumph and he had the same problem - the headers would glow red within a minute at idle. It was just retarded ignition timing. I spun the distributor to advance the timing and the glowing stopped.
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Snakedriver
Posted on Thursday, May 31, 2007 - 06:03 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

I really miss my GT-6. I slipped a 2.5L engine with triple DCOEs under the bonnet. It did like to run. Alas, I sold it so I could rebuild my TR-4.

There is a great pic floating around of an IMSA Porsche at speed with cherry red headers. So I guess that even with airflow in low light the headers may glow.

With steel exhaust I dont think that glowing is uncommon. However, Im new to the not only the motorcycle thing but to the FI thing as well. I would just rather have a set of Webers if it were up to me!

(Message edited by snakedriver on May 31, 2007)
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Blake
Posted on Saturday, June 02, 2007 - 06:57 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Glowing headers are not uncommon and most often due to combustion continuing inside the headers after the exhaust valve opens; this is more a normal or over-rich scenario than a too lean scenario.

Too lean will tend to overheat the cylinder heads due to (yes fuel does indeed act as an engine coolant just as the engine conversely acts as a fuel heater/vaporizor) diminished cooling caused by the reduced fuel intake charge, but it shouldn't turn the headers red; the fire inside does that and it needs excess fuel not less fuel.

Anyway, when cold-starting your Uly or any EFI machine, it will be running rich via its electronic EFI version of a choke or over-rich cold start condition EFI mapping (it is getting fed a lot of fuel). This puts a lot of residual fire into the headers and gets them nice and glowing hot.
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Djkaplan
Posted on Monday, June 04, 2007 - 09:30 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

...this is more a normal or over-rich scenario than a too lean scenario.

Glowing headers have been discussed among riders ad nauseum ever since mixtures got lean and headers became singlewalled. It's entirely normal for primary pipes on bikes to glow right off the showroom floor, and bikes off the showroom floor have lean mixtures.

If the glowing is happening at low rpm within just a few minutes from start-up, I doubt if it's caused by a rich mixture... if it was, there would be black smoke and a really noticeable smell from the unburned fuel - not all of it combusts in the pipes.
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M1combat
Posted on Tuesday, June 05, 2007 - 05:41 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only)

Glowing headers are reasonably normal in less than daylight conditions.

If it were mine I'd ride it at ~3500 RPM for a while to settle the AFV and be done with it.
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