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Bigo
| | Posted on Sunday, July 05, 2009 - 12:38 pm: | 
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Hey guys!
I'll make this as short as I can. My S3 Buell has been having driveabilty problems for over three months now. It started out just affecting idle and low speeds. Hard acceleration was good. Now it had been affecting all ranges of RPM and driving conditions. The thing occasionally runs crazy fast, like it never has ran before. Then it goes back to giving fits of stumbling, no power, back-firing, running rich at idle, fluctuating idle - all sorts of things. You name it and it has done it as far as running badly over the last three months. This just started suddenly after eight years of trouble free riding.
Every sensor, seal, connection that one can think of, and that is typically suggested, checks out good. No wires grounding found so far.
The bike just runs like it is under water or has a big resistor connected to it. It kind of runs like it can only make about 20-30 % power. When cruising around town or at highway speeds it sometimes sputters and starts to act like the problem will clear up and then run well. Then it suddenly busts out and runs smoother than ever before and with crazy response and incredible horsepower and torque! It is literally almost like a light switch is turned on and full power is released suddenly. Then it goes away again. I just never know when this good running condition will show itself, or for how long.
So here's the thing - After checking all sensors, seals, coils, plugs wires, TPS and AFV resets- I took off the tail section and looked for trouble under there with the wires and ECM. I found I have a race ECM.
Could it be that the ECMspy does not recognize this unit because it is not H-D part? Could it be this ECM is now defective and no trouble codes are being detected on it?
Anyone know how to test this ECM to determine if it need to be replaced? Any other ideas or suggestions will be greatly appreciated as always.
I just want to get back to being able to enjoy riding my Buell like I used to. |
Bosephus
| | Posted on Sunday, July 12, 2009 - 10:21 am: |
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Bigo,
Are you saying that ECMspy does'nt recognize the ecm at all and if so how did you perform the TPS and AFV resets ? Shooting from the hip here if all seals and sensors check out I would go straight to fuel related... |
Kalali
| | Posted on Sunday, July 12, 2009 - 01:46 pm: |
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There are a lot of folks here with Race ECM and have been using ECMSPY. So that is not your problem.
I would check the fuel delivery system, e.g., fuel pump, filter, injectors, etc.
Ideally, you want to monitor the fuel pressure while the bike switches from good to bad running conditions. Just my 2 cents.
My first suggestion would have been a loose ground but you say you checked all that. |
5liter
| | Posted on Sunday, July 12, 2009 - 02:13 pm: |
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I think "Bigo" found his problem. He'll tell you all about it if he gets back on here. |
Bigo
| | Posted on Sunday, July 12, 2009 - 06:23 pm: |
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Driveability problem solved!!  
Thank you all for your suggestions.
My thought on whether the EM spy would recognize the ECM was about whether it would show a trouble code for it. That may have been a kind of "stupid Question". But at the time I was working so hard on solving the problem I was thinking all kinds of things and looking everywhere for clues or outright answers.
I am no neophyte when it comes to working on engines and such. But I never had so much trouble solving a problem with an engine until now. The Buell ran so well for so long. I never had a problem until now. And I did not really think of the bike as being as sophisticated as it is with regard to the ECM and all related components.
The ECM spy I now have is a great tool. The manual is essential when problems arise. These two are for sure.
The problem turned out to be a broken wire right at one terminal that clips in to the front injector. The crazy thing is that the wire was broken right from the metal clip that attaches to the injector; and is below the rubber seal on top of that connector. It was found by diagnosing through the manual with an OHM meter.
The problem is that the symptoms I had were so varied, changing from one speed range to the next, idle and everywhere else as previously described, and intermittant that one might have figured it had to do with the control module. Even a fairly well respected H-D race mechanic nearby here I checked with later on after a few weeks of trying to solve this suggested it had to do with the ECM
So there you have it again- The problem was a broken wire in one terminal of the front fuel injector connector. |
Lowbowtie
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 15, 2009 - 10:41 am: |
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Mine is running the exact same way, very intermittant. No codes on the ECM Spy but I think I have narrowed it down a little. The battery voltage is 13.3V or so while running but the ECM Spy is only seeing 10.2V . I decided to but a meter on the Batt after I plugged in the ECM Spy and found the low voltage. I'm guessing thats why it is running like crap.
Oh BTW I'm new here and My X1 is a 1999 Glad to be here! |
Bigo
| | Posted on Sunday, July 19, 2009 - 12:08 am: |
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Lowbowtie-
I had no codes for this front injector for a very long time. It got to where the front cylinder was not firing at all. It eventually was only running on one (the rear) cylinder. The coil checked out fine with the OHM meter when cold. I suspected that maybe something was opening in the coil when it warmed up, shortly after riding for a few miles. But that was not the case; as a different coil was tried and it ran the same bad way.
I traced all wiring for a short to ground or open circuit somewhere. Could not find any problems in that respect. Only after checking the injector wires per the manual did I find a problem with the front injector wiring by using the OHM meter and "wiggle" testing. Compared to the rear injector the front one had a definate problem by testing this way. The crazy thing is that the wire was pulled out of the metal clip- which was below the rubber seal on top of the injector connector. I never even had a reason to touch that particular wire in the eight years I rode the bike. I never thought about it. I never touched that connector. I had no reason to. I never even had the fuel tank up high enough to get to that connector. But the wire was broken and frayed as if it was deliberately pulled out.
It seems that it was making contact intermittantly for a long time (see the other post on S3T I entered for more description of symptoms) until it eventually stopped making contact to allow that injector to spray.
I can not explain the cause for that broken wire. I was very surprised when I found it. I took the connector apart, soldered the wire back to the metal clip, reconnected the injectors and fired the bike up. And the problem was gone! The bike runs FLAWLESSLY now.
It was a crazy kind of problem that I cold have never imagined.But that was it.
That service manual was essential for diagnosing the problem.
I can not imagine that low voltage could be your problem. This is by reasoning that years ago my voltage regulator shot craps and the bike eventually died because of draining the battery. But it never skipped a beat during that time, like it did this time.
Good luck to you. I hope you get it solved soon. |
Sparky
| | Posted on Sunday, July 19, 2009 - 02:40 pm: |
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Some of the early '99s were reported to have wire harnessing problems with things like broken wires inside wire insulation, defective crimp jobs at contacts and miswires.
So, if you have a '99 with intermittent driveability problems, you might want to check out every wire that goes to a sensor just to rule out wire harnessing issues. |
Bigo
| | Posted on Sunday, July 19, 2009 - 05:25 pm: |
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I did not know that Sparky. But apparently that is correct in this instance. I'm more aware, personally, now after this episode, and being informed by you.
Thanks for that. |
Ignoramus89
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 22, 2009 - 12:55 pm: |
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This sounds like the issue Im having with my 04 xb. I am pretty new to Buells, and I just found out that ECMspy is no longer available? Are there any other programs out there? |
Harleyelf
| | Posted on Sunday, October 04, 2009 - 04:29 pm: |
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I'm having a quite similar issue with my '99 S3. It is early production (#209). I will check all my wire connections to sensors. I have replaced the injectors, head temperature sensor, and O2 sensor. Where can I get this EM spy you speak of? |
Devilsreject
| | Posted on Monday, August 02, 2010 - 11:22 pm: |
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Hey guys. Just browsing the internet to see if I could find an answer to the problem I am having with my bike and it has landed me here. This sounds to be similair to what I am experiencing. I have a 1999 S3T that I have just picked up this year. When I bought it, it seemed to be running pretty decent, except for a little hesitation when I cracked the throttle hard. Well I asked a couple shops to look at it, but they dont seem to want to deal with fuel injected bikes. The problem has gotten worse... This weekend I took the bike on a little trip and while waiting in line at the border crossing, the bike stalled.I had a hard time keeping it running while trying to advance in line. When I got back on the highway it seemed like it was running ok but then the hesitation was a lot worse. The bike seems like its running on 1 cylinder! So now I will be looking at it, starting with the information I found here. If anyone here sees this and has any more info to share, please dont hesitate. I will also post back progress and hopefully the solution. |
Devilsreject
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 03, 2010 - 05:49 pm: |
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Ok. Today I did all the checks on the injectors because the other post sounded exactly like what I have.
I tried a test lamp across the injector connectors, front and back both lit up when cranked.
I check the resistance across the injectors, both were right on.
I checked the voltage on the injector connectors and they were both good.
So I will do some reading on ecmspy and see if I can check it that way. I received the needed cable to hook to the laptop already. |
Bigo
| | Posted on Monday, August 23, 2010 - 12:51 pm: |
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Devilsreject-
You can have current running to the wire of the injectors. But the connection at the injector may be broken and therefore not allowing the signal to operate the injector. Take the connector off and open it up and see if the wire is crimped to allow a full connection. That is what I found. It looked like the connection was okay and current was running to the injector but the wire came out of the crimped connector that is inside the boot. Therefore the injector was not operating, though everything else checked out okay.. |
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