| Author | Message | ||
     Mtnman76 |
Hello Buellers! I hope I'm posting this in the right section. If it's not, please redirect this post. First off the specs on my bike. 2007 XB12Ss, 6500 miles, K&N a/f, Buell race pipe, Buell race ECM, open airbox mod, breather re-route. I purchased this bike from my father who bought it brand new. At 2000 miles he installed the K&N and Buell race pipe. He is a very conservative rider who probably rarely got the bike out of closed loop. He put another 2400 miles on the bike before I purchased it from him for a total of 4400 miles. The bike had always ran flawlessly for him. After I bought the bike from him I performed the open airbox mod and breather re-route. Within 500 miles I began to notice a hesitation in the 2000-3000 RPM range. I believe this hesitation is happening in closed loop as I only feel it when I'm on flat ground, no load on the engine, about 10-30% throttle, in all gears. In my quest to diagnose and eliminate this annoyance I have changed my plugs and plug wires (all were perfect upon inspection), ordered the race ECM from American Sport Bike, ordered the EcmSpy interface cable from American Sport Bike and made sure my TPS was reset properly and reset the AFV value to 100. The addition of the race ECM was necessary anyway, but had no effect on said hesitation, which backs my thought that the problem resides in the closed loop. I know that I'm among many Buell riders that have this problem as I have seen a few posts here regarding the issue, but I have not found a concrete solution! Bear in mind that this is not a life threatening problem, but more of an annoyance. Due to the fact that the bike has suddenly developed this issue over a period of miles keeps me searching for a fix. One thing I should mention is the previous owner lives on the coast at sea level. I live at 4000+ feet. I would assume that the computer would compensate, but you never know... If I left any info out or you have any other questions that are relevant to help diagnose this problem please post up or PM me. Please help me out here. I don't know where else to turn for advise. I have been to the service departments at 2 of the 3 Buell dealers here in Oregon to try and resolve this, but they are about at useless as tits on a boar.  Just a side note. Thank you Al at American Sport Bike!!! Your customer service is excellent and your knowledge of these bikes is vast. Because of his recommendation to try EcmSpy I am now able to perform TPS resets in my garage instead of wasting my hard earned $$$ at the Beull dealerships. Cascade Buell in Bend, OR charged me $157.00 to tell me I had a bad Race ECM. UNTRUE!!! After a purchase of of the interface cable I zeroed my own TPS with the same race ECM and the bike ran fine. Apparently trained Beull technicians don't know how to properly zero a TPS.  I will be calling the service manager tomorrow morning to get my money back! Sorry for the rant, but I'm fed up with bad service. Mike (Message edited by mtnman76 on September 09, 2008) | ||
| Sparky |
1. Nobody likes paying for bad service, but... If you drove off the lot after paying for said service and the bike was running as bad as when you brought it in, why did you accept it, or is that the case? 1A. I would think that if you know how to properly do a TPS reset better than the service techs, perhaps a friendly tutorial session with the service manager would foster better business relations than blatantly insisting on a refund. Can't hurt to try this tact if the dealer is reputable and upstanding. 2. The O2 sensor is the device mainly responsible for proper operation in the 2-3k rpm range. Try changing it and see if that doesn't resolve your problem. 3. Check for intake manifold gasket leaks. 4. Make sure the intake air sensor is clean. Run a cotton swab doused with isopropyl alcohol over it to remove any debris from it. Cleanliness is next to,,, perfection! | ||
| Mtnman76 |
1. Nobody likes paying for bad service, but... If you drove off the lot after paying for said service and the bike was running as bad as when you brought it in, why did you accept it, or is that the case? I rode in to get my stock ECM replaced with a race ECM. They tried to install my race ECM, didn't zero the TPS correctly and told me I either had a bad ECM or needed a servo emulator! They also told me the reason for the 2000-3000 RPM hesitation was because I needed a servo emulator, and that I couldn't get my race ECM installed correctly without one. Without researching the TPS and servo emulator theories myself I couldn't tell them that they were wrong. At the time I really didn't know. 1A. I would think that if you know how to properly do a TPS reset better than the service techs, perhaps a friendly tutorial session with the service manager would foster better business relations than blatantly insisting on a refund. Can't hurt to try this tact if the dealer is reputable and upstanding. I just got off the phone with the service manager. I was polite, he was polite, he agreed to refund my money and I agreed to let him know how to perform a proper TPS reset on an XB. 2. The O2 sensor is the device mainly responsible for proper operation in the 2-3k rpm range. Try changing it and see if that doesn't resolve your problem. This will be my next check in the process. 3. Check for intake manifold gasket leaks. Never thought about this one. What is the best way to check this? Would the tried and true method of spraying carb cleaner around the manifold gasket while the bike is running work? 4. Make sure the intake air sensor is clean. Run a cotton swab doused with isopropyl alcohol over it to remove any debris from it. Cleanliness is next to,,, perfection! I will admit that there was some oil residue in the airbox before I performed the breather re-route mod. I don't recall this sensor being oily, but it's easy enough to clean. Anyone else have thoughts on a fix for the hesitation problem? Are there any other things to check that help the bike run correctly in closed loop? Thanks for the tips Sparky! Mike (Message edited by mtnman76 on September 09, 2008) | ||
| Buell_bert |
The use of carb cleaner to check for leaks may degrade rubber O-ring seals (or any rubber) so even if they are good this may cause problems later. Maybe a lube in a spray can would work better. I also am guilty of using carb cleaner for leak checking. And ether (starting fluid) also. I'll look for some other threads. | ||
| Mtnman76 |
Thanks for the heads up Buell_bert! I ordered a new O2 sensor from Al this morning. I should have it by friday, so I'll post my results ASAP. If anyone else wants to chime in in regards to the hesitation problem I'm all ears.  Mike | ||
| Vagelis46 |
I have almost the same mods as you and I also thiknk there is a small hesitation between 2-3000 rpm on my bike. I think this is because of the open airbox mod, bur I also noticed a big top end power gain so I can live with the hesitation.... |
