| Author | Message | ||
     Trevd |
Mine is a May '08 bike, and I'm having similar behavior to what signal is describing... I initially just attributed it to break-in (I only have 200 miles on the bike), but now I'm wondering if it's this IAC problem. It idles fine though... just seems a little lean and stumbling under 3k rpms. I'll see how it goes and if it continues, I'll mention the IAC thing at my break-in maintenance. | ||
| Woodreaux |
This afternoon I got a call from the dealership indicating that the Uly was ready to be picked up. I haven't talked to the Service Mgr. yet to confirm the IAC was replaced however I was told he took for a make it fail test ride. This is the part I like knowing Dave for 20 yrs and he's a Buell enthusiast and knows how to drag pegs on a S1. Looking forward to reporting what I discover and hoping this is the fix. Okc-congrats on cranking your mileage up post IAC. | ||
| Blake |
Signal: Try a TPS reset. Too simple. 1. Set Run/Stop switch to the Run position. 2. Turn ignition key to the On position. 3. With the engine off, rotate the throttle grip from the closed throttle position to wide-open throttle position and back to closed position 3 times holding holding the throttle grip against each stop for one full second. 4. Cycle the key off and back on. Done. Apply only light/moderate pressure when holding throttle grip against the stops. | ||
| Werewulf |
mine has some funky behavior... i can start it up and ride a 22 mile route to see a friend... it will run like a champ, very impressive...the fan doesnt come on... the next day, same ambient temp, same speed, same route it runs only fair and the fan comes on while im riding and the dreaded roasted thigh..has kind of a fluffy throttle response.. these machines should not be so finicky.. my GFs 08 nightster, starts instantly, no hesitation, runs strong... hot weather, cold weather or rain, it runs great... i would gladly trade the HP increase on my uly, for the smooth constant performance of the sportster motor.. just sayin.. | ||
| Woodreaux |
Today I picked up the Uly and discovered that the fuel pump assembly, IAC and ECM were changed out. Initially the fuel pump/regulator assembly was thought to be the issue. Replaced the fuel pump/regulator assembly and the same cough issue - won't run or idle behavior existed. So today a new ECM was installed and the Buell runs great. When the IAC was replaced and thought to cure the issue the new IAC continued to exhibit the initial cough an stutter behavior. I was told that when the new IAC was installed the same cough and stutter characteristic was present. A new ECM was installed from another bike and all previously observed issues had disappeared. Bike runs awesome! Fast and swift. I truly hope this is the issue. | ||
| Okc99 |
Wood, I have to mention that I did the same in reverse. New ECM...same issues, then a new IAC. So maybe it's the combination that is the solution? Seems hard to refute with 2 near identical cases! Long story short for those who have coughing issues. Replace both the ECM and IAC and it's likely you'll solve your problem. | ||
| Woodreaux |
A new twist. On Saturday I went to pick up the Uly. I was told that a new ECM was installed in addition to the IAC. The engine starts and idles as it should. Runs great and is fun. This morning it is 66F in Houston. Not to many of these days left before the heat. I am using my phone at my favorite breakfast place-will report later. | ||
| Rwven |
Oh great.... | ||
| Woodreaux |
Since picking up the Uly on Saturday the engine starts and idles as it should. The idle is at ~1050RPM and does not deviate whether it is cold or hot. There has been no coughing - none. The temperature was 66F yesterday morning when I left the house and climbed to 93F and the engine started effortlessly and idled perfectly each and every time I stopped for water and gas. Total mileage ~500 miles. Acceleration in 1st thru 4th gear were smooth and just plain fun while 5th gear was a cool overdrive when cruising ~80-90mph. Twisites were excellent as the throttle was continuous and not jumpy due to the coughing issues as previously experienced. My confidence in the Uly is increasing and without a doubt the Uly is a great fun motorcycle. I could nervously can see it being my only motorcycle but not at this time today. As a recap the fuel pump/regulator, IAC and then the ECM were replaced. The bike was manufactured in June 08. It seems that some of the 08 Uly's do have ECM and IAC issues and as Okc has indicated the apparent solution is to replace both the ECM and IAC. To those of you with the 08 coughing and idle issues I certainly understand your frustration. I feel very fortunate that the dealership didn't stop looking for a solution when they could have. | ||
| Werewulf |
bravo, its good to hear that someone actually got his bike fixed.. when my scg was doing the exact same thing, i had people telling me that you just need to keep the rpm up, these things are ment to rev... like id never owned a buell before...doh! | ||
| Portero72 |
Glad to hear it worked out. A buddy of mine is having similar issues with his 08 Lightning and an incompetent repair staff. I turned him on to this thread, hopefully he can use it to his advantage. | ||
| Okc99 |
Portero72, You might even want to sit him down and tell him that he's only about $250 away from having a perfect bike if the dealer keeps giving him the runaround. Sometimes all those trips just aren't worth the time/expence (getting rides back and forth). As a last resort, all he has to do is order a new IAC and ECM and install them. | ||
| Rwven |
I just installed the new IAC, I'll test ride it in the morning... | ||
| Signal4 |
FYI I dropped my bike off for the 1,000 mile service today (09 XT) and just picked it up. On the ride home she seemed much smoother, barely any surging (and note, it never "bucked wild" with me just surged a bit when under 3k RPM). I putted along at 2k in 2nd gear and it was nearly butter smooth. I also noticed that my triple tail had been moved to the raised position so they could get under the seat... hrrmmm didn't know you had to take the seat off to change the oil!  My guess is they did either an ECM update or something else because Buell is sending info down the line... but I have no proof and I didn't ask since they were closing up shop. I just hopped on and rode off. Heck, maybe my bike just really loves Amsoil! Going to try and inquire next time I'm there. Anyways, still good news and I'm hoping that with a little riding the ECM will sort out the rest. Just thought I'd mention it. Josh | ||
| Werewulf |
i see there is a new part number for the 08 ecm that ends in A... i wonder if this might be an upgrade....Y0152.1AMA | ||
| Trevd |
Interesting... I'm getting my 1,000 mile service done on Wednesday, so we'll see if my surging issues get better after that. I already mentioned to them the issue, so we'll see what they do. | ||
| Trevd |
Picked up my bike this morning after the 1,000 mile service. I had told the service manager about the surging below 3K rpms. They took it for a spin, and agreed that there was an issue. They reset the TPS and AFV (not sure what that is), and the surging was still there. They watched the IAC and noticed that it was not opening as much as it should be. They think it may be an air leak in an intake. They didn't do a leak test because of all the work involved in getting to the intakes, they're going to just go in and replace the seals. They didn't have time to replace it yesterday, so I'm going to bring it back next week and they'll do it then. I asked if it could be the IAC itself, and he said that in all his time dealing with fuel injection, he's never seen one fail. But he sees air intake leaks all the time, so they'll check/fix that first. The good thing is that they've recognized the problem, so I'll let them try to fix it however they see fit, since it's all under warranty. I took the bike for a little ride after picking it up, and while the low rpm surging is still there, overall the bike seemed smoother. It seemed to accelerate a bit more smoothly, and even at idle it seemed smoother. Didn't rattle my fillings much at all... So hopefully they'll be able to fix the surging issue next week. I'll update here once they replace the air intake seals. | ||
| Rwven |
I asked if it could be the IAC itself, and he said that in all his time dealing with fuel injection, he's never seen one fail. But he sees air intake leaks all the time, so they'll check/fix that first. He hasn't seen mine then....or Okc99's | ||
| Okc99 |
Ahhhh....the Grim IAC Reaper shall come for you yet Trevd. Muah ha ha ha ha (Although I honestly hope it doesn't) | ||
| Woodreaux |
I hope this is the solution for your Uly. Goodluck! | ||
| Trevd |
OK, after today's ride, I'm hoping someone can explain this. Started the ride, it was hot and humid out. When I say hot, I mean hotter than it's been lately. It was about 27C (80F), and probably about 90% humidity. It rained a little here and there for the first part of our ride. Going through small towns, I noticed that there was NO sub-3,000 rpm surging! I tested several times, in the 3 lower gears, and NO SURGING! I thought, "Great! Problem gone!!" I figured that maybe the TPS and AFV reset that the dealer did the other day reset it, and as the ECM "learned", it fixed the surging. I planned to cancel the appt I have this week to replace the intake seals. Then we stopped for lunch. While eating, it rained - a good 30 minute shower. Cleaned up the humidity from the air, and lowered the temp by several degrees. Once the rain stopped, we started riding again, and the surging was back. Same as it was before today. It did it for the rest of the ride home. I don't understand it. I'm quite sure that it wasn't my imagination that it was gone, because I tested it several times and was really paying attention to it. Can someone explain it? Any theories? | ||
| Werewulf |
ive had some similar experiences.. i thought that maybe my temp sensor was defective... mine seems to change, not so much from the weather, but the fact that it was ridden hot, shut off and ridden again before it cooled completely to ambient.. after your bike cools to ambient, it might run good again.. just my observation of a perplexing situation.. | ||
| Trevd |
Interesting Werewulf... not sure if it applies to me though, cause it's cooled many time to ambient temp and still was surging under 3k when I started it up. Yesterday was the only time in it's 1200 miles that I can say that it didn't surge. I will check it on my next ride though... | ||
| Woodreaux |
Trevd, I believe that certain Uly models have issues with the IAC and ECM. When my Uly began to have issues it was in weather much like you described. I think it's the combination of the original factory installed IAC and ECM components that are failing. What the root cause of the these failures are speculative at best; manufacturing tolerances for the IAC and bad IC's in the ECM. I am of the opinion it's the combination IAC and ECM that are the culprits on certain models. Perhaps a limited number of Ulys are affected but when it's your Uly it sucks. Okc-99 and I have reported similar issues and resolution. After both the IAC and ECM were replaced no surging or other idle issues or coughing have been observed on my Uly. I can understand if you are getting frustrated try to hang in there. Woodreaux | ||
| Trevd |
Nope, not getting frustrated yet. The bike is new and other than the surging at low RPM it's working great. The good thing is that the dealer is a short 15 minute walk from my house, so I can easily drop the bike off to have them work on it. I don't use it much during the week, so it's not a huge deal. I'll see what happens when they replace the seals. I'm still pretty curious to know why it was "fixed" in the hotter, more humid weather... | ||
| Froggy |
More heat = thermal expansion = better seal?  | ||
| Trevd |
So the dealer did the seal replacement today under warranty. I also got them to confirm that I had the newest download. Surprisingly (to me at least) they didn't even check if it had the latest download at the initial service last week. When I went to pick it up, the service manager said that the two test rides they took seemed to show that the problem was solved. He said that although the leak test they did on the seals didn't show any leaks, they changed them anyway, just in case. The ECM had the latest download, but they reflashed it anyway, because I guess sometimes there's a problem with the download. He also took a minute to complain to me about how Buell/HD pays him 1.3 hours for the work they did today, while it actually took them close to 3 hours... In riding it a bit tonight, it seems to run much better below 3k. It still surges a little bit at times, but not like before. Now, today has been hot and humid - a lot like it was the other day when the problem seemed to disappear for me - so, I'm still not convinced that the problem is gone. But, for now it seems to be gone. I'm not convinced that the seals needed to be replaced, especially since they showed no leaks. Perhaps the download had a problem when the dealer I purchased the bike from did it a few weeks ago. Or, perhaps the problem hasn't been fixed at all, and it's just the humidity today that is masking it. One thing I did notice today, twice, is that it coughed at low rpm shortly after starting... something it's never done before. I'll keep monitoring things and see how it goes... (Message edited by trevd on June 25, 2009) | ||
| Trevd |
Oh, the other thing I noticed, is that the fan seemed to run less often, and for shorter time periods tonight than it has in the past. Don't know if that points to the download being correctly installed or not, but something I observed. | ||
| Woodreaux |
Trevd, The latest flash does seem to make the fan cycle faster. Best of luck and thanks for the update. Be sure to post your results | ||
| Froggy |
Then other times they get paid for an hour for a job that takes 15 minutes. Its give and take. |
