| Author | Message | ||
     Cmtrailblz |
So I was just doing about 70 down the highway and it started to bog down and didn't want to pick up anymore speed it kept slowing down until I pulled the clutch and it entirely died on me? Issues? I think it might be a clogged airfilter but when I was doing about 75 right before it happened there was a weird metallic clinking coming from the engine. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Very unlikely it's a clogged airfilter. Did the "check engine" light illuminate before it died? Did the gauges die (go to zero) before the engine quit? "Weird metallic clinking" doesn't sound good, but start with the basics. Try to start the bike- will it crank over? If it won't, is the engine seized (bad news), or is the battery dead? Battery should read ~12.8V if fully charged. You could have a charging system problem that allowed the battery to die which eventually resulted in insufficient power for fuel injectors and ignition which killed the engine. The charging system could be fine but the battery could have just failed (internal short) which almost immediately kills the bike. If the battery is OK, does the fuel pump cycle when you turn on the ignition? If not, check the fuse and relay. Replace if bad, if not, you may have a failed fuel pump. | ||
| Reepicheep |
That sounds bad. Hugh's checks are spot on. Make sure the engine isn't siezed. If it's not, the news gets a lot less bad from there.  Does it have engine oil? | ||
| Twisteduly |
When my regulator officially quit, those symptoms were identical. When the battery voltage got low enough to make the ecm go screwy, just before the bike died. It died it didnt stall. The difference was I had to get jumped about 7 miles from home and only had to push about 1/4 mile. When the volta got low the fueling and spark were out of wack and the knocking and pinging was very pronounced in the muffler. | ||
| Reedo |
I had similar symptoms when mine died. The stator and voltage regulator had to be replaced. | ||
| Hughlysses |
If you can get the battery charged and crank it, check the voltage across the battery terminals with the bike idling. Should be ~14 volts or so. If not, likely it's a bad stator and/or voltage regulator. There are specific checks in the shop manual to tell which one is bad. Simplest check for the stator is to open the little cover at the top of the primary cover. If it smells like a zombie defecated in your primary, you have a bad stator. | ||
| Cmtrailblz |
Alright so update so far, luckily the dealership is paying for a buell mechanic to get it running and do a once over as well. Got it back to the dealership and me and the mechanic took apart the air box changed spark plugs (it's getting spark). But it's still not turning on. It doesn't sound like the engine is seized because it's wanting to crank. It sounds and feels like it's not getting fuel. So dealership sent it to the buell mechanic at an HD dealership. Will know more on. To answer the couple of questions. Yes it has fresh oil in it. Airbox was not clogged, slight oil residue in the Airbox but I think that's slightly normal. I'm uncertain if the gages died, I want to say no because I was watching my speed go down slowly. But uncertain because I was on the highway and more worries about cars around me (Message edited by Cmtrailblz on July 17, 2016) | ||
| Cmtrailblz |
Also what do guys recommend for oil on the buell, the dealership did am sol 20-50 but I feel like it's not right | ||
| Tribe29 |
Most recently I've used redline 20-60 and am happy with it. Seemed to keep my fan from running as much. Should have had one of my kids do a science experiment and actually tracked data. I have so used Mobil 1 v twin 20-50. No complaints. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I have always used plain old-fashioned non-synth 20-50 in my two Buells. I stick to H-D stuff for the tranny though. Bad stuff can potentially happen in the tranny if you experiment too much in there. Friction modifiers can mess up your clutch plates. Various other additives can go after your charging system. So it's easier to just buy the H-D crap and not have to do research for an alternative | ||
| Ratbuell |
I run Syn3 in all my bikes, all holes. Easy to remember, easy to source, easy to keep extra handy and not wonder "is this what goes in here, or...?" | ||
| Woodnbow |
Amsoil 20-50 bike runs much cooler and the transmission shifts better too. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Marketing hyperbole aside, Amsoil 20w50 is excellent oil. No worries there. I agree with Nate about the primary. Amsoil and HD 20w50 is fine, but the formula+ is better and will last longer for the primary. But like Rat said, if you want just one oil and are willing to change primary oil at 5000 intervals instead of 10000 intervals, I doubt you or your bike will notice a difference just putting good 20w50 in there. | ||
| Cmtrailblz |
Alright so update so far dealership shop has had the bike since posting date of this original thread lol. But what went in as a bad fuel pump is now having the engine rebuilt. New Healy coil, new cylinders new piston yayaya anything I should be looking g for when I eventually get it back | ||
| Jim2 |
I think you should be looking for a good explanation for why a complete rebuild. No reason to doubt them but I would have to know the details to back it. Plus I'm sure we all want to hear the details. (Message edited by Jim2 on August 29, 2016) | ||
| Cmtrailblz |
Sorry for the double post there. So I spoke with them about week ago and what I was told. Was shop replaced the fuel pump. They were checking the threads of the spark plug and one needed a Healy coil. So they dropped the engine pulled the headed to do the Healy coil. While doing that they inspected the piston heads and cylinders where ate up beyond belief so now they are replacing them. That was the best explanation I got. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Well, I guess you have to find the problem somehow. But that's a pretty odd sequence of events. The sudden loss of power after metallic crunchy noises is completely consistent with top end damage to one or both pistons. So that is reasonable. But it doesn't explain how it happened. It was either valve failure (in which case you want new heads), a piston failure, or a crank failure. I'd want to rule out the crank failure before running it with a new top end. And piston failures are, I believe, much less common on XB's then crank or head (valve) failures. But they could happen. | ||
| Cmtrailblz |
It was really a crunchy sound more of a metallic clink sound like it came from the primary but definitely the left side of the bike very possibly could have been the fuel pump clinking?? | ||
| Phelan |
Fuel pump is in the tank. It sounds like they found some damage in the motor that was likely from detonation from the fuel pump not supplying enough fuel, causing a very lean condition. Piston failure could have easily happened from overheating and melting, if that's the case. | ||
| Ourdee |
1250 time? | ||
| Cupcake_mike |
Damn, I was thinking maybe your butterfly shaft in the throttle body broke, as my uly acted similiarly when that happened. I did have a piston explode in my m2 with similar symptoms too (chunk of piston was holding the exhaust valve open so the bike died going down the highway). | ||
| Ferris_buell |
I have had similar issues (but not recently, knock on wood). It was my fuel pump fuse. One day I went through 2 fuses within about 20 minutes, and it hasn't happened again in over a year. I was thinking there was an exposed wire shorting but I have never pursued it. Just carry a hand full of fuses. |
