| Author | Message | ||
     4sons5678 |
Just nailed it, I bought a 2006 Uly from a guy in San Fran yesterday. He wanted 39, i was able to walk paying 37! Anyhow, it was dumping like a tall cow pissing on a flat rock during my ride home, and the smile underneath my personalized windscreen called a helmet couldn't be noticed. On the ride home the engine management light was on and now intermittent. Stopped, checked the oil, you know, I wanted to avoid the craigslist horror it died and won't crank on the way home, stuck in the rain bit! Long story short, its in good shape, it runs like a bat, and I have an engine management code. Let the go get the code read heckling begin, Hello fellers, Im new here :-) | ||
| Skifastbadly |
The first thing you'll want to check is something called the "77" connector. Do a search and you'll find it. It's on the right side of the bike. The connector is notorious for arcing especially in rain. Many people just eliminate it. Good luck. | ||
| Arry |
Congratulations. I've seen posts about wet weather/check engine lite, that had to do with spark plug wires/caps. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Congratulations on the purchase. Did the engine light come on when you cranked it or after you got going a ways? A common failure on these bikes that causes the engine light to come on is the exhaust valve actuator. That wouldn't have anything to do with the rain, but it's still worth checking. To check it, remove the outer airbox cover (the thing that's where a gas tank normally would be; 4 Torx screws to remove). The actuator's right on top of the inner cover cover with some wires connected to it and a cable that snakes down through the frame to the muffler under the engine. Here's the check procedure: flip the engine kill switch on the right grip to "off". Turn the ignition key on, but do not crank over the engine. Rotate the throttle grip to wide-open and hold it there. While watching the actuator, flip the kill switch to "run". The silver metal quadrant on top of the actuator should smoothly rotate 90 degrees or so, pause, and then rotate back to the closed position. If it doesn't move, or it moves part the way and/or jerks as it moves, you've got a bad actuator. A new one will cost you about $150. The latest ones have metal gears and are much less prone to failure. | ||
| 4sons5678 |
So on the ride to shake it down today, I rode about 25 miles, chatted with some folks at cycle works in healdsburg, then off I went, after 10 miles or so the bike began to fall on its face ever so slightly, then completely making me think the gas light didn't work. Not the case, a brief wait, fired up. Tons of lurching(falling on its face) and backfiring coupled with sometimes dying, sometimes not. All in all a •••••• way to get back home, took me 2 hours to go 22 miles. The engine management light will come on, it will backfire, and then die. Drop a gear pin it and the revs bring it back, sometimes not. Also, the tach and speedo drop to zero simultaneously following a bad backfiring spree and dying episode. Alright, gibberish of my ride today, complete! Possible scenarios of what the problem is from this giant vault of folks who love the Uly(as I do)= priceless! | ||
| 4sons5678 |
And thank you! That was quite rude, nice to meet you all  | ||
| 4sons5678 |
Hugh, I tried your recommended test and it seems labored when actuating, and if I recall from my 12r I used to have when you turn the key on or engage the kill switch back to on, the actuator should do its thing, almost like its testing its parameters or something, its not actuating unless I throttle on like you recommended . One other thing I noticed is a large dent in the rear of the muffler, where exactly is the flap located and could that be an issue. | ||
| 4sons5678 |
Not sure if its relevant to this problem, but batt volts as follows Batt: 12.31 Idle: 12.9ish 4000 rpm's: 13.5ish | ||
| Fotoguzzi |
I would start by checking the battery terminal connections for tightness. then move on the grounds.. the muffler actuator is probably not related to the problem you describe. make sure your battery is good too but if the bike starts or cranks it probably has good charge. plus look at the ECM under the seat, it can get connection problems if the seat flexes and lands on it and it's plugs.. inspect carefully. | ||
| Fotoguzzi |
Batt: 12.31 get a load test. | ||
| 4sons5678 |
Thanks a bunch, I am not sure how to get a load test, if you could explain further that would be great. I already disconnected the battery and cleaned/lightly sanded the terminals and positive/ground coming to it, then tightened them down, it seemed the positive was a tad loose and the battery is supposedly new. Maybe the mechanics didn't tighten as needed, the bike vibrates bunches. | ||
| Steveford |
What code is it throwing? | ||
| 4sons5678 |
I haven't had it read yet. | ||
| Fotoguzzi |
A load test can be done at batteries plus or any good service station.. basically testing it under load.. a sitting good battery should be over 12.50V at rest but that's not the whole story.. if you motor is turning over good I expect the battery is fine since that is a lot of motor to push, a load test in itself. yep, there is vibration . does this all still happen after you tighten up the battery posts? | ||
| 4sons5678 |
So I made sure the plugs were pushed in until the male side clicked on the ecm, there is slight hairline crack on the female connector at the base where the sealant/gel substance is on the ecm. Not sure if that is a problem. The battery is around 12.56 now, I won't know if the problem persists until out for awhile again Im sure | ||
| Fotoguzzi |
I'm no expert! but the hairline crack raises suspicion.. | ||
| 4sons5678 |
So new ECM maybe? Its not noticeable unless you flex the connector a bit. Also Hugh, the light comes on before being started as soon as the key is turned on or the run/stop switch is engaged to run, then goes off 5 or so seconds after the bike is started. It was in conjunction with the backfiring, lurching speedo/tach dying episode as well. Like maybe the ecm connection wasn't good or the battery and or the seat was flexing on the ecm connection causing erratic behavior. Its a mystery at this point to be solved if it happens again, right. The bike starts, idles fine, throws the code and was ok running around my block several times. | ||
| Timbobuell |
A bad actuator will throw a code but never made my bike run bad, just flat. Cheap fix would be magnecor plug wires, and plugs. If that fails then I say check the ecu and ecu wiring for cracks. Badweb has a great (extensive) search function. It has helped me much. Get her tuned up and enjoy the torque. 2006 has some other settings that may help that I'm not familiar with. tps is one of them. It's not on my bike but a search will give much intel on this and any other subject. Welcome to Badweb. | ||
| 4sons5678 |
Ok, so the link in this threadhttp://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/384 2/748204.html?1420520111 was flippin awesome. It worked great and gave me some codes which leads me to a mess it seems, maybe. My bike shot the following codes at me using the above mentioned method of retrieving them. 44 BAS 53 ECM failure 21 Not listed 11 TPS 16Battery Voltage 15 Intake air temp sensor | ||
| Hughlysses |
It could really be all those things, or sometimes a low charge on the battery can play hell with the ECM causing a bunch of false codes. I'd charge it at least over night, fire it up the next day and check the battery voltage with the bike running. It may be time for a new battery. | ||
| 4sons5678 |
According to the seller, its brand new, receipt says november of last year, thats what led me to the loose positive wire | ||
| 4sons5678 |
At this point I am going to try and relocate the ECM so my large rear end isn't putting pressure on the connectors anymore, see if the problem persists after I do that! thanks for all the help guys | ||
| Callawegian |
Nice to have you with us and sorry to hear about your issues with your new purchase. i am having similar issues at times with my 06 Uly and a lot of this ha come since I replaced the original battery. Where did previous owner get battery from or what brand is it? | ||
| 4sons5678 |
He purchased the battery from city cycle works in San Fransisco, it is a YUASA | ||
| Fotoguzzi |
it's easy to get a load test and you'll know for sure. new batteries can fail ! | ||
| Djohnk |
I'll vote ECM with all those codes. When the ECM was bad on my '07 that's what it did. Seat pan will flex too much when the bike gets hot or when riding two up. Relocating is a good idea, it alleviated my problems until I found a used replacement for cheap. I'm surprised there are still bikes out there without the ECM relocated or protected. Probably a little guy owned it previously. | ||
| Mark_weiss |
Try this procedure: key on, engine cut-off switch on, wait until engine light goes out, start bike. After powering up, the light stays on until the ECU completes its pre-start checks. Starting up while the light is still on interrupts the ECU's procedure. | ||
| 4sons5678 |
It will go off after powering up then come back on and go out 5 seconds after starting, sorry I wasn't more clear. I was told that this is the bike letting me know there is a code to consider and a problem. Richard at cycle works, a former buell dealer clued me in. So if I have to go the buy a new ECM route, does anyone know where I could pick one up. Buell.net sells a blank one, I am assuming that I would need spy or a dealer to make it not blank. Is there a vendor that sells used (guaranteed not cracked) programmed ECM's for an 06 Uly. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I don't have time right now to study this whole thread, but another candidate based on just your runnability symptoms is a failing cam position sensor. We have a flippin good thread on that topic as well, that I can dig up for you if that continues to look like it may be your problem and when I have more time... | ||
| 4sons5678 |
Appreciate it, thank you |
