| Author |
Message |
    
Hrutkaypgh
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 04, 2019 - 05:45 pm: | 
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Hi Everyone,
I'm new to Buells and to the community. I've been riding mainly Hondas and wanted something different. I might have gotten more than I bargained for, ha!
I have a 1991 X1 with just under 27,000 miles. Mods are intake with K&N, Supertrapp exhaust, and from what the previous owner told me, a custom map.
I bought the bike around 2 years ago and it ran great from initial purchase, from the owner, till about 2k additional miles that I put on. Loved it!
Then, I was out riding one day like normal, when the bike just shut off completely without warning. Lights still worked, the engine just cut out. This was about 5 months in of owning the bike. I pulled off the road, waited a few minutes and the bike finally started up again and I was able to ride it home. This same issue happened maybe two more times afterwards and I parked it in fear of getting rear ended and the fact that I didn't have a decent work area to look over the bike.
Flash forward to present day, and I now have a decent garage to park the bike.
About two weeks ago, I replaced the battery, changed the oil and decided to take the bike out for a test drive around my apartment complex.
It started up fairly easily and I rode it around for a few minutes with no problems. I came back to my garage and shut the bike off. A few minutes later I tried to fire it back up again and I couldn't get it to start. The fuel pump wouldn't prime and I noticed that the neutral light was out. So I just parked it for the day.
I tried to take it out for a short ride this past weekend and everything was back to normal. Fuel pump primed, neutral light was working. It was running fairly decent, (I noticed a dead spot between 2k and 3k from 1st to 3rd gear) then the same problem occurred, the engine just cut out.
This time I couldn't get it started again and had to have it towed. When I turned the ignition on, the fuel pump wouldn't prime and I noticed that the neutral light was out again.
The needles on my gauges also don't swipe on turn of the key, not sure if they're supposed to or not. I never noticed that they have.
It seems that I run into trouble when the bike is completely warmed up, so I'm not sure if it's heat related, electrical, or a combination of both.
I'm at a loss for where to start troubleshooting.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! |
Blake
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 05, 2019 - 12:30 am: |
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Check the main connections to ground, and ensure all are in good clean shape and tight. |
Akbuell
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 05, 2019 - 11:40 am: |
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Might do to bypass the ignition switch and see if the problem goes away. Sounds like electrical connections are intermittent and the ign switch is 20yrs old. They also are a known problem area.
Or try wiggling the key when the bike does have an issue.
Hope this helps, Dave. |
Hrutkaypgh
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 05, 2019 - 04:24 pm: |
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Great. I'll try those suggestions. Thanks for the help. I really appreciate it. |
Hrutkaypgh
| | Posted on Sunday, June 09, 2019 - 12:51 pm: |
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I wiggled the key, it took a few tries but the bike came back to life. No neutral light but the fuel pump primed. Looks like the ignition switch was the problem. I'll replace it and see what happens. Thanks. |
Phxjtw
| | Posted on Saturday, June 06, 2020 - 08:56 pm: |
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My 2000 x1 did the exact same thing today.
I turned if off & back on. Head light & tail light came on. No fuel pump sound, no red light in gauge.
Key switch is 1 year old.
Side & clutch stand have been bypassed.
I pulled all the fuses. They looked good but 1 looks might have a small break in the filament. I swapped that ones position just to try and it started. I got it home.
I'll have to do some troubleshooting tomorrow. If anyone has a wiring diagram it would be super helpful. |
Phxjtw
| | Posted on Saturday, June 06, 2020 - 09:02 pm: |
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I should add that it took about 20 minutes to check/swap the fuses so the bike did cool down a bit. It was only about 95 degrees today. Bike didn't seem overheated. Is there any temp sensor that would shut it down like this? |
Ocbueller
| | Posted on Sunday, June 07, 2020 - 08:17 pm: |
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The temp sensor will not shut the bike down. It will however throw the ignition into skip spark mode in an effort cool the motor with unburned fuel.
SteveH |
Ocbueller
| | Posted on Sunday, June 07, 2020 - 08:19 pm: |
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When the ignition switch on my X1 failed, I was able to use the second wire off of the switch, which is the park position. Worked fine.
SteveH |
Akbuell
| | Posted on Monday, June 08, 2020 - 07:43 am: |
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Phxjtw - Just because the key switch is 1 year old, doesn't mean it isn't faulty. Check with a multimeter and confirm it is working properly. As an aside, I got a new old stock replacement for mine, and it took some fiddling to get it to work properly. Having sat on a shelf for years, with out being 'exercised', it took a bit for the connections inside to start making contact.
And don't forget the relays. If OE, they are now 20 yrs old.
Hope this helps, Dave |
Phxjtw
| | Posted on Sunday, June 14, 2020 - 12:46 pm: |
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I think I found the problem.
I verified the side stand bypass was not causing the issue.
Previous owner installed a 15a fuse for the ignition. I've never seen a fuse with such a small break in the filament but, it tested bad. All this time it's been fine.
Thanks for all your help. |
Phxjtw
| | Posted on Friday, July 03, 2020 - 06:28 pm: |
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And today it popped the 20A IGN fuse 3 more times.
Yay wire checking time. |
Akbuell
| | Posted on Saturday, July 04, 2020 - 09:55 am: |
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This will sound weird, but please work with me.
If you have determined a series of events that pop the fuse:
Unplug the speed sensor, and try again. If the fuse does not blow, the speed sensor is developing a internal short, probably between the 5V input and the sensor ground.
Don't ask how I know to check that. In my case, turning the switch on, but leaving the stop/run switch off, all was fine. As soon as the stop/run switch was set to run, the Ign fuse would blow.
Hope this helps, Dave |
Phxjtw
| | Posted on Saturday, July 04, 2020 - 06:10 pm: |
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Thanks Akbuell
I put a new speed sensor in about a year ago when I was trying to get the speedo to work. Now it reads something sometimes. It's usually not accurate (40mph at 4k rpm in 5th, 60mph at surface street speeds, etc) But, that's a different topic.
I did find the red wire at the IGN fuse had a break in the insulation. And, the wires had some oil on them. Cleaned it off & taped it up. Bike ran for 10 minutes without issue.
We'll see. |
Phxjtw
| | Posted on Saturday, July 25, 2020 - 03:53 pm: |
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Well, that wasn't it.
Rode for 45 minutes.
Engine lost all power & died. But, it restarted & didn't blow the fuse.
Rode 10 more minutes. Then the fuse blew.
Changed fuse. Restarted bike. Fuse blew again in less than a minute.
The search continues.
I read in another post something about the tach doing a sweep when the key is turned on. Mine has never done that. Is it supposed to? |
Phxjtw
| | Posted on Saturday, August 01, 2020 - 05:53 pm: |
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Now the fuse blows any time the key is on. Taped up wires near ECM with broken insulation - Fuse still blows
Disconnected speed sensor - Fuse still blows
Disconnected ECM -Fuse still blows
Disconnected fuel pump - Fuse still blows
Pulled IGN relay - fuse didn't blow.
Plugged in IGN relay - Fuse blew instantly.
Other than replacing the wiring harness, anyone have any other ideas? |
Akbuell
| | Posted on Sunday, August 02, 2020 - 10:47 am: |
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No, the tach doesn't sweep. The XB instruments do, IIRC.
Might try unplugging the neutral light. It is part of the ignition system, serving as one of the grounds.
Might do to carefully trace the various wires 'downstream' of the relay, using the wiring diagram as a roadmap.
In my case, I had everything (coils, switches, sensors, ect) unplugged, and started plugging them in one at a time until the fuse blew. |
Phxjtw
| | Posted on Sunday, August 02, 2020 - 02:06 pm: |
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Thank you Akbuell
That's kinda what I did but, reversed. Use test light at the fuse. Unplug components until until it stops blowing fuses (light goes out.
The diagram I have isn't the easiest to read. I've been tracing the IGN system. I've found the point where it's at the front of the bike.
I'll try neutral light later before I go through everything at the front of the bike. |
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Troubleshooting (Poor Starting/Running/Handling/Ride Issues) »
1999 X1 Random Shut Off and Starting Trouble