Cranks Over, Starts, Idles for a second and says "Nope, not today"

[PegasusXB9R]

So, I'm at a loss after looking over the repair manual and doing some basic checks on the bike. I thought I'd give this a shot for some last minute inspiration and everyone loves a good puzzle. She is a 2003 XB9R Firebolt, 37k miles, and just began having some problems getting her to run properly. She cranks up fine, starts, idles for a second (although not steadily), then dies. Fuel pump whines like it should, battery has a full charge, I've replaced the spark plugs, checked all the fuses and relays, and checked the ignition coil/cables for ohms readings. All the electrical seems to be on the level and starting procedures don't require work arounds to get her to start. I'm almost positive there is a charging issue as the battery will loose charge after a while, but I don't know if that would create the problem I'm having. I'm planing on taking her in to the shop and I'll keep everyone posted as to the issue, but I was wondering what people thought. Thanks

 

[1sexynucca]

My bike has been doing the same thing to me. 2007 xb12R firebolt a lil over 11,000 miles.happened to me yesterday and this morning. started up, idled, then shut off. its been doing it ever since I had my race ecm and K&N filter installed. any thoughts and advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Stevenc150]

Have you checked for Engine Trouble codes with ECMSpy or without ECMSpy?

 

[stopie20]

I have had batteries cause some strange issues but if you want to know if your problem is battery related a couple simple tests include a load test on the battery, this involves taking the battery to a local auto parts or battery specialists center and having them take voltage readings through a range of current draw settings. this test will tell you if you have dead or weak cells.

Another general test of your charging system is to take a voltage reading at the battery with the engine off. Your reading should be around 12.5 VDC on a good battery.
Then take a reading while the engine is running If the Voltage still reads lower than 14.0 ( engine idleing) VDC or (if you can) reads higher than 14.5 VDC(engine revving) you have a problem with the charging system

Keep in mind that I dont have the manual in front of me and the voltage numbers are general for most bikes, you could go plus or minus about a half a volt on all of the numbers above.

 

[PegasusXB9R]

I haven't tried looking up the trouble codes as of yet. That battery is reading good at rest and under load. I just took her out around the block to see if I could get her to run while working the throttle and she is a bit rough at lower rpm then gives me a bolt of power and levels out at higher rpm and speed. I also noticed that she gave me a little backfire hiccup (not the normal roll of the throttle deep cough I love to hear) which she has never done before.

 

[konarider94]

could this be a tps issue. Maybe a reset would help

 

[Sidewinder]

I'm having the same problem with mine. I'm thinking it could be a combined problem of running to rich timing is off and the sudden weather change in my area. Hopefully I can get it figured out. I wanna get my tuning done before Winter sets in.

I already did a TPS reset with no dice. Gonna change over to iridiums and advance the timing 5 degrees to see if that helps.

 

[PegasusXB9R]

I have been wondering about whether my timing might be off since I purchased the bike earlier in the year, but have not addressed the concern because I've been riding all year without any major hang up until now. I'm taking her in tomorrow if the weather is okay and I'll let you all know what I find out.

 

[PegasusXB9R]

OK, SO here's the deal thus far. Besides being extremely annoyed and lacking more money than before we haven't really gotten very far with good ole HD. As it stands they have cleaned some oil around the butterfly in the throttle body apparently making the butterfly stick, put in new spark plugs with correct gaps, fixed some frayed wires, and have charged me for an air filter which still isn't in the bike yet. $387 later this is what we know...The bike now starts and runs at the proper idle (however it did so only the second time for the mechanic this morning)after completing a TPS reset, the bike is running but has trouble bringing the rpm's down when bike comes to a stop after running (the mechanic told me "we were able to get it to come down slowly now" Bulls*&$ considering it was doing this for me prior to bringing her in), they wanted to add the newer flash updates for the XB9R since I am running an older version but the computer keeps telling them to abort not letting them continue. They said something about a engine temperature sensor possibly going bad keeping them from getting into the ECM and want to replace it...by the way, I asked if there were any trouble codes and they said everything was fine.

Any thoughts on the ECM Abort message? I think I'm going to pick up the bike, order the sensor, and replace her myself. Then I can take her back to HD to see if they can get in the ECM for the flash update. Supposedly, the update is free...cough...cough

 

[GatorBuell]

The problem everyone is having at idle is the bike is wanting to go into the closed loop mode at idle. If the bike is cold you have the cold start enrichment adding fuel and when it switches over to closed loop it changes to the afv values and spark timing adjustment. If this is out of whack it kills the motor. You just need a tps reset and maybe some tuning at idle. Pegasus you need to just lower your idle screw down below 1000 RPM's. Its just set to high and the rpms are hanging, Buell says 1050 rpms but my bike hates it that high. Mine is set around 960.

I just fought the same issue with my bike and figured it out from another post on another board.

 

[PegasusXB9R]

Thanks GatorBuell,

I'm going to pick up the bike in the morning and I'll work on just that. The mechanic said once he reset the TPS it cranked over smoother, so I'll work on the idle screw when I pick her up. Plus, they quoted me $80 for the engine temperature sensor and I found it online for $44 not to mention they wanted $250 for the part and to install it which I should be able to do in no more than 45 minutes. Thanks for the info!