WTH did I do?

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WileyXB12X

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Joined
May 8, 2012
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84
06 XB12X, 9500 mi, breather mod

I changed the oil, filter and transmission fluid today, all things I've done before with no problem.

I clean the bike and take it out to make sure everything's normal. After about 10 minutes, the idle increases so I'm sitting at a stoplight at just under 2K rpms, vibrating the **** out of my arms. I start heading home, go to stop at a grocery store, my idle comes back down to normal and then the bike just dies. I coast into a parking spot.

I get what I need and come back out to see if it will start and starts just fine. I kick it in gear, idle is back to normal, check engine light comes on and I finesse a couple blocks out of the bike to get home.

All the fluid levels are where they should be, so I didn't blow oil or transmission lubricant anywhere. Everything 'seems' to be intact.

So what did I do to foul my bike?
 
DDFI Trouble Codes
http://www.bcrider.com/DDFI.html

Code No. Fault Condition
11 Throttle position sensor
13 Oxygen sensor
14 Engine temperature sensor
15 Intake air temperature sensor
16 Battery voltage
21 inter active muffler control
23 Front fuel injector
24 Front ignition coil
25 Rear ignition coil
26,27 clutch and neutral switch
32 Rear fuel injector
33 Fuel pump
34 iac
35 Tachometer
36 fan voltage
37,43 speed sensor
44 Bank angle sensor
45 side stand sensor
46 start relay
47 aux power outlets
52, 53, 54, 55 ECM failure
56 Cam sync failure

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I bet you got something wet. You stated that you cleaned it. Does that mean spraying with water? Give it a day or so and I bet it dries out. Good luck
 
I hope that's all it is, but not the first time the bike has had a bath. HA!

I have read on multiple posts that the codes will stay in your bike pretty much indefinitely. A month or so back I had a dead battery and replaced it, so that would explain 16.

Still no clue for 11 or 21 though. I found some threads indicating something as simple as a blown fuse can cause 21, apparently it's on the same circuit with the horn and brake light, but all the fuses are good. Hmmm...
 
I hope that's all it is, but not the first time the bike has had a bath.

You can never second guess an electrical short. Haha I just suspect water is the culprit,maybe not though. Best of luck
 
I went out to start it today and see, the engine started then as soon as I gave it a little gas it would die. I did this a couple of times and on the third time a little smoke came out from the air box. ?
 
So I was thinking more about what Lesley said and here's my theory - tell me if it jives with the problem I'm having.

None of the maintenance I did 'should' have interfered with the fuel system, but water could definitely be the problem, but maybe more than just getting into a few connections.

I have a CIA airbox cover with the larger intake ports in the front. Normally, I plug these with a couple rags before I wash the bike and I forgot to when I cleaned it on Saturday. So more water than your average rainstorm could have gotten into the airbox. The short ride I took could have sloshed it around enough to get through the filter and down into the air intake, putting water in the least desirable place.

Does this sound like it could be the source of my problem? If so, is there a way I can test it to be sure that the problem is water in the engine? And follow-up, if that's my problem, should I start with just spraying some carb cleaner into the intake and put some heet in a full tank of gas and see if that solves it or should I just go ahead and dismantle the carb and clean it?

Thanks again for all your feedback.
 
should I just go ahead and dismantle the carb and clean it?

[confused] good luck finding the carb

I'm thinking water would most likely be the culprit. The only thing that seriously concerns me is te smoke coming out of the airbox, which is hopefully just water vapor.
 
good luck finding the carb

Yeah, I'm a dunce. I meant the throttle body but had mentioned using carb cleaner so the word was stuck in my head. But I'm a novice when it comes to wrenching, no doubt about that.

Talking to some others who are more skilled than me, they suspect that the smoke from the air intake was just unburned fuel from when it backfired in the throttlebody. They recommended spraying some throttle body cleaner (is that the smae as carb cleaner?) inside and letting it evaporate just to be sure.

I've also found threads where people have similiar symptoms stemming from a cracked ECM from the seat being on it and water getting inside. So I'm going to check that too. If none of that works, I'll be getting a cable and downloading ECMspy to try a TPS reset. After that, the stealership is my final option.
 
I checked the new oil level, the level was fine but it was very milky - so somehow moisture got in there too. Going to drain, flush with some cheap oil and change again.

Pulled the spark plugs, the nut was rusted but the gap was fine other than a little blackened on both. Changing those out as well, but first I'll give it a couple turns to clear them out if necessary.

Finally, going to dump some Heet in the gas tank and see if that helps.

ECM appears intact but I'm going to pull it off and look at the underside as well. I'm not sure how to test the TPS to see if it's working correctly without taking it to the shop.

I really don't know what I'm doing, just chasing down everything that 'could' be wrong.
 
New spark plugs, flushed the oil, same problem, sputters, pops, back fires in the throttle body. If I give it a lot of gas I can keep it going, if I just roll on the throttle as if I were riding, it dies. TPS?

Muffler control servo is definitely shot. It wasn't moving the way I had seen before so I opened it up the the plastic is broke. Good times, but not sure if that's the 'source' of my problems.
 
Drained the gas today to rule out bad gas. New gas in it, still no joy. It sputters and pops in the throttle body. I can hold the throttle at one spot and it will rev up on its own, like it's getting more gas when I'm not telling it to get more gas. Is this more and more indicative of a bad TPS or just a need for a TPS reset?
 
No joy. I did a TPS reset per the manual and Dave's videos. Still sputters and dies. Then it stopped starting all together. The starter clicks but it won't catch.
 
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