xb9 tach not working

[scottd03820]

Hello,

I recently purchased a 2005 xb9 and it is my first Buell . The tach does not work. It does not "sweep" with the speedo when I turn the key on. I've searched the forum and have been unable to find any information. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

Scott

 

[squidbuellie]

Sounds like a bad speedo... How many miles does your bike have?

 

[scottd03820]

11,750 miles. When you say bad speedo do you mean the whole speedometer/tachometer unit will need to be replaced? Can it be taken apart and fixed? The tach is the only thing not working.

 

[Cooter]

I have a working gauge cluster that is apart right now. I can look at it tomorrow and see if the tach portion would be easy to swap. Otherwise, you have to buy a whole new dash (with similar miles).

 

[thrstrmech]

have you checked for a code, if so you should get 35. check the accessory, battery and key switch fuses. key on perform wiggle test at instrument cluster, checking that the connector is properly installed prior to wiggle test. check the speed sensor connector under pulley cover for corrosion, being dirty, and or proper connection. also check your battery connections and ground for security. you could have one or more of these issues: poor connections, battery ground issue, faulty cluster, faulty ecm, faulty speed sensor, bad fuses. look for root cause and avoid band aid fixes.

 

[scottd03820]

Thank you for your responses. I will check all the connections. The only needle that sweeps is the speedo when the key is turned on which makes me wonder if it is internal to the gauge cluster.

 

[Cooter]

The only needle that sweeps is the speedo when the key is turned on which makes me wonder if it is internal to the gauge cluster.

The whole gauge cluster is powered by one wire, so I'd have to agree with that.

Even if your battery, ground, harness, speed signal wire, tach signal wire, fuse, or ECM are all bad, it would still sweep with the speedo.

 

[ToneTheMoan]

Check if the needle has been pushed down? it dont take much pressure for that to happen and stop it moving!

 

[Cooter]

True ^^^^

If that doesn't fix it, it will already be out of the bike. Since the entire thing is solid state except the motors, odds are it's the tach stepper motor that drives the needle that's bad.

The back of the circuit board looks like this.

The stepper motor for the tach is directly under the needle (duh). The 4 terminals are power, ground, step up, and step down (The pointy silver things just above CL32 in a square shape) Plug it back into the bike, key on, and use a DVOM to test you have at least one (+) and one (-). If you don't, you need a whole new board.

If you DO have a (+) and a (-) on 2 of the terminals, the stepper motor is bad. Unscrew the black screw next to that motor

And the screw next to the speedo stepper motor

Remove the needles by pulling up with you fingers on the center pivot, and pull off the face plate.

On the back side of the tach stepper motor, bend up the 4 tabs (near CL33 and CL38), and unsolder the 4 terminals directly inside the tabs… solder on the new one and test!

I have a whole completely functioning cluster board if you need it. PM me.

 

[ToneTheMoan]

Great info cooter that may help me too in the future! [up]

 

[user_deleted]

best dash write-up i've ever seen. well done son and a rep point to boot.[up]

 

[scottd03820]

Thank you Cooter. That is great info. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Cooter]

I'm happy to re-pay the awesomeness on this site when I can

 

[squidbuellie]

Your best bet is to replace the speedo with one that has close to the same miles. Or part out one and try to do cooter's fix...

I have a few speedos with miles ranging from 2,500 miles to 80,000 miles but none with 11,000 miles I think the closest I have to it is 13-14,000 miles..
But I also have 7-8 broken housing high mileage ones that you can try the fix on, just pay shipping....

 

[scottd03820]

Thanks squidbuellie. I'll let you know which way I decide to go.

 

[joebuell06]

Cooter, you ought to start writing your own shop manual. Great write-up! +1