2003 xb9s lightning

[alexg3531]

hola amigos , i am new here and i want to thx everybody in advance and see if you can help me with this big problem !!!
yesterday 02/12/17 after one hour riding with a couple of friends , i started to notice problems with my bike , was like problems with the fuel i want to mentioned to you that before start the ride I full the gasoline tank with premium gas ( i always use non ethanol but yesterday i use the premium gas with ethanol ) a lot of backfire and after 5 minutes we stopped and the check engine light came out , i stop the bike and let her cool for 20 minutes when i start the bike again , the light was on again and the bike was running bad was something like problems with the fuel , or spark plug the bike was running very rough ,i rode the bike for less than half mile and the bike stopped and was impossible to run the bike again , today after read a few topics i was checking the bike and the fuse box , i noticed that the ignition fuse was blow i use the spare fuse and i put the key on , the gauges swept put the kill switch on , push the start and the bike start but died almost immediately and the fuse blow again !! so now i do not know what is going on , any suggestion and opinions will be appreciate , thx again and keep the buells on the roads !!!!

[user_deleted]

electrical gremlin trouble-shooting from afar always will be a real crap-shoot. but the below are your likely culprits and the steps to resolve your issues:
1-your lightning fusebox is under your seat. get familiar with it and the schematic affixed to same.
2-remove your ignition relay. replace your popped ignition fuse. with ignition relay REMOVED now turn key on. fuse ok? your ignition relay is at fault. replace it.
3-step 2 did nothing? following step 2 again but now remove the key switch relay. proceed as in step 2. fuse ok? your key switch relay is at fault. replace it.
4-steps 2&3 did NOT resolve your problem? only 2 other sources. either a faulty voltage regulator (VR) or the most likely culprit....frayed fuel pump wires either at the external harness or most likely within the pump unit itself. how to decide which? with both relays mentioned above in sound working order and fuse replaced....simply unplug your fuel pump. now cycle on both the ignition key and red-run switch. all ok? it's your pump wiring.
still NOT ok? it's either a faulty VR or most likely your #77 VR connector which is behind your plastic front pulley cover. known source of problems.
IMPORTANT: you really should run ecm diagnostics to pinpoint why the CEL activated and find the fault code....OR read the codes yourself by using the simple jumper wire test. that is your clue. you should also remove your plastic front pulley cover and carefully inspect the wiring bundles and plugs behind that cover. sound preventive maintenance is to unplug each one, inspect, clean, lube, reassemble.
do the above and report back with results. posting your results helps all other board members. follow my steps and you'll find the guilty culprit

[njloco]

John, I hope you have these, how to check it and fix it posts saved someplace so you can just copy and paste!

Hey Alexg3541, welcome to the forum, let us know how you make out with the above recommendations.

Later !

[user_deleted]

John, I hope you have these, how to check it and fix it posts saved someplace so you can just copy and paste!

Hey Alexg3541, welcome to the forum, let us know how you make out with the above recommendations.

Later !

i wish i did kenny but i don't. i just post up according to memory and what the "problem dujour" seems to be.

[rchuff]

Just have to say if it wasn't for this man (AKA LUNATIC) john, some people would be screwed. As far as copy and paste some guys are doing that with John's work and then reposting it as their own taking credit for it. NOT RIGHT AT ALL!!!!!! SO DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CAN UNDER STAND IF YOU COPY FOR YOURSELF, BUT DON'T REPOST AS YOUR OWN WORK!!

[alexg3531]

hi amigo , thx a lot for all the recommendations , this is the update today , change the fuse and the bike was running but very bad rough and the check engine light still on , i removed the air filter and cleaned and fire the bike again and the light still on , it feels like spark plugs like it is running with one piston i do not know at his point !!! thx a lot for all your help !!

[user_deleted]

hi amigo , thx a lot for all the recommendations , this is the update today , change the fuse and the bike was running but very bad rough and the check engine light still on , i removed the air filter and cleaned and fire the bike again and the light still on , it feels like spark plugs like it is running with one piston i do not know at his point !!! thx a lot for all your help !!

i realize you are new here but you're posting this identical problem in multiple threads...some as much as 5 years old. you clearly did not follow the trouble-shooting recommendations i specifically and carefully laid out for you. until you do you'll never resolve your problem. this sort of behavior continues to baffle me. good luck.

[alexg3531]

well you are right , i am new here and new with buells and i am little frustrated , i have a little knowledge also , and all of this terms are new for me , i am promise to you that i will fallow all your recommendations and try to find out the problem , i really appreciated your time and i will let you know my progress , thx again !!!!

[lancruza]

Hey John, I had a similar instance, sorta similar, about 3 weeks ago. Any thoughts on this?

99% of the stations around here are ethanol stations, so I normally get 93 ethanol. There is a station here locally though, that claims 100% gasoline. I buy from them occasionally. I mainly get my lawn mower and weed eater gas from them. He sells his fuel for about 80 cents a gallon higher than ethanol stations. I happened to be near this station on the CityX one day and decided to grab some "pure gas". I was kind of in a hurry that day so I only put in $5 worth. I left the station heading home and got a couple miles up the road and the bike didn't feel like it was running right. It had some hesitation in the throttle response and was running a little rough. My trusty voltmeter that I added in my cluster showed no difference in voltage, so I suspected the gas. It wasn't a major difference in how the bike was running, but it was noticeable. I went on home and really didn't think much more about it. The next day I was gonna hop on the bike and run a few errands. I went out to start the bike and warm it up. She turned over and started, but was running WAY ROUGH. I've never seen a Buell run on one cylinder, but that's what it felt like to me. It was like one of the cylinders was cutting in and out. The check engine light comes on and I'm thinking "OH NO!" I hit the kill switch, waited a couple of minutes, started it again, same results. While standing there trying to figure out what was going on, I let the bike continue to run. As the bike began to warm up, it ran a little bit better. It still wasn't running right, but it was better than when I had first started the bike. I decided not to ride the bike for my errand run and hopped in the other XB(Scion) instead. I was suspecting the gas as I was running my errands, so I decided to stop and get some 93 ethanol and take back and top off the bike with what I had been running in it normally. After topping off, the XB started a little rough again but got to running better as it warmed up. I went for a ride and it ran better and the check engine light finally went off. I rode over the next few days and the XB still didn't seem 100%, but no check engine light and I decided to keep riding. After 100 miles or so, I put a couple more gallons of 93 ethanol in the bike and she's been running great ever since.

So here come the questions:

1. Would running 93 "pure gas" cause those problems or was it likely that I just got some "bad gas" from this station, or maybe something else?

One more bit of info. The "pure gas" station has the type of pumps with only a single handle for all three octanes. Would it be possible that I got some 87 octane mixed in with my 93 that may have been left over in the hose from the previous purchase? Could some 87 cause this?

I'm probably over thinking all of this, but I haven't been back to the "pure gas" station since. I've never had any problems buying gas from them before. It was just a weird episode that I would like to avoid repeating, if possible.

[user_deleted]

^^^^^LeVan: absolutely no idea here what that was all about. there has been a million posts on here thru the years regarding "bad gas" as the possible culprit or suspect in alot of buell maladies and ailments. personally i've never been convinced that the fuel had anything at all to do with any of these problems. switching from 10% E blend to straight gas then back again to E blend should mean nothing. the "small motor" argument is baseless. i say that as i do it all the time on many of my XB's....my toyota which like your scion is a little 1.5L motor not much larger than one of my XB's....and have never had a CEL nor any sort of rideability/driveability problem. right down the road from me is a pure-gas station virtually identical to the one you described. never a problem. but i'll tell you one thing LeVan: if you could pull up the stored code associated with your CEL during this event i'd bet it's #13......as in O2 sensor fault. if you delve into this further and use the jumper wire method to retrieve and read any stored codes just count the flashes associated with the read-out and i'll be happy to interpret them for you.