Ignition problem

[Champion Motorcycles]

A customer has bought in a 2008 XB12s lightning, it has been imported to England and has not been run for nearly a year, so charged battery but it only fired on one cylinder, thought I would drain and replace the fuel then tried again this time no go, tried a small amount of fuel direct into the engine, nothing, checked and there was a spark on rear cylinder but plug looked black (carbon) so cleaned it then when I checked it again it is constantly arcing and there is a spark like a tesla arc which will jump a 10mm gap to the frame , discounting grey connector on ECU stops this.

[34nineteen]

A customer has bought in a 2008 XB12s lightning, it has been imported to England and has not been run for nearly a year, so charged battery but it only fired on one cylinder, thought I would drain and replace the fuel then tried again this time no go, tried a small amount of fuel direct into the engine, nothing, checked and there was a spark on rear cylinder but plug looked black (carbon) so cleaned it then when I checked it again it is constantly arcing and there is a spark like a tesla arc which will jump a 10mm gap to the frame , discounting grey connector on ECU stops this.

Are you a motorcycle repair shop?

[34nineteen]

Lets expand on this, it will be fun... especially since none of this is really Buell specific.

A customer has bought in a 2008 XB12s lightning, it has been imported to England

England huh? Isnt everything upside down there? Oh.. thats Australia. That changes everything.

has not been run for nearly a year, so charged battery but it only fired on one cylinder,

So, off to a good start but this indicates that you ran year old gas through the pump and injectors.

Also, which cylinder did it fire on? Lets assume the rear! Details are unimportant!

thought I would drain and replace the fuel then tried again this time

Sort of like closing the barn door after the horses were gone, but whatever.

tried a small amount of fuel direct into the engine,

Good. I would have done that too. +1!

nothing, checked and there was a spark on rear cylinder

OK, good! +1 more! But you did not check the front cylinder for spark??? -1 <sad face>.

plug looked black (carbon) so cleaned

OK, good! Not really necessary as we already established it was sparking.

then when I checked it again it is constantly arcing and there is a spark like a tesla arc which will jump a 10mm gap to the frame

Constantly arcing? Constantly? Sounds like the rules of physics have been broken? CoOter is constantly stealing beer out of my fridge and constantly never replacing it, so I hear ya.

To wit, why are you still evaluating the rear cylinder when the front cylinder is the one not firing?

discounting grey connector on ECU stops this.

Well, duh. Disconnecting the connector from the coil, as well as a connector from the battery will stop this too. To your point, I'm sure disconnecting the taillight connector proved pointless. This is really weird.


SOLUTION: Run 2 cans of Seafoam fuel system cleaner through the tank, perform a TPS reset and bleed the rear brake. That should solve this. If not, you must part it out.

[34nineteen]

then when I checked it again it is constantly arcing and there is a spark like a tesla arc which will jump a 10mm gap to the frame

[Cooter]

This is NOT Buell specific. It is the most basic engine diagnosis.

Check for spark in BOTH cylinders, if no... check primary signal on BOTH sides of the coli. That will tell you if it's a bad coil. But you know that because people pay you to work on motorcycles, which makes you a "professional".

[34nineteen]

. But you know that because people pay you to work on motorcycles, which makes you a "professional".

He never said that. Now we are making assumptions.

[Cooter]

A customer has bought in a 2008 XB12s lightning,...

My bad for assuming


If this was about something Buell specific, or they had a specific question, then sure! Use the internet to learn the nuances of a particular brand... but this is a no-start. If a shop doesn't know this one, run away. FAR away. I'm not saying they have to be able to even fix it but they should know what to look for. F.A.S.T. applies to every gas engine, 2 stroke, 4 stroke, even ones without pistons!

They are charging for 'diagnosis' Hypothetically... how mad would you be if you paid a shop for a BASIC repair like this one, and found they had to join a forum to ask strangers how to fix your bike. I'll wait for my check, thanks.

100% positive this tool is on FaceBook Buell forum right now getting that high quality service it's well known for. (Snark). Check your grounds.