07 Ulysses no start

[Motocamper]

Hi folks. Well my Ulysses got me across the country this summer with no real issues but lately I haven't been able to get it started.
I've replaced the timing sensor, ignition switch, fuel pump rebuilt, and had my ecm reflashed by IDS. My exhaust valve was sticking open or shut so I replaced my exhaust with a revmoto sg but that was after the bike wouldn't start and IDS put an appropriate tune in.
Does anyone have suggestions about where to look next or know of any buell wizards near Richmond Virginia? Thanks
Edit: the bike cranks over fine and will start for a second but won't hold an idle or rev

[c3powil]

You didn't mention spark plugs. Have you checked those? Coils? Checked all your grounds and wiring? bad battery? I know these are the basics, but I don't want to assume too much. I know that you said the bike cranks over, but I have heard of batteries causing all sorts of crazy issues when near the end of their lives. It also may be worth looking into your fuel injectors to see if they need cleaning.

[Barrett]

If your engine has fuel...compression...spark....timing it has no choice. It must start and run and it will. You're missing 1 or more of those ingredients. From your description of a brief start, you are probably losing fuel and spark, in that order. Have you checked for any active or historical fault codes stored in the ECM? As soon as it starts and immediately shuts off, simply remove the front spark plug and view its condition. If it's moist with fuel then ground it and check for spark. That will identify what's missing.

[Motocamper]

Thanks for the replys.
I forgot to mention plugs, I just replaced with dcpr9 , which is what I was running before and ran fine. I can smell fuel and will get a shotgun volume backfire from exhaust after a handful of failed start attempts but the old plugs didn't look fouled.
Haven't gotten any error codes.
My battery is only 6 months old but worth a check. I have noticed the bike being noticably slower to start over the winter. Are there any common charging issues with the xbs? It's my only vehicle so I do end up taking a lot of short trips in town. I had it in the shop trying to diagnose the problem and it was running there if you held it at higher revs but wouldn't idle most of the time.
I was wondering about coils too so I'll double check for spark.
Thanks again!

[Barrett]

I have noticed the bike being noticably slower to start over the winter.

ALWAYS sign of failing fuel pump.


Are there any common charging issues with the xbs?

NO

will get a shotgun volume backfire from exhaust after a handful of failed start attempts but the old plugs didn't look fouled.

ALWAYS timing and/or ignition related. Always. Possibilities: Fouled plugs..failing coil...failing CPS unit.

[Cooter]

Since you've already spent a lot of $$ shotgunning parts at it (including the CPS), are you ready to get away from the expensive and time consuming guesswork and start some basic diagnosis?

Please correct me if my description is inaccurate:
You park it when it starts to get cold out, but it's accessible in the garage and not on a battery tender, so you fire it up every month or so to charge the battery and warm it up. During the winter it gets harder and harder to start until now, when it just cranks over fine but will occasionally spit fire out of the intake or exhaust.
Yes?

I would do 3 things immediately:

1) Stop doing that. Get a tender and do NOT EVER start your Buell unless you RIDE your Buell. They have a very rich and very long cold start cycle. Starting it and idling for 10 minutes every month only exacerbates the fouling of the plugs, puts acid in the oil, doesn't charge the battery enough to matter, is hard on the stator and VR, annoys the neighbors, and is worse in every way than just leaving it alone so...

2) Remove and CLEAN the plugs with cleaner and air pressure. Even if they weren't fouled before, the repeated start attempts have fouled them, so they are fouled now.

3) You have messed with the ECM* so now you HAVE to do a TPS re-set: Not doing it (or doing it incorrectly), WILL cause exactly the issue you are having.
http://buellmods.com/content/downloa...ses_manual.pdf (PAGE 1-49)
Do the procedure. Don't just smash the reset button.
You don't need the digital technician, you can do it with your android phone and the free program ECMDroid (GooglePlay store) and a bluetooth dongle (I like the one I got from Rev-Mo.com), or ECMSpy with a wire and a laptop, or TunerPRO. AND remove and look at your ECM. The Uly's with the low seat had an issue putting weight on them and cracking the box. Put a ball of Play-Doh on the box, install the seat and sit to see if the clay gets squished. There is a bracket available to move it if its an issue.

For bonus points, and even though a botched TPS re-set would cause exactly this issue, your 'shop got it running but not idling' comment got me thinking that 1/2 the coil might be bad. Buy a spark tester https://www.amazon.com/Ignition-Diag...14912016&psc=1 and check the plug end of the wires while cranking. It is 2 coils in one so you need to check both sides. You should see a rhythmic light pulse. No light or an intermittent/stuttering light and you'll be looking in the direction of a bad coil/bad plug wires or bad primary wiring. If there is an issue, check the coil inputs with a 12v test light. Put the 12V test light (one at a time) on the wires that are on the outsides of the 3 pin plug that is on the coil. Should see the same rhythmic light pulse while cranking.

TL;DR
I'm betting cold starts have fouled the plugs and a TPS re-set was never done correctly.

[Cooter]

[Motocamper]

This bike has been ridden daily up until this month when this started as it's my only vehicle. The tps reset was done via buelltooth and ecmdroid. The cps was diagnosed by the shop. Thanks again for all the insights, I know it sounds stupid basic but I'm about 3,000 miles from most of my tools. Thanks for the direction

[Cooter]

Ok, I mis-understood some of the things you wrote. The more info you give the better the answer will be

So, it's been taking longer and longer to start and when it finally did, it ran perfectly? Cranking slower and slower? Or cranking fast and not starting as fast? When the shop had it running at higher RPM's (but not idling) did it sound normal? I'm trying to tell if it's running on one cylinder.

I'd also like to confirm that the TPS re-set procedure was done correctly because doing it wrong, will make it do this.

Rev-Mo also sells a cheap fuel pressure rig. Might as well. 49Psi is spec.

Don't worry about your tools, it won't take anything special to diagnose it correctly once we get this basic info down.

[cvc]

Hey Motocamper if you need a tool in Richmond I know a few people around there. Well I spent my first 23 years there and might have 20 or 30 first cousins with in 100mi.