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Diagnose my Berg!

B

BRN2RDE

Joined Jan 2008
70 Posts | 0+
Southern Oregon
Hey all,

I am looking for suggestions on what is wrong with my 09 Husaberg 450. 2600mi, 135 hrs.

I took it for a ride yesterday, and it was hard to start. Actually, easy to start, but then would die before I could rev it any. Finally had to bumpstart it down a hill. Once running, it ran as if there was water in the fuel, with lots of backfiring. It actually cleared up mostly, and ran pretty good for a quick 10 mi ride. Since I had recently added an Akro can, I figured it was the fuel injection learning a new curve, so I started it on the trailer for the 15 minute trip home thinking it would get it's 15 minutes of burn in time. When I got home and shut it off, it was hard to start again.

Once running, it ran very rough, with backfiring and a very hot header pipe in a very short amount of time.
I do not beleive it is a spark problem. I did fully dry the spark plug cap which did not help any.
My thoughts:

1. Bike running very lean. I checked the fuel connector, which was fine. I am not getting any fuel injection warning lights. Backfiring and red hot header caused by this? What is the cure?

2. Sucked a valve. Not sure this could be it. I hear no mechanical noises, and it did seem to cure itself on the last ride, though now it seems more permanant. Backfiring and red hot header caused by this?

3. Am I missing something else obvious? My local Husaberg dealer is going out of business, so I may be on my own on figuring out this one.

Any help or suggestions will be appreciated.

BRN2RDE
 
Start with the basics.
Battery good? Most EFI systems need at least 9.6 volts while cranking.
Spark plug?
Valve adjustment?
Plug and unplug all pertinent connections. Inspect the terminals for fit and corrosion.
Check and re-torque engine grounds.

Just a few things off the top of my head. Since you have no EFI light on I will assume that the problem is not something monitored by the ECU.
 
fBerger,

Thanks for the suggestions

For sure not the battery, it is a new one, and cranks the bike over plenty fast. Only replaced the old one due to a cracked terminal.

Could be the spark plug... though the behavior will not cause a red-hot header in a matter of a minute or so...

Valves were recently checked, had small adjustments on the exhaust side. I have probably a couple hundred miles on it since then.

Unplugged and blew out all connectors including spark plug cap with air compressor. Everything looked good.

I did check what grounds I saw, found nothing loose or corroded.

In my mind I keep coming back to the red hot header pipe. I have enough miles on it to know that this is out of order.

Please keep the suggestions coming.

BRN2RDE
 
A misfire will produce a red exhaust header as the unburnt fuel burns off in the header. Not saying that's the case, just that I wouldn't rule it out completely.
 
You didn't happen to change your air filter service routine did you? I tried PJ1 and the bike wouldn't even run. Another time I switched to cleaning the air filter with mineral spirits and it got alittle finicky on me.
 
I did change my air filter. Did not make the problem any worse or better. At one point I thought that was the problem. I have even started it with the air cleaner removed. Still ran like crap.

I will swap out the plug tommmorow. As I sit here and think about it, it seems like it could be a terminal lean out condition. Anyone ever report problems with electrical connections at the throttle body? This seems plausable...
 
some ideas:

- plugged injector (see experience of MexMex on ktmtalk.com)

-fuel line connector- needs to close with a "snap"

-bad fuel

chafed wire

good luck, you'll get it fixed
 
BRN2RDE

Sounds like the timing is off to me....But how would this have happened? Screwed up timing will cause overheating.....and a red hot header.....And with the EFI, I do not have a clue as to how to fix it, or even diagnose it for that matter.....Maybe I am wrong, and it just needs fresh gas and a spark plug. !

Mike
 
RE: BRN2RDE

Maybe try reinstalling the OEM exhaust and see if the problem disappears.If so you may have to remap with a dealer.
If no change go back and check everything you may have disturbed since it was last running properly.
Best of Luck..
 
Don't beleive it could be timing. As I said, it seemed to cure itself for a bit, before resuming it's poor behaviour.

My gut tells me to check all the wiring again, which I will do this evening. My current thoughts are a burned/cracked/worn wire somewhere that is intermittently shorting out, mostly when wet.

And after that??, I guess swap back the pipe, though because it corrected itself for a bit, I suspect that is not it either.

BRN2RDE
 
Well, as far as I can tell so far, it is not a wiring issue. I went thru all the wiring and connectors, and found nothing out of order. I did find one wire that was slightly melted for the fuel pump, but was not broken or corroded. Fixed that, no help.

I have pulled the throttle body, and am having the injector checked for flow. Those injector nozzle holes are tiny, looks like a plug up just waiting to happen. Anyone know what the fuel pressure is supposed to be? I also found quite a bit of 'crud' in the choke air circuit. Not sure where or how it got there, wasn't enough to plug anything up, but cleaned the throttle body up last night. I will put it all back together today and try it out.
Otherwise, still looking for suggestions.

BRN2RDE
 
re problem

if there was nothing wrong before you put the akro on i'd back track, what ever it is it sounds a small problem to me, when i had a problem similar to this it was the fuel capped valve,i undid the petrol cap released the pressure and it was fine, keep us posted
 
I FOUND IT!

As mentioned previously, the choke air passegway had a bunch of crud in it. It appears this is also where the sensors get their data, and I believe one of the small passages was plugged. Last night, to my wifes dismay, I cleaned the throttle body out in the kitchen sink. Let er soak a bit, and then blew everything out. I just got done putting everything back together, and she runs like a top.

Thanks to all that participated in my little sounding board. Just bouncing ideas off you all helped narrow the problem down.

BRN2RDE
 
These kind of situations are how we get good at figuring things out. Glad you found the problem.....
Mike
 

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