Hi All, the low fuel light stays on permanently on my SX, has anyone else had similar?
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Hi All, the low fuel light stays on permanently on my SX, has anyone else had similar?
Yes, mine does as well. I wrote EBR and they told me to have it repaired under warranty at my dealer. I'm going to try and bring it in tomorrow for the 620 mile maintenance. I'm at 651 and hope this isn't an issue. I don't ride it hard anyway.
Update. When I dropped mine off at the dealership, the technician told me that he's seen the wires on the sending unit come off. I'll let you know what they find.
The service cost was $155. I told them not to worry about the fuel light as I don't use/trust the light anyway. The only reason I did the service at all was to insure that the warranty remained valid. With the uncertainty of EBR .............. Sad too, this is the best bike I've ever owned.
I bought the service manual to check into the low fuel light issue. I can't find the sending unit on any of the drawings. Does anyone know where the fuel low level sending unit is located?
If it's like previous Buells, it's on the fuel pump assembly, which bolts into the right side of the frame just forward of the swingarm.
My low fuel light is now stuck on, too. Does anybody know if you can replace just the sensor? If so, does anybody know the part number/manufacturer. The EBR parts list only shows the entire fuel pump assembly. Thanks
Do i have to pull the fuel pump to fix?
Common problem - dealers were replacing the fuel pump under warranty to resolve it.
But this seems like a very easy problem to fix. Correct? The only difficulty is pulling the fuel pump (a lot of steps to do that). Once it's out you only need to re-crimp the wire to the sensor, correct?
Thanks so much. Looks like I have my work cut out for me this weekend! One other thing: can you get the fuel pump out without that special puller device shown in the video? I would imagine you could stick some type of bolt in it and just pull on the bolt. Your thoughts?
Personally, I'm a fan of having the proper tool to do the job to prevent any damage.
That being said, you could probably rig up a bridge type of puller to span the pump opening in the frame that would allow you to thread a bolt into the pump (not sure of thread size) rather than prying on it after you get the large circlip out.
There's usually some stiction from the o-rings on the fuel pump holding it in the frame.
Thanks again! Is that puller something that's generic? It seems like it would be a specialty tool.
Wow. Is it an EBR thing or simply something you'd find at a tool type store?
EBR had a specialty tool specifically for the job.
The Buell tool for the 1125 might be similar - not sure if it's the same.
Thanks!
Anyone done the fix yet? I mean correcting the thermistor issue without having to replace the entire pump assembly. If so, please share. Thanks.
I pulled out the pump. It's Version B. I could find no crimps in any of the wires. Now what?
Can you post up some pics of the pump? Thanks.
I already put it back in because the rubber o-rings immediately started expanding and I didn't want them to get any bigger. It looked just like the fuel pump in the EBR Shop Manual video,#169 and #170. No splices. This is very different than the fuel pumps shown in line for the Buell 1125s. I did wiggle the wires on the sensor a bit, maybe that will solve the problem. I doubt it, though.
The troublesome pumps that had poor terminal crimps had pinkish/red connectors for all of the wires coming from the float itself.
I needed to remove the swingarm. Not really a difficult task but it requires a special 22 mm hex bit. I couldn't find one anywhere but the dealer kindly let me borrow a special EBR socket type bit made just for that. You first remove the tire, unbolt the shock, unplug the two connectors on the swingarm, loosen the crimp bolt and unscrew the swingarm axle (it's just one sided). You then need to remove the large snap ring (small snap ring pliers wont work, you need big ones). After you have removed that, you need the special fuel pump puller that EBR makes to slowly the pump from the frame (of course you first have to drain all fuel). Honestly, if you have the right tools the whole job won't take more than thirty minutes.
I'll try to take a picture of the actual part with the float attached. There was a number on it. There were no crimps, however. Just two small gauge black wires that went down to the base of the pump and into a grommet to exit the pump along with two or three other wires.
Really? Wow, I never thought to look there! Man, I wasted hours looking around for one. Thanks.
If it's not the fuel pump sensor itself, would it be possible for a loose wire/bad connection somewhere in the harness to cause the low fuel light to stay on? It seems to me that, if anything, a loose wire would cause the low fuel light not to activate even if there was a proper low fuel signal. Any thoughts?
You know, I just put it back together. As I said, I was worried about the o rings expanding to point where I wouldn't be able to put the pump back in so I reassembled it before taking any pictures. I would imagine that once we know who supplied the pump, we could contact them and ask for the details on the sensor (it's just a tiny piece with a float and two wires), and order a new sensor. It would be an extremely fix -- just splice it in. Who knows, it could be a defective float that filled with fuel and no longer floats. That would be an even easier fix. It just slides on to a short shaft with a plastic circlip on top.
If it's the same as a Buell XB axle (which IIRC is also 22mm), you can "invert" a common 11/16" spark plug socket wrench (see below) and use it with a 1/2" extension and ratchet.
Attachment 423
You insert your 1/2" extension into the "spark plug" end of the socket and stick the hex into the axle (or in your case, the swingarm axle). It actually works better than the factory tool as it's easier to keep in place in the axle.
Interesting that an actual float is used vs. a thermistor in an application with the fuel pump mounting angle this bike has. Maybe a test with the pump submerged in a container of fuel, held at the approximate mounting angle, and the float wire plug terminals connected to the bike wiring harness via jumper wires would be worthwhile.
Thanks to both of you. With regard to the float on the pump, I didn't get a chance to test it since I had to put it back quickly on account of the o rings expanding. It would be easy, though. You could even just manually hold the float up and see if the light goes off. Anyway, does anyone know who made the pump? I would imagine that they would have spare float units/floats. Again, it's just one little two wire piece attaches to the pump assembly. To me, it's not worth buying a whole new pump at $625.
It might be worth a call to Al Lighton at American Sport Bike. This sounds like the same arrangement on the Buell 1125 and ASB sells a replacement float switch that can be used on the 1125 pump unit. I wouldn't be surprised if it would work on the 1190.
Thanks so much. Will do!
They don't have it. The pump on the 1125 is quite different than the one on the 1190. Both pumps are also apparently made by Buell out of various components. There is not a separate company supplying the entire unit. It would be great to get a hold one of the technicians/engineers at EBR to see if they could shed light on where the components of the pump were sourced.
If EBR is re-opened, do you think that all prior warranty claims would be discharged? I'm not a bankruptcy expert but understand that only a Federal bankruptcy can actually discharge debt.
So you think all warranty claims for any bike purchased prior to the bankruptcy will be discharged? What about those going forward after the close of BK?
OK, So, I just bought a RX and my low fuel light was stuck on as well.... I did repair it, and figured I would share my findings. To remove the pump without the "special tool" you need a slide hammer, Harbor freight sells them for under 20 bucks I think. You will also need a long (3 inches or so) 6MM bolt. stick the bolt through the slide hammer nut, then thread into the center hole in the pump asm. Two light taps from the hammer and my pump was on the floor. Upon inspection, it looks like all the wires are fine, but a continuity test showed an open. While the connectors were all plugged in, when you pull the plastic ends, the wire just falls out of them. It's as if the crimps were too hard, causing the wire to be damn near cut in half where it's crimped at the connector.
SO... spliced wires together with heat shrink butt connectors, plugged into bike, lifted float and within 30 seconds, light off. The float is SO simple, a magnet in a foam float sliding up and down on a plastic stick, the I can't imagine in a million years that this thing could "fail"... It's just not that complicated! I will post photos when I'm home and off the work computer. Oh, and as to a previous post about the O-rings swelling, he was correct, mine did this as well... I work at an auto parts store, and hunted until I found new O-rings. Just buy 2 Mobil 1 oil filters, part number M1C-151 and snag the O-rings out of the box, they are the same as what's is in our bikes. I would not even waste time trying to get old ones back in, In my opinion, that's just asking for a leak!
Slather some grease or silicone paste around the o- rings, line up the alignment tab at the bottom and it will damn near just push back in. A light tap with a plastic hammer to seat and put that massive snap ring back in, and your ready to go! I hope this helps somebody else, and if you have any questions, just ask!
Attachment 1175Attachment 1176 Pump photos
Excellent! Thank you.
Hi guys
Just did the same thing to my RX after running all summer with the reserve light on.
Be sure to take the connections apart, otherwise you woun't notice the problem.
See attached pictures.
The job is really a PITA, and mine was further complicated by the fact that (I guess) the wrong grade of Loctite was used on the screw that holds the small plastic cover on the right hand side.
It screws into the end of the swinging arm, and it's really a stupid design in my opinion. Even when I was ever so care full, the screw snapped, there's no way you can heat the damn thing.
I made a aluminium spacer so that the plastic cover has something to butt up against, avoiding the Loctite. See pic.
Now for the really dumb thing, the bike will not start, the fuel pump runs, the starter spins but apparently no sparks. There is fuel at the injectors, I have checked the fuses and swapped the Ign. relay with the Aux. one.
When I had put the fuel pump back into the bike, attached hose, wiring and fuel, I would test if the reserve light had stopped being on.
If you just turn on the ignition it woun't disappear so I thumbed the starter a few times to start it. It wouldn't.
I the noticed that I had not screwed the main earth back into the frame.....bugger.
So I might have "fried" something? Nothing that I can see has been hot.
Any ideas please?
Attachment 1212Attachment 1213Attachment 1214
Bike is a RX, but the issue is the same:nono:
The issue about the non starting has been copied to a new thread in the RX part of the forum.