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nomad fuel injection light stays on?

29K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  jayg6992 
#1 ·
When the DFI light comes on, that means there is a fault in the fuel system. You need to troubleshoot by running the self-diagnostic procedure. To do so, do the following:

1. Make sure the ignition switch is OFF.
2. Pull out the ECU and connect terminal #37 to the negative terminal on the battery using a piece of wire.
3. Turn the ignition switch to the ON position.
4. The FI indicator light will then display the fault code by flashing a series of blinks. Each fault will be displayed three times before the next fault. The coding goes like *blink*pause 1 second, then *blink*blink*. Such a series of blinks indicate code is #12.
5. The codes that may be displayed are: 11-throttle sensor malfunction; 12-vacuum sensor malfunction; 13-inlet air temp sensor malfunction; 14-water temp sensor malfunction; 15-atmospheric pressure sensor malfunction; 21- pickup coil #1 malfunction; 22-pickup coil #2 malfunction; 31-vehicle down sensor malfunction; 41-injector #1 malfunction; 42-injector #2 malfunction; 45-fuel pump malfunction; 51-ignition coil #1 primary winding malfunction; 52- ignition coil #2 primary winding malfunction

Most of these faults relate to a short or open in the wiring or in the sensor.





data supplied by: T- man
 
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#3 ·
My FI light would come on when my engine was misfiring, but when I tried to get codes out I got nothing. Im a GM technician and when you ground the terminal on pre OBD II Gm vehicles it flashes a "12" to let you know you are in diagnostic mode. that way if you are checking codes and dont have one, you can atleast tell the ECU is good and it enttering the diagnostic mode. Does this computer not give you some way to tell that the ECU has actually entered the diagnostic mode or does nothing happening mean I have no codes?
 
#5 ·
The ECU is different, so the pins may be different as well, but you can retrieve codes using a similar procedure.

It's described in the service manual.
 
#6 ·
I Found It And Fixed It !

First off, thanks for all that people that gave me suggestions.
I finally got so mad one night I pulled it in the shop and just started stripping it down. I knew it was in the harness near where it goes into the left engine cover because I could shake the wires and the prob would go away for a while. If I had to strip it to the bare frame I was gonna find the problem LOL.
I pulled the left engine cover which required the removal of the shifters and the floorboard, had the seat off, the side covers and moved the emission hoses around out of my way.
What I found was, after the side covers were off and all the hoses that run down the back of the head were moved out of the way on both sides,the wiring harness that comes out of the left side cover at the rear of the engine and goes up in front of the battery box and then towards the tank had rubbed thru on the very top edge of the back of the rear cylinder head.
The harness is tucked sorta inside the frame between 2 upright tubes of the frame and not easy see, much less to access. The main harness keeps going on up toward the tank, but there is a breakout that has a small branch that goes back down and under the seat to the ECU. T
hat small branch is only protected by black tape. the tape and the insulation to one wire was rubbed thru. BARELY, but enough to ground the circuit intermitantly and cause the problem.
What I did to repair the problem was carefully split the tape wrapping the large harness downward about an inch with an exacto knife. I was then abled to pull the small breakout harness downward enough to get some slack in to so I could repair the damaged wiring. Then I retaped the main harness back but left the breakout wiring an inch lower than it was to start with so it could not rub the head again. I then found a piece of flexable black wiring conduit with about one inch inside diameter and covered the wiring from the lowest spot inside the left engine cover, thru the slot in the cover, up the harness and all the way over the top of the head past the rub point.
The fix isnt easy and if youre not comfortable tearing your bike down that far you might want to carry it to the dealership. The only other way I saw to gain access to the problem would be to drop out or lower the engine.
It took alot of time to find this but hopefully this information will help somebody else and save them alot of trouble.
Ride Safe,
MADSDAD
 
#7 ·
I Found It And Fixed It !

First off, thanks for all that people that gave me suggestions.
I finally got so mad one night I pulled it in the shop and just started stripping it down. I knew it was in the harness near where it goes into the left engine cover because I could shake the wires and the prob would go away for a while. If I had to strip it to the bare frame I was gonna find the problem LOL.
I pulled the left engine cover which required the removal of the shifters and the floorboard, had the seat off, the side covers and moved the emission hoses around out of my way.
What I found was, after the side covers were off and all the hoses that run down the back of the head were moved out of the way on both sides,the wiring harness that comes out of the left side cover at the rear of the engine and goes up in front of the battery box and then towards the tank had rubbed thru on the very top edge of the back of the rear cylinder head.
The harness is tucked sorta inside the frame between 2 upright tubes of the frame and not easy see, much less to access. The main harness keeps going on up toward the tank, but there is a breakout that has a small branch that goes back down and under the seat to the ECU. T
hat small branch is only protected by black tape. the tape and the insulation to one wire was rubbed thru. BARELY, but enough to ground the circuit intermitantly and cause the problem.
What I did to repair the problem was carefully split the tape wrapping the large harness downward about an inch with an exacto knife. I was then abled to pull the small breakout harness downward enough to get some slack in to so I could repair the damaged wiring. Then I retaped the main harness back but left the breakout wiring an inch lower than it was to start with so it could not rub the head again. I then found a piece of flexable black wiring conduit with about one inch inside diameter and covered the wiring from the lowest spot inside the left engine cover, thru the slot in the cover, up the harness and all the way over the top of the head past the rub point.
The fix isnt easy and if youre not comfortable tearing your bike down that far you might want to carry it to the dealership. The only other way I saw to gain access to the problem would be to drop out or lower the engine.
It took alot of time to find this but hopefully this information will help somebody else and save them alot of trouble.
Ride Safe,
MADSDAD
 
#9 ·
On a 1500 classic you remove the seat and looking down at the top of the battery, its on the left hand side, slid into a rubber sleeve type bracket. It dosent say "ECU" or anything on it but its a thin black box about the size of your hand. It has 2 connectors full of wires that plug into it and one connector that has no wires but is actually a cover over the top connector cavity. ( this is where the diagnostic terminal is that you ground to get the codes.) I just asked a friend of mine who has a 1600 classic and he said he thought his ECU was behind one of his side covers, but he wasnt sure.
 
#10 ·
And finally, if the light is staying on at idle, but turns off when riding, and there are no codes stored when following the above procedures, the problem is likely that your idle is too low, indicating that oil pressure is inadequate.

While we haven't seen a lot of reports of the FI/Oil light coming on on the 1500/1600 engines, it is a VERY common complaint on the 900. Idle spec for the 900 is 50rpm higher than the 1600... 1000 +/- 50.

These engines are overhead-cam and require positive oil flow at all times... they aren't like older pushrod engines and Harleys that can idle for a few minutes without oil flow to the top end.

Idle spec for the 1600 Nomad/Classic is 950 +/- 50rpm.
If you do not have a tach, refer to this video and "memorize" the engine cadence. Hard to see, but watch my oil pressure (far left) when I idle the engine down to 800:
VulcanIdleSM.flv - Video - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


Don't drop your idle to try and make it "sound like a Harley". Harley idle spec is actually also at above 900rpm. The "sound" is a combination of cam timing, the cylinder angle, and the exhaust.
 
#11 ·
When the DFI light comes on, that means there is a fault in the fuel system. You need to troubleshoot by running the self-diagnostic procedure. To do so, do the following:

1. Make sure the ignition switch is OFF.
2. Pull out the ECU and connect terminal #37 to the negative terminal on the battery using a piece of wire.
3. Turn the ignition switch to the ON position.
4. The FI indicator light will then display the fault code by flashing a series of blinks. Each fault will be displayed three times before the next fault. The coding goes like blink*pause 1 second, then *blink*blink. Such a series of blinks indicate code is #12.
5. The codes that may be displayed are: 11-throttle sensor malfunction; 12-vacuum sensor malfunction; 13-inlet air temp sensor malfunction; 14-water temp sensor malfunction; 15-atmospheric pressure sensor malfunction; 21- pickup coil #1 malfunction; 22-pickup coil #2 malfunction; 31-vehicle down sensor malfunction; 41-injector #1 malfunction; 42-injector #2 malfunction; 45-fuel pump malfunction; 51-ignition coil #1 primary winding malfunction; 52- ignition coil #2 primary winding malfunction

Most of these faults relate to a short or open in the wiring or in the sensor.





data supplied by: T- man
I have a 2008 1600 nomad and it doesn't have a number 37 it has a 32 and 35....
 
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