Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech engine light on!!help!

I went for my first ride of the year on my )( America and my engine light came on immediately. Al I have changed was my filter( went k&n) And I removed the air horn from the air box. It ran fine, so what gives? Also can the average joe reset these? I put the air horn back, and the light stays on. Any ideas???

Still under warranty? What year bike?

O9, under warranty about 3hrs to the shop though.

As long as you have oil and oil pressure I would think it's okay to run for a bit. Have you ever driven a car with a check engine light on? I know I have, sometimes long enough for the light to go off again. This is no endorsement to do that, but I think it would make it to the dealer if it had to. This is the problem with everything EFI and computer driven, one loose wire or half ground will cause it to trip up. At least call your dealer tomorrow, maybe they can diagnose over the phone. Or find out if it has a OBD and take it to AutoZone or somewhere to have the code read.

Thans , I'm wondering if it isn't the new filter. Maybe the computer has to adjust to it.

The ECM doesn't care what filter you have or if you have none at all. Something has stopped working correctly or as Roadworthy said you have a loose wire or dodgy earth.

If you can't get someone to read your ECM through the OBD connector, it might be worth while removing the seat and tank and then re-seating any electrical plugs you see in a methodical manner, then put the seat and tank back on and go for a ride. The engine light will go off after three warm up cycles if you've cured the problem.

A warm up cycle is getting the engine temp up to 72°C and then letting it cool down by at least 23°C. Generally the engine will get up to 72°C after a 20 minute ride.

If the engine light doesn't go off after three cycles then definitely get in touch with your dealer. Good luck.

Thankyou!!I was just going to ask about the cold start cycle. Now I know what to look for. As far as reading the fault, can any garage do that? Thanks!

Have you washed or gotten the bike very wet recently? This happened to Wendy's bike once after washing it and got water under the sending unit boot. Could also be a bad sending unit. Are you sure the bike has pressure? This is the situation that prompted me to make an oil pressure gauge for our bikes. That way if the light came on again I have a mechanical gauge to verify pressure or no pressure.

Its not the oil light but the check engine light. I rode it today and it ran great, we'll see what happens!

Is the fuel cap tight? Don't know about EFI for bikes, but for cars having a loose fuel cap can throw the engine light on. Typically, three driving cycles clears the light under that condition.

HTH,
H.

Didn't know the EFI bikes had a check engine light.

I'm just guessing here if they do. My '09 V-Star 950 has a check engine light as part of the EFI system. I think all EFI machines would, but don't know for sure.

H.

thats right, I just called my dealer, he said it would be best to bring it in, but, he said to disconnect the battery for a "while" and try it again. That must clear the codes like on a car,duh. why didn't I think of that.
We'll see!

I'm not familiar with the FI bikes setup, but if it has a mass airflow sensor you may just have over-oiled the filter a bit, "dirtying" the MAF, which could give the ECU skewed input signals. I see it often on cars.

I did what the dealer said and the light came back on. I guess its going in.
thanks