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Increased Fuel Usage after new Header pipes

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  • Jersey
    Jersey
    3 years ago
    Hi All
    Been a couple years since I have been on here.  Already seen some familiar names.  
    I have a 2007 Road King Fuel injected 96.  It had a High Flow Air cleaner and S&S Wide Oval slip ons with stock header pipe with the restrictive International Flapper in them although programmed to never close.  Basically a Stage 1.  The stock header cracked so I installed a set of S&S headers.  Sounds nicer and a bit more responsive.  I also run XIEDs.  They were the best $100 I ever spent.  Anyway, my Fuel Guage fucked so always just filled up at 250kms and would get about 16 litres into the 18 litre tank.  My first tank, I ran out of petrol at 175kms.  What a massive change.  Went from like 7litres per hundred to 10 litres per hundredI expected a bit of a change in fuel economy but not like this.  Not worried about the cost but has anyone experienced such a massive change in Fuel usage changing Headers?  And what are other 96" tourers using petrol wise?
  • leachy
    leachy
    3 years ago
    Hey Jersey,

    I don't know a lot about what the expected is for that bike but it seems like a lot of fuel. My 103 is a stage 2 and uses about half that.

    Regards
    Leachy
  • Grease Monkey
    Grease Monkey
    3 years ago
    You will probably burr up but get rid of the xieds and get it tuned properly and all will be as it should be bloke.
  • fatbat
    fatbat
    3 years ago
    Quoting Grease Monkey on 02 Aug 2021 04:10 AM

    You will probably burr up but get rid of the xieds and get it tuned properly and all will be as it should be bloke.

    I was thinking the same thing. Xieds are a caveman like way of adding fuel. 
  • Retroman
    Retroman
    3 years ago
    If you had the XIED's wired in before the headers then it can't be them. Unless they are the adjustable ones , and they are more for "newer" bikes.

    I used and fitted XIED and updated versions from 2007 to 2011. Then I went down the rabbit hole of "flash tuning".

    XIED's only just made the bikes run a richer mixture , they did not flood the bikes with fuel.

    Even if one O2 sensor is now/ has gone bad that will cause the fuel mix to drop to a flat rate and affect fuel usage. From memory that is an air fuel ratio of 13:1 as opposed to 14.7:1.

    My 2c is on a bad O2 sensor after being removed and reinstalled in the new headers after 14 years.

    For what it's worth , my 2008 CVO 110 Springer gets over 250 K's/tank no worries , lighter than your Road King of course.

    For years I was pulling original Power Commanders out of 2007 and up bikes and "flash tuning" them. Mostly because the male/female connectors in the power commanders were corroding and failing. The bikes ALWAYS thereafter had better performance AND better fuel economy. I did the last one just 3 months back , a 2008 Dyna with a "stage 4" which had a Power Commander from new. Got it going better instantly after all those years.
  • leachy
    leachy
    3 years ago
    Hey sorry if this is a dumb question, but are XIED's still relevant on current model bikes with EFI.

    Regards
    Leachy
  • Jersey
    Jersey
    3 years ago
    Hi Guys
    Thanks for the feedback.  The bike is a fuel injected 2007 with the recommended XIEDs.  They are the adjustable ones.  I am going to back them off to see what happens.  The bike only had S&S slip ons when I bought it.  It ran freakin lean and hot.  At low speeds and around roundabouts it was just jerky and shitty.  XIEDs stopped all of this.  Never checked mileage way back then until Fuel Guage shit itself.  Installed High Flow Air Cleaner with slip ons and XIEDs and was getting 250KMs with 2 litres to spare with the stock headers.  Remove Stock headers and with new S&S headers on and all of a sudden out of gas at 175KMs.  I couldn't believe it.  I was really happy with the way the XIEDs improved the driveablity of the bike for years without spending money on a tuner.  With just an Air Cleaner and Slip Ons shouldnt need a tuner.  Am I Right?  Sumthins not right.  Installed new plugs same time as Headers and they look perfect after a couple hundred KMs.  No smell or spewing out the pipes.  Happy to hear any other suggestions but I am stumped.  See how we go.  Thanks Again
  • fatbat
    fatbat
    3 years ago
    Changing headers involves changing over oxygen sensors so check they’re both on right. And have a look at them. Some header pipes have the oxygen sensor in a different location which can cause the ecu to interpret the exhaust gas differently, perhaps leaner in your circumstances which would mean more fuel is added. Check spark plugs too to see if either is rich, lean etc by colour. Realised that retro man mentioned oxygen sensor too which made me realise this. And then the xied is there to just complicate things more 
  • Jersey
    Jersey
    3 years ago
    Thanks Fatbat & Retro
    You guys may be onto something.  The O2 sensors are definately located differently than the Stock ones.  It is also really obvious how less restrictive the new headers are than stock.  I looked the sensors over when changing headers and they looked OK.  Lightish brown.  Checked plugs after a couple tanks they look good to.  I do remember in a previous life as a car mechanic apprentice in the 80's we would occasionally refresh O2 sensors with a torch.  Get them red hot and burn any crap off them.  Going to go over the harness and make sure my connections are good; Lean out the XIED one notch and inspect the O2 Sensors again.  Should be able to bench test them as well with an Ohm Meter.  Will look into that this weekend.  
  • Grease Monkey
    Grease Monkey
    3 years ago
    It's not so much if they are damaged or not although that's obviously a consideration that I figured you would of covered swapping them over but more of are they in the flow properly, lot of after market headers do not address this and coupled with free flowing mufflers that exacerbate the issue problems can and do arise.
  • Grease Monkey
    Grease Monkey
    3 years ago
    This is what you want ideally, anything less is a deteriorating compromise that eventually leads to shrouding and therefore sampling issues, stock headers are nowhere near perfect either but rather a functional compromise when coupled with restrictive mufflers.
    Anyway I hope you find the issue, I'd still tune it though as I've tuned heaps of stage 1 bikes that owners have left alone afterwards instead of moving onto cams because they run so much better.
  • Jersey
    Jersey
    3 years ago
    Hi Guys
    I was thinking the other week that maybe the ECM is confused after the new pipes.  the headers were a major change to the exhaust flow and would have changed the settings required.  I assumed the ECM would adjust but maybe it was such a major change to the Loop it just started pouring fuel to overcome a Lean condition.  So I googled resetting the ECM and maybe that would work.  One post that came up was from a guy stating whenever you change pipes and or air cleaner basically anything that might make a change to performance you should reset the ECM.  I think that hit the nail on the head.  I reset the ECM and rode the bike for a 1/2 hour and it was running even better than the previous header improvement.  Unfortunately Lockdown has prevented me from riding much to see if Fuel Usage has improved.  Hopefully know in a couple weeks but I am fairly confident this should help.  Wait and see.  Thanks for all inputs.
    Jersey
  • Retroman
    Retroman
    3 years ago
    Sounds like you have it sorted.
    What method/how did you "reset" the ECM ?
  • Jersey
    Jersey
    3 years ago
    Hey Retroman
    There are a couple ways on the internet.  One was turn Tank switch on; then turn start run switch on and off 3 times or something like that.  I wasn't sure about that suggestion and then I remembered about 5 years ago I had an alarm fault and bike wouldn't restart.  I rang Harley Tech he said try to reset the ECM.  His recommendation was disconnect the battery wires and connect them together and leave it like that over night. It cleared the fault and all was good.  So I did same thing this time but only waited 20 minutes.  Hopefully it works.  
    Jersey
  • Grease Monkey
    Grease Monkey
    3 years ago
    So you cleared all the fuel trims did you?
  • Retroman
    Retroman
    3 years ago
    Well you live and learn. In all these years I have never done any of those 2 "fixes" , but good to know !
  • Grease Monkey
    Grease Monkey
    3 years ago
    On cat trucks the ECM's can sometimes get a bit screwy, weird fault codes that don't exist etc, isolating the power for 20 seconds could sometimes give them a chance to reset, funny thing my ford ranger lost a couple of minor functions a few months back, only recently the battery went flat over a two week period of not being driven, I was half dead with the flu, anyway when I charged it back up those functions where once again working, but, and this is a big but, the actual tune that your engine uses to fuel and time is not touched by doing this, though I think whoever told you it would be, is.
  • Jersey
    Jersey
    3 years ago
    Hi Grease Monkey. Not sure what you mean.
    I may be 100% wrong here.  I was under the impression the stock ECM has Volatile and Non Volatile memory.  OEM settings are stored in the Non Volatile memory and stay there to keep the bike running the desired A/F ratios that the OEM sets up.  The Volatile memory is what the ecm learns on how to keep the bike tuned the way HD wants based on input from all the different sensors.  These can change depending on where you live and any minor Stage 1 modifications.  The ECM makes adjustments to keep the bike running at HD intended A/F ratios which are stored in the Non Volatile memory.  My understanding is resetting the ECM will dump the previous settings in the Volatile memory and re-learn to adjust the A/F ratio and adjust to the new conditions like when you put new headers or a high flow breather on.  Each time I have reset the ECM the bike has run a bit differently adjusting to the new conditions or so I thought.  I went from 7 litre per hundred to over 10 liter per hundred after installing the new headers.  My thoughts were the bike was trying to overcome what it thought was a extreme Lean condition due to the increased flow but was using the old Volatile memory settings that the bike had learned over the last couple years.  I recently installed a EBS Catch can as well and have reset the ECM again as I am not pumping hot oily air into the air cleaner anymore and the bike needs to adjust itself to the new conditions.  Unfortunately I have only put like 50 kms on bike since resetting so don't know if what I was thinking is correct yet.
    Am I completely fucked up ?
  • fatbat
    fatbat
    3 years ago
    That variation the ecu provides for fuel is trimming. Unsure if it’s temporary or permanent memory but I’d have thought temporary. In any event the variation the ecu provides is usually quite small and not in the range of 3 litres per hundred kms citing your increase from 7 to 10 litres per hundred kms. 
  • Jersey
    Jersey
    3 years ago
    Hi Fatbat
    What am I chasing then?
    I guess will find out when I can get some more KMs on bike.
    Jersey
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