Could this be a coil problem?

hyfax

I bought a 1999 Heritage Softail Classic about 2 months ago. I won't call it a basket case, but definetly was in need of some attention. I bought it from a kid who inherited it from his uncle, and knew nothing about it. He rode it for a while and said that he couldn't go for more than about 30 minutes without the bike stalling. He said it would start again in about 10 minutes and run fine. I figured it was vapor lock and replaced the vented gas caps. I didn't have any problem for the first 6 weeks of riding, until I took my wife for a ride on a hot day. We went for about 30 miles, then it left us stranded. It started again after about 30 minutes and ran fine. I've riden it since, alone and on cooler days and didn't have a problem.

Could this be my coil arcing over or going bad? If so, would a high performance coil do the trick?

Bud White

coul a coil prob since ya looked at vapor lock that would be my next choice

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smitty901

That would be a good place to start, but if the bike has been sitting a long time a could cleaning out of the fuel system will not hurt
No need to go High proformance just get the correct coil for it.
It was not uncommon for a hot coil to fail and for awhile come back to life when it cooled down.

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glider

Have you checked for spark at the plugs when this situation happened?

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hyfax

I haven't checked for spark because it hasn't happened again. If it does, I will. And yes, it did sit for over a year before I bought it, but I thought any bad fuel issues would have happened sooner. I've been on it for a couple months now.

Thanks for your help.

R. Lewis

check the coil and plug wires also.

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smitty901

Running a little sea foam type product in the gas for awhile might not be a bad idea.
Don't put a whole can in at once just follow the directions on the can.
Some times you can start one up thats been sitting and it takes a bit for fuel problems to show up. New gas starts to claen up gum and build up intank and lines.
Even a little rust scale may start to brake off in the tank.
You may want to inspect fuel line often for awhile also.

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hyfax

Thanks. I was talking to a friend about this site last night and the suggestions you guys have been making. He thought that it might be important to let you guys know that the bike has an S & S carb and an edlebrock intake. Judging by some of the cobble jobs on this bike, I'm geussing the previous owner never had it dyno'ed.

glider

From things that were said here and what you just added, check the intake for leaks.

Intake System Leaks - Harley Davidson Community

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88Heritage

I agree with glider, I'd check for intake leaks as well.
Also might want to look at your spark plugs and see how the are reading.