I had a similar problem with my 2000 RK. I had a rock fly up and hit the voltage regulator. The engine light came on a little while later and went out a second or two later. This went on a few more times. About two weeks later while riding, the bike started acting like it not getting any fuel and it would die. Sometimes it would start right back up and run fine. Other times it wouldn't. Took it to the shop several times and it would always run fine for them. No codes either. Finally the mech hooked a computer to the bike and strapped it to his leg and rode the bike till it failed. Found out the regulator was intermittantly going over voltage up to 18 volts. This caused the overvoltage protection for the fuel injector system to shut them down, thus causing the bike to stall. Replaced the voltage regulator no more problems.
2002 FLHRI Has my mechanic stumped!
- Thread starter perzaklie
- Start date
perzaklie
Member
Many thanks! That's good info.
I know nothing about his scanner. I'm 70 miles away from the bike but we talk daily.
Before I took it to the shop, I followed the instructions in the service manual to retrieve the codes and none showed up using the manual procedure either.
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mgierman39
Member
Ask the shop if they have a spare ECM for testing. The Temp sending circuit on my ECM was intermintant and didnt throw codes for months. I took the bike in to the dealer 4 or 5 times and it ran fine so they couldnt find any issues. Finally took it to an indy shop that was driven to figure out what was wrong because it was a challange.
perzaklie
Member
Great idea. I thought of that Thursday and asked them to do so. I and my mother also had a similar problem with Oldsmobile cars years ago and that's exactly what I did to find the problem. Turned out in both cases to be a faulty ECM. Now, if they can find a donor/loaner for a day maybe we can get to the bottom of this.
Thanks!
perzaklie
Member
Well folks, I give up! I went to the shop yesterday and picked up my bike, brought it home, put it in the back of the garage and covered it up. I don't know what else to do. I talked with my mechanic about changing out the ECM and he told me that a replacement ECM had to be flashed with my VIN in order for it to work correctly. I guess that makes sense since my year model was available with both carb and fuel injection. Without the VIN, how would it know? So, we are all stumped. I guess I will just sit and think about it this winter and maybe something will come to me. In the meantime, I sure would appreciate you continuing to send the suggestions my way. Sure am missing the old girl.
Some of the more common things for your year bike without re reading the entire thread are a grounded wire in the voltage regulator where it goes down under the bracket. Fuel injector wire (if applicable) broken inside the insulation causing an intermittent firing of a cylinder. A bad coil? Something to ponder.
perzaklie
Member
We checked the injector wire, it was their first place to look. Said they have seen quite a few problems with the injection wiring. I will look at the regulator. He told me they were able to get a code one time, "compression loss on rear cylinder" but the code went away by itself. This is odd, because the first time it started acting up, the front plug fouled black and the rear looked just a little black. At the shop I cranked it up and loaded into my pickup and it ran like a sewing machine and did also when I unloaded it at home. The owner and both his mechanics rode it a couple dozen times or more and there was no pattern to the problem. Maybe 5 good rides and then the problem, maybe 3, maybe 6. They all commented on how smooth it ran when it was running right.
You may be onto something with the regulator. Should be easy enough for me to check.
Many thanks, any Happy Thanksgiving!
Glider bought up a good point, check all ground straps and wiring around regulator (unplugs itself or corroded contacts can cause intermittants). On my Sporty, I had similar intermittant problem and it WAS the ignition coil.
The CKP sensor and other suggestions are good places to look...the ECM is the "end of the line" cause it is so expensive...and it is RARE that it goes bad (it is a potted, rugged unit buried away from the elements and being under the seat fairly protected as well.
The CKP sensor and other suggestions are good places to look...the ECM is the "end of the line" cause it is so expensive...and it is RARE that it goes bad (it is a potted, rugged unit buried away from the elements and being under the seat fairly protected as well.
perzaklie
Member
How would one check the ignition coil? What is a CKP sensor?