The HD dealership is replacing my '06 Road King's Electronic Control Module (ECM) as the old one died. However, they refuse to hook back up my Power Commander III. They said it was an after market item that could hurt the new ECM and they didn't want to be responsible. Question: Is refusing to reconnect a Power Commander III a common practice with HD dealers? Is reconnecting and tuning it properly something my local motorcycle shop can do? Or does it have to be done at the dealer to get it right?:small3d026:
Power Commander III reinstall?
- Thread starter cuu1
- Start date
Thanks. That makes me feel better.
Any thoughts on what a reasonable price is for a local local shop should charge to reconnect and tune it properly?
ultra...good
Banned
Re-connecting it easy, just a matter of unplugging cables that go into the ecm, and plugging in the PCIII. As far as tuning, you should already have the correct map installed on the PCIII. Check out the power commander website Welcome to Power Commander, Power Commander V, Power Commander III USB and Power Commander EX Fuel Injection Module they have all the instructions to hook it up and maps for every combination of set up out there.
david26
Active Member
What Ulta...good said should have u covered.
the pcIII should still have the maps u where using before saved on it dont think I have heard of power commanders taking out any ecm but it could be possiable so it prob be best if u put it on yourself so u can take it back off if it takes out the ecm again.
ultra...good
Banned
The real question is did the Power Commander take out your ECM? The dealer is thinking that it may have been possible.
The only time a dealer commits to a cause of a problem is when it is something that is not h/d. What I mean is, their normal answer to a problem, especially when a bike is is under warranty, is "that is normal for a harley, or thats what they all do." Since the bike won't run with a bad ECM, something has to be done. And since nothing ever goes wrong with factory parts, the dealer has to administer blame upon some component. I wonder if the dealer would have blamed the PCIII if they were the ones that had instelled it?
Either way, make sure all the connections are clean, put some di-electric grease on before you make connections. Should have said this first, sorry for assuming, make sure the battery is dis-connected before you do anything. And don't hook the bettery back up until you are done with EVERYTHING.
Go to the PC website, download the pdf and go over it with a fine tooth comb before you put your workboots on. If you have any questions, you know where to find answers.
The dealer implied Power Commanders in general could cause ECM's to go bad. They said this is the 2nd bad ECM accompanied by a PC in 60 days they worked on (note that they do heavy volume in general though). But they didn't give a specific cause of my ECM going bad. Anybody hear of ECMs going bad when a PC isn't present?
I suspect their choices were to say (1) the HD-manufactured ECM went bad, or (2) imply the aftermarket PC caused the HD-manufactured ECM to go bad.
So I have a 50-50 chance. I am going to gamble that the latter sounded better when telling me the bill was $550. And since the bike ran so good for the 6,000 miles I put on it in the past 12 months (I bought it used w/ 27,000 miles) I'll gamble and reconnect it.
Thanks so much to all. Your advice is so valuable to a relative HD newbie like myself.
I suspect their choices were to say (1) the HD-manufactured ECM went bad, or (2) imply the aftermarket PC caused the HD-manufactured ECM to go bad.
So I have a 50-50 chance. I am going to gamble that the latter sounded better when telling me the bill was $550. And since the bike ran so good for the 6,000 miles I put on it in the past 12 months (I bought it used w/ 27,000 miles) I'll gamble and reconnect it.
Thanks so much to all. Your advice is so valuable to a relative HD newbie like myself.
Last edited by a moderator:
ultra...good
Banned
Be ever so careful when handling sensitive electronics. Like i said before, make sure battery is disconnected. Before you touch any sensitive components, discharge any static that may have accumulated on your person. How?? Touch a grounding point, you know, when you touch something and get that static zap, thats you releasing a static charge. If you release that to the ecm, it will damage or fry it instantly. Also, the light coating of di-electric grease will prevent corrosion that will do two one of a few things; block or impede current at a connection point, short two or more connections, and a few other things that don't come to mind immediately.
I have heard of more people that have had good experiences then bad with Power Commanders, and usually the ones that have bad experiences are the same guys that come right out of the bar doing burnouts. I know, burnouts on a cold motor have nothing to do with computer controls, but it does exhibit a negative pattern of how one takes care of their machine.
The ease of tuning a PCIII or the complexity is nice because you have so many options of what to do with it. You can narrow down certain rpm ranges, throttle positions, and then you can set each point for % of fuel and degrees of timing. You can even adjust each cylinder individually or together depending on what you want and how much effort you want to put into tuning your bike.
As always, good luck!!
I have heard of more people that have had good experiences then bad with Power Commanders, and usually the ones that have bad experiences are the same guys that come right out of the bar doing burnouts. I know, burnouts on a cold motor have nothing to do with computer controls, but it does exhibit a negative pattern of how one takes care of their machine.
The ease of tuning a PCIII or the complexity is nice because you have so many options of what to do with it. You can narrow down certain rpm ranges, throttle positions, and then you can set each point for % of fuel and degrees of timing. You can even adjust each cylinder individually or together depending on what you want and how much effort you want to put into tuning your bike.
As always, good luck!!
david26
Active Member
I have found Power comander/Dyno jet costomer service to be pretie good U might think about givin them a call and see what they think about if a faulty unit could take out a ecm. Not saying they are goona out right tell u there units are known for fryin ECMs but they might tell u if it is heard of
I did a search for pcIII takin out ecms on the site and google and didnt come up with anything
I did a search for pcIII takin out ecms on the site and google and didnt come up with anything