Hard Starting

I own a 2001 FLSTFI I have a 95 inch upgrade with a 203 SE cam I'm also running a power commander. Lately I've been having trouble starting. It seems to just crank a lot before it starts. some times I have to put a boost to get it started and lately it's been happening when the bike is hot also.

I had to replace the battery last year I went with a big boar for more cranking power I'm afraid that I'm going to burn out the starter.

Any feedback will be very helpful.

I'm no help with the power commander or electronic fuel injection, but something may be amiss there, as in the engine's set too lean to start right up. Even fully warmed up you need a pretty rich mixture for starting.

And with repect to heat, I do know that electronic ignition modules do not like it - they will screw up when they get too hot, then work fine again when they cool back down. A simple way to test that is when the engine seems to be running fine, take a hair-dryer to the ignition module & see what happens - the engine may start mis-firing or just die. If the engine starts back up after the module has cooled down, replace the module.

You may be right on the lean part because I just put on a set of Bassani pro street pipes and I only ran the bike for a few blocks and the pipes showed some discoloration. Also the bike just died on me about 7 blocks from my home no power no juice then the gages lid back up.

The fuel injector setup does not have an electronic ignition module it runs with an ECM electronic control module. Thanks for the tip it may be the mapping on the power commander I will check it.

I checked all the connections on the battery they seem to be fine. The bike has good cranking power this problem began last season and it just seem to had gotten worse.

It also did the same thing with my other pipes.

I am familiar with the Bassani Pro Street pipes (for Sportster) & they will for sure make the engine run lean with a fuel system not designed to compensate for increased exhaust flow. With a carb it's a rather simple matter of re-jetting, but I don't have the knowledge or experience with the EFI to get into "re-mapping" the fuel delivery curves.

But you can be sure that needs to be done & while you're @ it, if you haven't improved the air-cleaner setup over stock, do it now, since that will affect the A/F ratio too.

I would agree with hrk I would pull a plug an ground it and crank it and check the spark on each one to assure a good strong spark if it is weak start working back, then make sure you are pumping fuel if not or nil, then work the problem,.... squeeze the fuel and add a spark you should get a bang, as long as your timing is ok but you should more than likely get a back fire at that.

bassani

i would look at some thin electrical,,,battery wire etc,,, i have pro stock bassani,,,,runs really rich ,,,have to adjust idle side to 2 bars up from bottom,,,so do not believe puipes are problem,,, pops

I am no expert on pc3 but have heard of the hard starting on a few occasions, what the guys did was, when you turn on your key switch, dont wait for the fuel pump to quit running before you crank it, as soon as you move your switch start cranking. If that doesnt do it I would be apt to think your wonderful Magnetti Marelli fuel injection is giving you fits. Try it out and let us know. Todd

I think you might be right Todd, I just spoke to tech support at PC and they told me the same thing about no waiting for the fuel pump process. They also gave me a different map for my set up I'll try it this weekend. Thanks, "Jazz"

Scaned for codes

Yesterday I received my twin scan 88 scanner from Daytona Sensors. I scanned the fatboy and I got a few codes
PO117 ET sensor Voltage low
PO261 front injector open/low
PO263 rear injector open/low
PO373 CKP sensor intermittent

TSSM current None
TSSM historic None

Does anyone knows what these codes are? And also are they critical will they cause a starting problem?

Any advice will very helpful...

In your earlier posts you talked about having to boost to get to start, that would cause all the low voltage codes, also the crank positon sensor might cause hard starting but usually runs crappy along with it, the crank position sensor is very easy to damage while you are changing the oil filter, also check the wires right there on the sensor. you could swap out the crank sensor and see if that helps. Also have you tried starting without waiting for the fuel pump? did that work? goood luck and let us know how you turn out. Also are you sure the map you are using is close for your setup, maybe it needs for fuel for startup. Todd

Thanks, Todd Yes I did try to start without waiting for the light to go out and yes I notice that the bike started better. However I did not load the map that the tech gave me from dynojet yet. That crank sensor was replaced a few years ago when I did the motor work cause the bike did not start and the mechanic told me it was that. After I got the bike back I never had problems with starting until now. I got to tell you ones the bike is running it runs great I have no problems with performance.

You mean Harleys vibrate & connections come loose? Say it ain't so !! :roflmao:

Yep, the starter lead & ground lines, especially from the battery, are known problems. But that's one reason why God invented star washers & dielectric grease.

when ever you start up your bike with efi, you must always wait for it to go through that cycle, due to part of that cycle being the part which injects some start up fuel for the bike to light up. also check your fuses. the one of concern will be the 2amp one it can blow and cause problems simular to yours:devil:

Yep, I checked all the connections and all OK. Remember that we are talking about a Twincam B motor there is virtually no vibration on this bike. The bike is as smooth as a metric cruiser. As for the starting process according to some experts in power commanders and FI no need to wait for light to turn off and the bike really starts better. Thanks for all the feedback. "JAZZ"

Not that you feel because of the way the engine is mounted, but unless you can convince God to change the Laws of Physics, an odd-fire 45-degree V-Twin still vibrates.