I have an 08 fxdc, with 30,000 miles. Last night It wouldn't start. It was cranking real good but not turning over. Checked the fuel pump fuse, which was ok. Read about turning the ignition on and off 3 times. Tried this and it started up immediately. There are no codes shown or stored. Any idea what turning the ignition on and off 3 times does? Would hate to get someplace and be stranded because it wouldn't start. Thanks for any suggestions.

 

I think it resets the ECM, like rebooting your computer.

 

Really? Interesting... Could you elaborate on that and what exactly gets reset?

 

Don't understand how it can crank and not turn over, do you mean start up?

Do you have a tuner, like a Power Commander installed? If so, hit the start button immediately after turning the ignition on before the fuel pump stops priming. This might be what you inadvertently did when cycling the ignition on and off 3 times and had nothing to do with following that particular protocol.

 

+ 1 on what Low Rider said:

I just recently had an issue with my 2011 dyna idling way too high. The HD shop suggested I try resetting the ECM . My understanding of this process is that turning on your ignition waiting 10 seconds then turning it off in succession 3 times clears the ecm of any accumulated data it has in it, or error codes stored there. It worked for me . My bike has idled fine ever since and the only time it idles even a little bit high after running is when it is hot (or when it is warming up .. gradually it goes back to a lower idle) for both of those situations that is normal. That is the information I got from my dealer service writer regarding the recycling the ignition and resetting the ECM. I have no reason to think he would be wrong about this.

I don't know if this would affect your ability to start your bike properly after you could not but it certainly wont hurt the bike if you try it. The one exception of this might be if you have re-flashed your ECM with a non- stock tune. see my post below and I apologize for forgetting something this important in this post. Had to re- edit it.

 

PS if you have a tuner like a power commander see hemi oranges post above. the PC's start differently than other tuners apparently. If I had that tuner I would follow his directions as well.

 

One more quick thought (sorry about repeated posts guys)... If I had flashed my ECM tuner with some kind of tune Id call the dealer or shop where I got the work done and ask if recycling the ECM would erase the current tune. I have no idea about this one as I have an add on tuner that comes on 2 minutes into starting the bike and running the motor during warm up. I don't have a ECM tune flash to erase.

 

I don't have any type of tuner. It was cranking (turning over) but not firing.

 

if you don't have any tuner or have the ECM re-flashed you should be just fine in doing a reset. Has this fixed the problem?

 

Apparently so. It seems to be starting and running fine now. Thanks everyone.