Hello all! This is my first post on the forum and before I have posted this I made sure to check all other previous forums, cant seem to find anyone who has had the same problem I am having, so here we go...

I have had great luck with my Jap bikes, but I purchased a Harley because in less than 3 months I will be taking an American road trip, coast to coast, and it seemed more appropriate to do on a Harley. I spent more money than I felt comfortable spending and purchased a 2004 Road King Classic. 96ci with big bore kit. Thundermax fuel injection. Rinehart exhaust.

Since the day I brought it home 5 months ago, it has had an intermittent no start. Seems like 1/3 of the time it will start, and the days it does start, it will continue to start that entire day. Days it will not start, there is just no hope of getting it to run other than walking away from it for a few days. When the bike does not start, it cranks strong and it will do so until the battery dies. I keep the bike on a tender at all times. While it is not starting, I pulled the plugs out and connected them to wires, they spark against the motor, so I have spark. I noticed the plugs also smell of fuel, and I hear the pump kick on so I would guess I have fuel. I do have compression as well. Every dozen revolutions or so I will get a huge backfire.

I pulled codes 117 and 118 for engine temp sensor, I replaced that and the codes went away, but the problem remains.

Took it back to dealership and they replaced a battery. then took it back again and they said new battery had a bad cell, so they swapped it out. still have this problem. while cranking the volts drop down to 8, I am not sure if this is a problem or not, but the new battery passed every load test.

please help if you have any idea what I should check for next, dealer is getting attitude with me and tellin me they cant look at it til next month, I am leaving for the ride of a lifetime in less than 3...

 

a quick and cheap thing to lookat is under the seat is 2 relays, one is for the starter the other is for the electricals, have seen a couple bikes that the relay went bad and would cause a no start( cranks but wont run) as you describe, next time it wont start try pulling the seat and tapping the relay, also unplug it and make sure connections are clean and tight. and see it that enables it to start. usually behind the battery and the sit down in a recess, if I remember correctly it the one on the right side as you sit on the bike. and I don't think there is any "coolant" on a 04 road king so you may want to check those codes again

 

that was my mistake, codes were for a engine temp sensor, that is what I replaced. tested all relays with relay tester. they seem to be working

 

does anyone know how many volts the computer needs to operate? is what the tech said about 8v during cranking correct?

 

Call Zippers,(1-888-883-1340) as they may have some input with that T/Max.
Scott

 

I dont know too much about the Tmax
Does the Tmax piggy back off the stock electronics or does it replace

 

Im still learning about it, but from what i understand- Tmax is a fuel delivery computer that has a base map setting but also auto tunes itself using O2 sensors. I think even if that was bad, the bike should still run, just run poorly. When the bike does run, it runs very well.

 

Just got in from work and went out to garage to try the bike. It was fully charged on the tender. It cranked normal, wouldn't start. I then put on a jumper box and the bike fired up perfectly.

This is a new Interstate battery that tested 432CCA and 12.6V. The guys at dealership told me i would be wasting my money bringing another battery home because mine tested perfect.

 

I think the battery test is suspect. If it starts OK on a jumper box or when jumped from an external battery, then something is wrong with the battery in the bike. Cranking Voltage shouldn't drop to 8V on a good battery unless there is a bad connection in the high current circuit.

Try again...this time jump starting the battery from an external source (battery in another vehicle). If it starts, there is a problem with the battery in the bike.