Hi,

this is my 1st post and thought i'd blow off some steam.

I'm pissed about my 98 FLHTCI touring bike.

It started last year when i purchased it from the dealer who also installed new pistons, rings, etc.

Ever since then it sounds like something's knockin in the engine. I took it back to the dealer so many times they gave up. I couldn't get too upset with them because they did their best including replacing the crank assembley.

besides the knock, i also hear what sounds like an exhaust or intake leak somewhere. It pop's out the exhaust occationally. Sometimes when it gets good and hot the throttle is unresponsive and takes a while to rev up the rpms and runs terrible.

I'm thinking about tearing into myself but not sure where to begin and i'm not a bonafied mechanic. It would be much easier to just take it to another dealer.

what do you guys think? Am i in way over my head or what? Perhaps I should send it to a different dealer?

All i know is i wanna ride!

Cheers!

 

Having worked on these bikes for 45+ years and judging from your post, if I were you I would try another dealer. Perhaps you could find a dealer with a dyno so that it could be run on it and diagnosed a lot better than running down the road. Hope this helps.
John

 

This sounds like an intake issue to me. When hot the seals and gaskets shrivel if worn or not seated correctly, and will give all kinds of issues, including the primary complaints you just mentioned.

But it could be an ignition module, wiring or bad plugs, or a damaged coil issue too. And the list goes on. Because of the rebuild it could be as simple as an overlooked bolt that needs tightening, like on the intake.

Elimination of the simpler issues is where to start. Intake can be checked for leaks simply by misting water in the area behind the carb. Use a spray bottle and if it sucks in the water it'll stumble and may even stall. Try this when just warmed up, and again when really hot. Some use carb cleaner or some other spray but you must be concerned about flame and explosive sprays.

 

kewl!

thanks for the tips!

hmmm..... it does sound sorta like a bad detonation knock but it goes away after about 20 minutes of riding (i always warm up for 5 minutes). if i park for 10 minutes or so and the bike cools off the knock returns.

the knock isn't my imagination either because the dealer wouldn't have thrown a new crank at it in attempt to fix it. oh, the bike had 70k miles when i bought it.

i might be able to track down the intake/exhaust leak but that knock has me bugged. Guess i'll let another dealer try and diagnos all the problems and i'll post again with what we find out.

I really can't afford to spend $2k or even $1k to have it completely gone through.

I'll keep you posted.

Thanks again for your help!

George

 

I have the same "knock" and did the same as I thought the thing was going to explode (new to Harleys) and you would not believe what it was. Again after about 20 minutes it went away but the difference is mine only did it around 28rpms whether running down the road or stopped. At any rate the spring on the shifter (I have a heal/toe) was a little weak and it would slap. The dealers mechanic also thought internal engine issue but could find nothing wrong. It drove me crazy. It never got worse or better only after it warmed up. Of course a shifter spring is not going to cause you to loose any power. Could be separate issues also. Spent a lot of time trying to figure it out an it ended up being that spring of all things. Again I am a Harley newbee and do not have a ton of experience so take it for what its worth. Mine is an 86 FLHTC so it may be different then yours I am not sure. I can tell you from experience though when you buy an older bike you become very intimate with it OR you spend a bit of money on it so someone else can become very intimate with it!

 

Did they replace the lifters? My bike started knocking a couple of years ago and I would have sworn it was a rod. I tore the motor down to the crank and there was no slack whatsoever. I started doing a lot of thread searching on here and finally nailed it down to bad lifters. I'm not here to tell you to change your lifters but it is something to consider.

 

I took it to an independant shop yesterday.

They tracked it down to two blown valve cover gaskets and traced the knocking noise i've been complaining about since day one to a worn out shifter lever.

Unfortunatly, the dynotune is gonna have to wait another month or two. Got to pay for these repairs first.

guess it's what happens when racing every metric bike that crosses my path.

Thank you!

George

 

Good call

 

Sounds as if they know their bikes! A great place to stay with.

 

Funny you had a valve cover gasket leak and didn't notice any oil spraying out around them? Mine were leaking like crazy just before I replaced them.

Just for fun, check the little screen that filters oil going into the top end and make sure it isn't plugged up. Probably not but you never know. The screen on my EVO was clean when I checked it for the first time but on the shovel it was plugged bad enough to make you turn pale just looking at it.