Has anyone had trouble with a keyway shearing off of the camshaft? My starter is turning over but I'm not getting any fire. I've rewired the entire bike so I know it isn't the usual kill switch problem that Harley is known for. When I was trying to start it we took the pushrod covers off and noticed the pushrods weren't moving but the pistons were. Oh by the way the bike is a 92 FXSTS. I was going down the interstate when the engine died and wouldn't fire up.So that is when I started checking the kill switch but it was working.Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

Well if you turn the engine over and the pushrods don't move that is obviously the place to start looking. I would think exploratory surgery was in order to see what the problem is. If the cam isn't turning you might have a problem with the pinion shaft or gear that drives the cam. The only way to find out is open it up and look. Let us know what you find.

 

A lot of bad things can happen when the pistons keep moving and the cam quits. normally as the pistons come back up the valves are going back into their seats, HOWEVER if the cam quits, the pistons can come up and smack them. This can bend the valves, ruin the guides, enlarge the valve guide hole in the heads, and bend the pushrods. in addition to whatever happened in the cam closet.

So after you open up the timing cover I would seriously consider pulling the heads to take a look. Not a bad time to freshen up the rings either.

Also if you find broken parts in the cam cover, take a look at your oil pump, it may have tried to suck up some of that junk. and it doesn't take much to put a hurtin' on the oil pump. I only say this because ALL of the above has happend to me on my old shovel at one time or another.

Good luck but it doesn't sound cheap.