Just started noticing a noise that sounds something like a washer vibrating against a loose bolt when under light to modest acceleration. Revving the engine while the clutch is disengaged I don't hear it - the bike has to be moving under load. I've checked all around the engine and front end for loose bolts, etc, but everything appears snug. The noise is more pronounced with the windshield on.

Some background... The bike is an '09 FXDF with SE A/C, SE performance pipes, SEPST and ECM remap. Recently the stock cam was swapped for an SE 255 cam. During this project, SE adjustable pushrods were installed and a set of TP Pro vent rocker boxes and the TP roller rockers.

I rode the bike for about 150 miles after the modifications with out an ECM remap. The bike ran well - quick starts, smooth acceleration and no popping on deceleration. Last week the bike went to the dealer to get a dyno tune. When I rode the bike home after the dyno, I did not hear anything unusual, the bike sounded good and ran strong. After putting about 40 - 50 miles on it, I'm now hearing this noise. It doesn't appear to be related to engine temperature. I hear it just after starting and when the engine is hot - but not at idle.

I do not know what ping sounds like, but from what I've read it seems that ping is associate with hot temps not cold. Does anyone have any suggestion as to what this noise could be, what can I do to isolate its source? Any advice appreciated.

 

Pinging usually sounds like some small rocks in a tin can, if it's bad enough to be noticeable over the rest of the engine noise. The conditions you give are exactly the conditions where one might expect to find pinging, though: when hot and under load. Does it do it more when you're lugging the engine a bit? Perhaps your map is a bit lean?

I'm no wrench, so that's just my limited experience.

 

Pinging is hard to describe, due to the fact everyone hears it
differently. I call it a rattle. It can ping hot or cold, it will ping
mostly and more loudly at heavy load, and is due to pre ignition.
With that said, your ECM should control timing to stop it if you
have low octane gas or some other reason, unless something is
way out of adjustment. I have a hunch it may be your adjustable
push rods, maybe check them out, you may have a loose one, as
you recently did work on them.

 

Call the place that did your work. This should be a warranty job. Sounds like they messed up the tune.

 

This is a long shot, but it might not be pinging. You said you checked for loose bolts, sometimes the tank bolts seem tight but put a wrench on them and see if you can tighten them up a bit.

 

If you're only using 93 or higher octane fuel ALWAYS in that bike, then you seem to have a problem. What you describe sounds like classic pre-ignition (pinging). It is a dangerous situation and needs quick attention before any engine damage happens.
Good luck!

 

Let me see if I understand the situation a bit first:

You're hearing what you believe to be pinging when the bike is under load, not while idling and not while revving with clutch in or in neutral. I'm also going to make an assumption that you're hearing this while rolling on the throttle and accelerating while already in motion.

Most likely what's happening is this. Your tuner is configured to give you the leanest A/F ratio possible, just like stock, and then richen it up as demanded. When you roll on the throttle the bike is momentarily running extremely lean until the tuner can compensate and send more fuel to richen up your A/F ratio. I'm also assuming that after a second or two at most the pinging stops and you can continue to accelerate.

I'm making these assumptions because while you have a Screaming Eagle tuner, Harley still has to pay homage to the EPA. That means they have to keep your bike as close to stoichiometric A/F ratio as possible as much as possible.

Of course, that's just my $.02, take it for what it's worth.

 

on my previous bike 06 dyna i had to pull 2deg timing accross the board to get the ping to stop. it sounds like pebbles hitting the fender or gas tank, under a heavy throttle.

 

+1 with phrogman, until you can get that lean spot fixed, yes it could take it out of EPA requirements, avoid some of those rollons under load and just downshift. You'll actually gain some available horsepower with the rpm increase, then upshift.

 

First of all, thanks to everyone for their replies. I would like to answer some of the questions posted and provide some new information.

Phrogman, your understanding is correct. The noise occurs while in motion when I roll-on the throttle creating a load on the engine. I know for a fact that the dealer leaned-out the afr because they gave me a print out of what they measured on the dyno (before and after the dyno tune). I suspect you are right about the mixture now being too lean.

Bikenator, here in Colorado along the front range we can only get 91 octane containing ethanol for polution reasons. One thing I now remember is that about 10 miles prior to noticing this sound, I stopped to top off the tank at a Safeway pump where I get a discount. I started wondering if there is a connection between that gas and the noise. So Friday morning before work I stopped at an auto parts store and added a few ounces of Lucas octane boost to the tank to see if that affected the noise.

I continued to hear this noise on the way to and from work (about 8 miles round trip). I didn't ride again until this morning (Sunday) when I decided to take the bike out for a ride and listen to the noise some more. I started the bike cold, rode to the end of the block and heard the noise again, so I turned around went home and parked it in my garage. About 10 minutes later I decided I should take it back into the dealer and ask them to listen to it, so I started it up and headed to the dealer. Well, I couldn't get bike to make the noise again. I ended up riding about 50 miles on backroads and the interstate in all gears and throttle positions listening for the noise and couldn't hear it. The bike continues to run great.

So now I'm really confused. Could the octane booster take a while to take effect when poured into a full tank? I'm searching for ideas and answers. I don't really want to take it back to the dealer when I can't reproduce the sound. I also don't think I'll be buying Safeway gas any more either.

I really appreciate the collective expertise of everyone who contributes to this forum. You can't buy help like this.