Hey all.
I've got an '02 Softail Standard, fuel injected, running a PCIII. About 44,500 miles on her. Ness Big Sucker cleaner with a K&N filter and Vance and Hines Short Shots. MAP # 805-026. That MAP is the closest to my setup, it is for an SE breather, not the Ness. But it's been running great with it.

On the way home from the Sparks America rally Sunday it started running rough. First noticed it Friday morning. Went to Shawnee for breakfast and noticed it sputter a little, like it was low on gas, but I only had about 95 miles on that tank. It had also started raining on us, a real t*rd floater too. I filled up in Shawnee, ate at Denny's and went to Wally World. Ran great the rest of the day. Also ran great Friday morning when I made a quick beer run to Meeker.
Sunday it started out running good, went ahead and topped off the tank, ate breakfast with the bunch I went up with and we took off. Soon as I got on the highway it started sputtering. I got to about 60mph and it started backfiring till I let off. I pulled over and disconnected the PCIII. It ran even worse that way. We pulled in at a Love's west of Shawnee and I hooked the PCIII back up, cut the wire from the tach feed to my Vibe Rider in case there was a short there. (I had a jet boat several years ago that acted the same way because of a short in the tach) Checked the plugs and wires, all looked good. Still sputtering and backfiring when I gave it some RPMs. I took the breather off and looked to see if the fuel line was leaking, letting air in. Nope. the patch from the fuel leak last year was holding. I squated next to the intake while it was idleing with the breather off and talked softly to her....
It was sputtering/backfiring a little, every 4 or 5 seconds. Except for when I topped off at the Texaco in Shawnee in the rain Friday, I'd filled up at the same stations and times as the rest of the group. I put some fuel treatment (injector cleaner/water remover) in the tank and we got back on the road. Still running bad.
I don't have a tach so I can't say what RPM it is, but whatever RPM it's at at 60mph in 5th, THAT'S when it get's really bad. Still sputters a little the rest of the power band, but no real bad power loss. At that one point it starts backfiring real bad and just won't go any farther. So we limped back to Wichita Falls, 60mph uphill and up to 70 or 75 downhill.
Yesterday I checked for any cuts or knicks in the wiring, checked all the fuses, reloaded the MAP on the PCIII (just for funsies).
Yesterday it started getting worse, sputtering and backfiring really bad, can barely keep it running. Dies at stoplights and such. It also started giving me an engine light after it finally starts. After running a little bit the light goes out but it still runs bad.
I'm working with a really tight budget and can't afford to take it to H-D so they can fiddle with it at $60 an hour and if they do find out what's wrong the part won't be in stock. And I can't afford to start replacing stuff at random.
You guys got any ideas? I'm thinking maybe the throttle position sensor. Is there any way to check it, short of putting it on another bike?
Do the fuel pumps go out gradually or do they just stop? Would it act like that if the filter was clogged up?
My bike is my only transportation and I go back to work tomorrow, I can hitch a ride the rest of the week... but, I really hate doing that.
thanks for any ideas.

 

try disconnecting the engine temp sensor located betwenn the jugs , behind the horn, located on the front jug. If you just disconnect it ( best if cold) and start the bike , see how it runs. If it makes it run better you will know that is the problem. If not that is when the search goes on. It may also be the TPS (throttle position sensor), mine had a bad connector and went all over the place RPM, rich, sputtering/backfire at speed. I finally went and picked up the the Dayton twin scan which has helped a lot for troubleshooting, now if only I could get the electrical manual in PDF form I would be happy.
good luck and keep me informed,
Woody

 

Thanks Woody, I'll check that out ina little bit. I'd just found the do it yourself section and was going to check the TPS voltages and a friend came by. She wants to play so we'll do that for a while and then I'll check the temp sensor, go from there.
Thanks again.
I'm glad the first reply was an intelligent one....

 

Nope, that weren't it... dangit.
Now to try to find my ohm meter and check out the TPS. I bet that's gonna be it. yeah, a bad connection on the TPS. I've got a good feeling about this...
Pain in the butt... roll it out in the front yard, start it up, pull her back in the house... too hot outside to work on it out there. Gotta get a garage one of these days.

 

I couldn't find my trusty yellow multimeter, so I limped my bike to Harbour Freight and picked up a $3.99 multimeter. It's red, so when I loose it it'll be even harder to find...
The TPS readings were .43 at zero throttle and 3.83 at 100%-ridiculously-wide-open-way-past-the-rev-limiter. I didn't see any dead spots or big jumps in the voltage.
The tutorial in the DIY section didn't really say what voltages to look for, other than starting voltage at zero throttle. I'd like to ASSume that since the source is 5 volts it would use 5 volts at 100% throttle. That's nice and simple, works very well with my thinking. But does anybody know if that ASSumption on my part would be correct?

 

From the DIY TPS article...
"The values increase as the throttle is opened to max voltage."
It helps if I actually read the whole thiing through....
SO.... Now I'll ASSume my TPS is bad.
The next line in that article...
"The Problem is, is that you must also reset the IAC (intake air control) motor now that you have adjusted it."
I didn't know I was adjusting anything... So is this something that will clear itself when I replace my TPS? Or I can reset it myself? It said it could be reset on the "older" bikes.... I know sometimes it feels like I've been riding the old **** forever, but she's only an '02...

 

I don't know if this will help, but there was a recall on o2's for the front fuel inj. harness being to tight and the wire to the front fuel injector connnector would not make a good connection at all times. The engine will momentarily pop or buck and sometimes seem like your running on one cylinder(which you are!) for a while until the connection is made again. Try moving the wiring harness on the front injector and if the engine runs differently, that could be it. Can't hurt to try.

 

Thanks Dude! I hadn't heard about that, I'll check it out.

 

A friend picked up a new TPS today while I was at work and I put it on a while ago. Wouldn't even start. I did a voltage check on the new part and got almost the exact same readings as the old part. .33 at zero throttle on the new one and .43 on the old one. Both topped out at 3.8. I'm still a little confused about resetting the IAC after doing that test. Do I need to get/borrow a Scannalizer or take it to the dealer?
And does anybody know what the voltage reading should be at full throttle? Do I have two good parts or two bad parts?
Worked like a dog today. Way tired. Me to bed.

 

I am having the exact same problems on my 01 fatboy, I am thinking that it is a fuel delivery issue. Everytime I top off my tank it runs good until about 80 miles and then it starts sputtering and backfiring. Here is what I think may be the problem but I have not had a chance or time to actually see if I am right or not. I think it is one of the fuel lines in the tank that either goes to or comes from the fuel pump, regulator or something. The reason I believe this may be the problem is this, when the tank is full those fuel lines are covered in fuel and if there were a split, hole, or whatever, the fuel would still be delivered through the tube... However, when the fuel level gets below a possible hole in the tube, then there will be a fuel starvation problem causing the sputtering and backfiring,
At least this is what I hope it is because it makes sense in my head anyway, and it would probably be about the cheapest fix I know of, until I get around to fixing it I am just keeping my tank topped off and fill it up when the sputtering starts.

Hope this helps, let me know.

Tom