This past weekend I was riding and at 70 MPH my bike shuts off.(out ofmy home state too)Long story short, got to the closest stealer and the determine the ECM was fried. Previously had the V&H Big Radius, Arlen Ness big sucker, and SERT installed. Well as we all know the SERT is matched to the ECM and with the ECM now fried my SERT is useless. The dealer doing ther work doesn't have a SERT for tuning for my current config. So I call my local stealer and they tell me that "I should be okay to ride it home and they will replace the SERT for me there". Well as we all know these bikes are set up too lean from the factory and then with the upgrades I had done I didn't think that I should try to ride it back home 100 miles with the stock conf. on the ECM. So I had the dealer do a Stage 1 download to help me out some. What I am trying to find out is will the stage 1 download be sufficient for my bike setup or do I need the SERT? Also, the shop that did the work for me when out of town went above and beyond to get me back on the road, their tuner told me that if I never planned on doing any other upgrades to the bike other than the Exhuast and Intake the Stage 1 is all I really ever needed.
My next question is do all certified Harley Mech. go through the same training to get their certification, and if so why do they all tell you something different? i.e. you need a sert, stage 1 download sufficient, PCIII,etc. Also, would I have done some engine damage if I would have rode those 100+ miles with the stock ECM configuration? Any thoughts and info will help me when I talk to my local dealer. Thanks.

 

In my opionion, for what its worth is that NOT doing a stage 1 download would damage the engine. Or at very least shorten its life span.
With your upgrades it should do the trick, its not going to be perfect, none of them are. But its not the worst setup imaginable.
As for the SERT I was under the impression that theywere married to the bike's serial number in the ECM and not the ECM itself. If that's true and they installed the serial number like they are supposed to the SERT you have "should" still work properly.
With a stage 1 mechanical setup, pipes and intake, the main reasonyou still want touse a PCIII or SERT or any other fuel managment system is to fine tune the MOCO's stage 1 map. Or just skip the MOCO's download and do it all through the PCIII. The SERT would just wipe out any download map and substitute whatever is in there for its own.

 

Did they say what might have fried your ECM? I would be curious to see if they knew. Also I am glad I went with the PC III for that reason however after reading I think I should have went with the TM w/AT. Did they charge you an arm and a leg to get you back on the road? It sounds you found a reasonable service department. Most of the mechanics around here are pretty green (not saying they aren't good). I think the dealerships have been trying to cut overhead and service mechanics have been a place to that.

 

Not an arm and a leg, just from the elbow down. The ECM was covered under warranty thank goodness but with me wanting the St.1 download for my peace of mind was 150. and hour labor to download. I wanted to go with the PCIII instead of going back with the SERT but I had already spent the money on the sert first time around and with it being covered under the warranty I will more than likely go back with it. Hind sight being 20/20 I would have more than likely done the PCIII first time around. They didn't have any idea of why the ECM went out. They told me that they have seen several ECM's crap out in the past few months. They give no warning signs when going out. They just quit.

 

blsfxstc,

sorry for your problems. This is another perfect example of why it's so imperative to research this stuff. Use this forum to your advantage. I would rather be a little more smart before I talk to HD. It's really a great and informative forum. Member like, Citoriplus, and others really provide some great inputs. Good job to all active members of this forum!!!

good luck

 

The Tmax w/AT is probably the best aftermarket option (for now) that's avalable. But nothing is perfect, except a Harley,and they can go South on you too. I don't remember who it was, but somebody on here repoted that his died on him.

Not to change the subject, but there is one thing I'm curious about with the Tmax, what happens to the old ECM? By that I mean if youreplace it with areplacement system like a Tmax. What happens to the old ECM? You stick it on ashelf in the garage, right?
OK,now its laying on a shelf in the Tmax's old box, now how long can it stay sit there vegitating before it loses its memory?
A car ECM can sit around for anything up to a year, or maybe morewithout a problem. But deprived of the bikes battery power, how long will it last onitsinternals for power to maintain its memory, they must have some kind oflifespan.
Nowa couple of years down the road youdecide that your going to trade you bike in on a new one, but you want to keep the Tmax for your new bike.
Is the old ECM that's been sitting on the shelf for the last couple or more years still going to work?
Will it just needto be remapped, or is it going to have to be completely reprogramed?

 

I did the research when I bought and installed and at the time I read a lot of pro's and con's for all the different systems. At the time i thought i was doing good.

 

The T max is definately a more tunable system,but it's also twice the money. Unless you are planning on a highly tuned racing type program,the pc111 will do everything you need. There is one for sale right now on this forum.

 

Within reason, I agree. But if you like to travel longer distances the Tmax w/Autotune might be a better way to go.
Think of it this way, say you want to ride your bike from my house (for example) to say Stirgus SD. Now my house is in western NY atnear sealevel and to get there I would have to go over at least a few places where the altitude could easily cause a stock ECM or even a PCIII to get a little leaner than I think is good for the engine. The Tmax w/Autotune on the other hand would be constantly updating the map to reflect the current altitude and temprature conditions all the way there and back.
Now if your bike never leaves the neighborhood and the temps there don't vary more than 15/20 degrees you could probably get away with a Stage 1 download (assuming that's all that's been done to the engine) and you wouldn't even need to bother with aPCIII. But going farther afield makes the Tmax w/Autotune look like a much better option. Even if it does cost twice the price its still cheaper and a hell of a lot less trouble than putting on a new set of heads because the exhaust valves got fried.

 

[quote]ORIGINAL: Citoriplus

I guess its just EPROM and should hold data sitting on the shelf for years if not subjected to ESD (static or electrical discharges).