Anyone having problem with new efi sportster fuel pumps?

 

I don't have a 2007 sportster, but I have heard of a handful of complaints about the fuel pumps failing. That's the price you pay with EFI. If you have any problems with yours, then the dealership should take care of it.

This is one reason why I'm not big on EFI or liquid-cooling. Take any old vehicle like that and you will often hear about fuel pump failures, water pump failures, and radiator problems/leaks.

 

You guys crack me up! - not a big fan of EFI and water cooling? How many years ago were air-cooled engines and carburators given up on? I think Porsche gave up aircooling around 1989 and the last carburated car was from Hyundai in 1991. Ask yourself when was the last time you had to tune the F.I in your car or have a water cooling system failure? EFI and watercooling made 100,000 mile tune-ups possible and those two things alone make getting 250,000 out of an engine possible. Mechanical pumps would have diaphams fail moreoften than electrical pumps andalso thedrive armson the mechanical pumps would break off and trash your engine. Aircooled engines leak and consume more oil than watercooled engines..Saying that your not a big fan of EFI and Watercooling is the kind of thinking thatwould be the same if someone in Arizona said they weren't a big fan of Airconditioning for there house and they miss having an electric fan churning up the hot air. What is the biggest complaint of Harley riders in the summer? That hot engine cooking there legs! On a Sportster its Ok but I would never own a touring bike that is aircooled.Touring bikes are too be the ultimate in comfort not the ultimate in testing your physical stamina.

Oh yea, my 2007 nightster has not had any fuel system problems. I actually am surprised there have been any problems at all, I believe they use a Walbro intank pump that has been produced as far back as 1983 (too my knowlege) and is still being used today in cars like the Ford Mustang and this pump is probably the most common F.I. pump in production along with the Bosch unit.

 

Air-cooled engine and carburators were given up on because of meeting EPA emissions. I don't believe in global warming as presented so I don't care about emissions. The last air-cooled porshe was made in 1996. The only reason porshe went to liquid-cooling is because of emissions.

You don't need mechanical pumps on a bike. You can use gravity. When is the last time gravity has failed you? I have replaced several fuel pumps, water pumps, and even radiators on my and other people's older vehicles. Air-cooled engines do leak and cosnume some more oil, but that has never stopped the aviation industry from using them has it? I don't think leaks are a problem on modern air-cooled motors anymore. As for oil consumption: it is generally negligable.

Nobody is saying EFI sucks, but I'm saying you carry around the baggage of having to replace fuel pumps and sensors as the vehicle ages. With the good comes the bad.

This isn't just a harley compliant. People who own ST1300's (liquid-cooled) have the same complaints.

 

Called customer service looks like they are going to replace all sportster pumps with a revised product .........said to stop failure

 

EFI is great I make a pile of money replacing the pumps that burn up when someone runs out of gas,tries to start it and then puts in some fresh cold gas stored under the ground.I never replaced so many pumps as I do now.I have worked on cars for 30 years and the mechanical pumps didn't fail like the electric ones do.As far as extended tune up intervals go the reason for that for the most part is unleaded gas required back in 1975 and the introduction of Platinum and Iridium spark plugs.Platinum plugs are old news now with Iridium coming out.The coil output is much higher now burning the carbon deposits off the plugs.Before unleaded gas most plugs were fouled with lead or ash and neither are present in modern gasoline.There are always trade offs for any type of change,most of the time the EPA is involved it becomes added customer expense.That would be EFI and converters in the exhaust.Lost revenue from selling plugs,points,condenser,cap and rotor every year on older cars was made up by raising themark upof other parts.I think I will stay with carbed bikes but will concede electronic ignition is better than points until you have to buy parts to fix it.Keep the EFI $150 for a remap that may take 5 minutes at the most?I have flashed thousands of cars with bigger files than a Harley can even begin to hold and it only took under 5 minutes.They keep your bike inside for a while so you think it takes longer.

 

I have not had any problems with mine, runs like a champ. Long live the Nightster

 

I would think the primary reason for EFI pump failure is running low on fuel and overheating the pump, I sometimes wonder where these BS reports on pump failure come from!

Tom

 

"Keep the EFI $150 for a remap that may take 5 minutes at the most?I have flashed thousands of cars with bigger files than a Harley can even begin to hold and it only took under 5 minutes.They keep your bike inside for a while so you think it takes longer."

I watched as the guys at a local shop dynoed my bike with a PC3 installed, and it took the operator close to 50 minutes to tweak the settings. Sure this was a custom setting, but it beats having a remap flashed in without it being truly tailored to your bike.

Personal experience has shown that you shouldn't let a Fuel Injected vehicle run out of gas. It's VERY bad for the pump, and yes, I'm dreading the day when my F.I. fails on my Sporty.

 

HARLEY recognized the problem and dealer said they are going to replace all 2007 pumps with a revised model
different pump than larger bikes.