LONG crank when cold.
HDF Community Team
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 6,186
Likes: 2,412
From: USA
Long crank when cold or when sitting for a few days?
As in does it do this every morning, or only when it's been sitting unstarted for a week or so?
Reason I ask is my 04 would do the long crank when it sat for a week or more. And as it would start, it would be a gradual start. Several seconds of cranking, several seconds of spluttering and running ragged, then it was fine. The next morning or other cold starts were fine, but only if they happened the next day or two. Let the bike sit, and we'd be back to a longer initial fireup cranking. Never did diagnose it or even really study it, just accepted it as a quirk of the bike.
The "tuft" sound when you quit cranking is probably just compression releasing through the exhaust valve. But if it's an actual firing, and were an older car with ignition points, I'd say you've got no power to the coil in the start position. But that doesn't apply to this bike. Though keep it in mind as a thought, that you may not be powering the ignition when cranking. A spark tester will tell you. For being good starter motors (Toyota and others use them), they sure work hard on these Harley engines, pulling power something fierce. As such the engine can be turning over a bit lazily even on a good-ish battery, which greatly drags out the cranking time.
No answers or solutions, just some observations and points to think about.
As in does it do this every morning, or only when it's been sitting unstarted for a week or so?
Reason I ask is my 04 would do the long crank when it sat for a week or more. And as it would start, it would be a gradual start. Several seconds of cranking, several seconds of spluttering and running ragged, then it was fine. The next morning or other cold starts were fine, but only if they happened the next day or two. Let the bike sit, and we'd be back to a longer initial fireup cranking. Never did diagnose it or even really study it, just accepted it as a quirk of the bike.
The "tuft" sound when you quit cranking is probably just compression releasing through the exhaust valve. But if it's an actual firing, and were an older car with ignition points, I'd say you've got no power to the coil in the start position. But that doesn't apply to this bike. Though keep it in mind as a thought, that you may not be powering the ignition when cranking. A spark tester will tell you. For being good starter motors (Toyota and others use them), they sure work hard on these Harley engines, pulling power something fierce. As such the engine can be turning over a bit lazily even on a good-ish battery, which greatly drags out the cranking time.
No answers or solutions, just some observations and points to think about.
Road Master
Joined: Dec 2022
Posts: 820
Likes: 488
From: LA Ca.
My '07 FXDB does the same thing first start of the day. I let the fuel pump do it's thing and hit the starter button and it just cranks until I stop pushing the button. I let it sit a moment and then hit the button again and it fires right up.
Due to a hot start issue, that seems to be common. @memphisharley mentioned reading a thread, the guy has the same hot start issue as I have. For those interested, my saga is in the Dyna section. Yes I have tried all the normal suggestions even replacing the injectors.
The next time I start it for the first of the day, I think I'll put my inline spark checker on and see if it is sparking while it's just cranking. But, it will likely start up perfect each day I try with the spark checker connected.
Good luck, hope there is a fix,
Tom
Due to a hot start issue, that seems to be common. @memphisharley mentioned reading a thread, the guy has the same hot start issue as I have. For those interested, my saga is in the Dyna section. Yes I have tried all the normal suggestions even replacing the injectors.
The next time I start it for the first of the day, I think I'll put my inline spark checker on and see if it is sparking while it's just cranking. But, it will likely start up perfect each day I try with the spark checker connected.
Good luck, hope there is a fix,
Tom
Last edited by Tom H; Mar 6, 2024 at 10:53 AM.
Thread Starter
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6th Gear
Joined: Mar 2024
Posts: 11
Likes: 2
From: Louisiana
Last edited by krustuhfar; Mar 6, 2024 at 11:06 PM.
Banned
Joined: Aug 2021
Posts: 4,027
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From: SoCal
Come to think of it, I had another instance of the bike not starting & after extensive troubleshooting, I discovered that the rear cylinder wasnt firing.
I checked the plugs, wires, and coil, and they all seemed good.
Then I replaced them all just because the coil & wires could have still been original.
On a whim, I removed the Power Commander and tried starting it again. To my surprise, with the tuner removed the bike started easily.
Replaced the tuner and it wouldnt start again.
My recommendation is to remove the tuner and see what happens.
I checked the plugs, wires, and coil, and they all seemed good.
Then I replaced them all just because the coil & wires could have still been original.
On a whim, I removed the Power Commander and tried starting it again. To my surprise, with the tuner removed the bike started easily.
Replaced the tuner and it wouldnt start again.
My recommendation is to remove the tuner and see what happens.
Thread Starter
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6th Gear
Joined: Mar 2024
Posts: 11
Likes: 2
From: Louisiana
Come to think of it, I had another instance of the bike not starting & after extensive troubleshooting, I discovered that the rear cylinder wasnt firing.
I checked the plugs, wires, and coil, and they all seemed good.
Then I replaced them all just because the coil & wires could have still been original.
On a whim, I removed the Power Commander and tried starting it again. To my surprise, with the tuner removed the bike started easily.
Replaced the tuner and it wouldnt start again.
My recommendation is to remove the tuner and see what happens.
I checked the plugs, wires, and coil, and they all seemed good.
Then I replaced them all just because the coil & wires could have still been original.
On a whim, I removed the Power Commander and tried starting it again. To my surprise, with the tuner removed the bike started easily.
Replaced the tuner and it wouldnt start again.
My recommendation is to remove the tuner and see what happens.
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Joined: Aug 2021
Posts: 4,027
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From: SoCal
The Power Commander tuner module will be under the right side cover.
Its a piggyback unit that goes between the wire harness and the ECU.
Just unplug the harness from the tuner and unplug the tuner from the ECU, then plug the harness into the ECU.
This will return the ECU to a factory tune that will likely be very lean, especially given that your bike has been modified.
Removing the tuner long enough to try a cold start shouldnt have any negative impact.
The bike will surely run lean, but it should run.
Youre really just trying to eliminate the tuner as the root cause to the poor starting.
Its a piggyback unit that goes between the wire harness and the ECU.
Just unplug the harness from the tuner and unplug the tuner from the ECU, then plug the harness into the ECU.
This will return the ECU to a factory tune that will likely be very lean, especially given that your bike has been modified.
Removing the tuner long enough to try a cold start shouldnt have any negative impact.
The bike will surely run lean, but it should run.
Youre really just trying to eliminate the tuner as the root cause to the poor starting.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 38,309
Likes: 6,328
From: Honah Lee
I don't try to diagnose that. Sorry.