Quit on me.....

Energy One
Keith S

Keith S

EHC FREE!!!!
I need some help. I am looking for some ideas on where to start troubleshooting tomorrow.

I have a 2004 Chopper DT with the S&S107 and 10,300 miles on it.. I went on a Breast Cancer Ride today. Including the ride to Aces & Eights and the charity ride, I went about 175 miles. I stopped at a gas station that is close to my house and filled up. (2.8 gallons).

I started the bike at the pump. It ran like normal, but then shut off after about 10 seconds. It would not start. It has never done this before. I thought it might be flooded or have a vapor lock so I pushed it to a parking spot and went inside to get a coke. While I was drinking my coke, I remembered reading on here about the problesms with the cas cap. Well, since I filled it ALL the way full, I thought I would see if that worked. I loosened the cap. It fired right up. I was thinking "Man, I love BigDogBiker - sure am glad I did not spend ALL of my time in the Alley!"

I ride out of the service station and go about 1/4 of a mile and it quits again. I hit the shoulder and start trying to chase down the problem. After a while, it started again. I ride another 1/4 mile and it quits.

I wait about 10 minutes, read a bunch of stuff on BigDogBiker while I am waiting, and it starts again. This time, I leave the gas cap OFF while I ride. (Don't do that!) I can't keep the gas from spewing everywhere so just when I am ready to pull over, it quits.

This cycle goes on a couple of more times until the battery dies. At which point, I call my wife. She comes out and gets me. I go and get our ToyHauler out of storage and come pick up the bike.

I am 90% sure it is fuel starvation. When it quits, the speedo and lights still work. My experience has been when the problem is electrical, the speedo and lights go out. Also, when it refires, it does not back fire or spit raw fuel. This tells me that it is not getting the fuel it needs, and I assume would eleminate any chance of an airflow issue as well.

NOW - where to start looking. I can eleminate the gas cap because it quit with the cap off. I know I can just chase the fuel system from start to finish, but was hoping someone could point me to a coupe of usual suspects with this type of problem.

Thanks for you help
 
01Mastiff

01Mastiff

Active Member
It's electrical, short tripping the circuit then resetting...EHC....do lights and everything go out when shuts down? Happened to mine couple of times, same way until I rewired around EHC.
 
Keith S

Keith S

EHC FREE!!!!
Lights and everything stays ON when it shuts down.

Plus one of the times it shut down, I left it going and did not pull in the clutch. It fired a couple of times, but still quit before I came to a stop. It did not backfire. If it is electrical, wouldn't that have caused excess fuel to build followed by a backfire when started?
 
narow37

narow37

Angry Southern White Man
sounds like a clogged fuel filter screen/petcock. maybe debris in the carb. clean the carb and try again. if it still does it, pull the petcock and clean and wash tank.
 
F

Firestream

Member
With the quality of fuel today, you may want to drain the bowl on the carb into a catch container and look for dirt, sand or other debris. Also drain the tank and pull your petcock and check your screen/filter for the same junk and plugging. If it is dirt or other crap, you may have some in the carb passages as well. If fuel system clean, look for electrical. I have an 05 chopper and had a few similar episodes, but stopped after I removed the little vent plug inside the gas cap.
 
Dakotabos

Dakotabos

Well-Known Member
Calendar Participant
Troop Supporter
My 04 did the same thing and I replaced the cam sensor :up: Not sure if that fixed it because a week later I recieved my redisigned EHC and have been running like a champ since then. But it ran great with the old EHC while I was waiting on it.
Cam Sensor is cheap and easy.
If you need a EHC pm me
 
lee

lee

Well-Known Member
yeah could be the cam sensor - there have been instances where it fails when it gets hot. The fuel system should be easy enough to cross off the list as the boys say.
 
stlmikie

stlmikie

I wish I had more money.
Start it and let it idle and see if ir runs out of fuel. Are any of youtr fuel line clear?
 
Infinitro

Infinitro

Thread Killer
It wasn't bikini car wash day was it? Enough to distract you as you topped off with diesel. :D
I don't know how much of a wrench you are and what tools you have lying around. If you can lay your hands on one of those meters with a small scope on it, you can hook up to 2 wires coming off of the sensor. Start it and look at the pattern and when it starts acting up the pattern should start deteriorating if it's the sensor. I am assuming it's a signal generating sensor and it really does not matter what pattern it generates, but it will change or drop out if it's the sensor. Most of the cheap meters from sears etc. have a scope function or the like. Not too much bandwith, but enough to give you an idea. :cheers:
 
Keith S

Keith S

EHC FREE!!!!
Well, so far, I have drained the tank and cleaned out the fuel lines. I found some trash in the tank around the petcock screen. Not huge pieces, but enough that it MIGHT have caused some of this. I also drained the bowl on the carb and found a little trash. I don't think this was enough to cause me the problems, but we will see. I also pulled apart the gas cap and checked it. I am going for a ride to see what happens.
 
Keith S

Keith S

EHC FREE!!!!
Well that was short. It quit again. I rode about a block and stopped to talk to a neighbor. I let it idle at home for a couple of minutes and then rode the block. At the neighbors, I let it idle for a minute or so and then I shut it off to go look at something. I came back about 5 mintues later - it started right up. I got about 2 blocks away and it quit again. I waited a minute or so and got it started. Ran long enough to get back to the top of the hill. It quit there and I coasted home.

OK - maybe it is electronic.
 
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stlmikie

stlmikie

I wish I had more money.
It still sounds like a fuel deal. Like it you let it set the fuel loads up and when you run it it is running it back down...
 
01Mastiff

01Mastiff

Active Member
It's electric. Want to eliminate fuel for sure put in an in-line clear bike or auto fuel filter and you can see if the fuel is stopping. Guarantee you it's your EHC, but go ahed and be like my wife and kids; mumble "dumb fuck" under your breath; and go ahead and do what you want.
 
Keith S

Keith S

EHC FREE!!!!
01Mastiff said:
It's electric. Want to eliminate fuel for sure put in an in-line clear bike or auto fuel filter and you can see if the fuel is stopping. Guarantee you it's your EHC, but go ahed and be like my wife and kids; mumble "dumb fuck" under your breath; and go ahead and do what you want.
Click to expand...
Is there a way to TELL if your EHC has gone bad without spending the $$ to buy a new one?



...oh - and your still a dumb fuck. :)
 
F

Firestream

Member
When it quits, does it cough through the carb and then die or just shuts down like you hit the run switch? What about a faulty run/off switch? Does it ever shut down just sitting at idle, or always while in motion?
 
Keith S

Keith S

EHC FREE!!!!
It just shuts down like you hit the off switch...no cough. When it refires, no backfire. The first time it shut down at idle, but I have not been able to get it to do that again.
 
F

Firestream

Member
I would look at the run/off switch first before spending bucks on a new EHC. While the engine is running try moving the run/off switch side to side or by tapping the control assembly. You may have to pull it apart and test the switch to be sure. Could be the EHC, but start with the simple things first. I hope Dogvet chimes in and offers some expert advice.
 
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