[SickRick]

installed PCV on my new Nightrod Special. Called the Vendor & Dynojet for suggestions on the proper location for the harness/ECM connectors - under the passenger seat, where it angles down, above the fuse block.

Bike ran super all week - until I put a passenger on the back - no acceleration, dumping fuel (plugs are black and smell of fuel). Checked all the connectors - nothing appears to be crushed on either connectors or harness(s). Checked the PCV on computer - no status lights or errors on log.

Bike runs like DOG DOO. I'm gonna have to put stock pipes and aircleaner back on, reconnect the O2's, and see if that fixes it...

OTHERWISE - a week old bike ends up a on trailer to the stealership, which I pray I can get covered under warranty (for whatever the issue ends up being).

one would think, with the lack of real estate under the bitch pad, they would find (or suggest) a better place for those connectors to live, other than where they could be compromised by a passenger (and not even a fat one) - or make the PCV harness so it could be located in a safer place..

While I like riding solo, the opportunity to bring someone home is appealing. I'd hate to have to sacrifice that, just so I can make the bike run properly with aftermarket pipes/air cleaner (V&H Widows - K&N with cover on).

I'm really kinda pissed at the moment. I consider myself a fairly experienced wrench, having worked on all my own metrics, evo's & twin cams since a kid.

Suggestions, hate mail, prayers are welcome...

Rick

 

[SickRick]

Threw a 1356 & 1357 code. Did a reset, check all my connections/connectors. Now still in limp mode - throwing a 1356 - so either my coil is bad, my harness is messed up, or my ECU is fried.

Either way - THANKS DYNOJET.

I'm ripping this sucker out and going with the HD Tuner.

Frikkin PCV P.O.S.!

Rick

 

[nightrob523]

Sorry to hear about your bike man. The PC-V has been running solid for about 6-7 months now without a glitch... two up has no effect on it either. If you were experiencing problems with the autotune module I would suggest calling Dynojet because others on the forum had issues but the standard PC-V usually gets great reviews. Did you wait until after breakin to put it on? You could try re-applying the firmware on it multiple times to allow it to write to the memory properly. Also, what map were you using? It's possible that you could have been running rich for the past week and caused some engine damage. Good luck, I hope it all works out for ya.

 

[Fatz]

No problems with mine either. Keep us posted. I can almost promise you you'll have no warranty issues.

 

[SickRick]

Thanks for the support guys...

Went back to factory setup (well, still have pipes & K&N) - plugged the O2's back in, checked the connector to the ECM for bent/cracked pins, checked the wires inside for crushed/shorted/cut wires.

Reset codes, fired up, still throwing a 1355 - which would indicate a bad rear coil, bad harness/connector or fried ECM.

Now I need to do the "Jedi Mind Trick" on my service writer at the stealership (the bike was never modified, I'm covering this under warranty). Since he's actually a friend of mine, and I'm having them put on the Rizoma Rear Controls and my pullback bar - maybe he's show me some kindness.

Regards,

Rick

 

[AOW]

is it possible that the rear coil pack wiring harness is loose or off?
I checked my plugs awhile back and after buttoning everything back up the bike ran like shit and died every time I tried to roll out. Turned out that when I taped the coil pack wiring harness out of the way, I never reconnected it.

 

[SickRick]

is it possible that the rear coil pack wiring harness is loose or off?
I checked my plugs awhile back and after buttoning everything back up the bike ran like shit and died every time I tried to roll out. Turned out that when I taped the coil pack wiring harness out of the way, I never reconnected it.

Checked & double checked brother - thanks for the tip though.

PCV is on it's way back to vendor (who shall remain un-named unless the try and screw me over on the refund). ThunderMax with auto-tune will arrive by 10AM tomorrow.

I'll let ya'll know what the dealer finds, as far as what got fried on the bike.

Regards,

Rick

 

[EOD J ROD]

Checked & double checked brother - thanks for the tip though.

PCV is on it's way back to vendor (who shall remain un-named unless the try and screw me over on the refund). ThunderMax with auto-tune will arrive by 10AM tomorrow.

I'll let ya'll know what the dealer finds, as far as what got fried on the bike.

Regards,

Rick

Good luck with the T Max. I would have done a lot more reading before jumping ship, especially on the Tmax. They are having the same issues and some are even worse. Good option to go with if you fried the ECM and not getting it covered under warrenty but way to early to bail out.

I am running 4 different PC V, 2 different snowmobiles and 2 different bikes all with Auto Tune. My Muscle gave me a bunch of fits but now seem to have that under control and running very well.

 

[SickRick]

PCV ran the bike fine - until I put passenger on it, and it screwed with the connectors that had to be located in a very bad place. Adding 4-6 inches to the harness would have made it a cinch to put under the metal plate below the fuse block, all safe and cozy (the spot where they recommend to place the PCV itself).

Anyhow - blew the rear coil. Jedi mind trick worked, it was covered under warranty (despite the fact that the service writer knew I had it in there). It was the seeming lack of knowledge from the manufacturer regarding install/placement issues of the connector - and the fact that the vendor I purchased it from stopped returning my calls and emails after I started having issues - that turned me away from the PCV.

TMax is installed now, the sloppy range from 3-4.5K RPM is cleaned up nicely (just on the base tune, as I haven't run enough miles as of yet for the autotune to really have an effect). I like the fact that is IS an ECM, and my factory module is safe on a shelf in my garage now.

The O2 sensors are the same longer Bosch variety, which make contact with the block at the rear jug. We'll see how this works out in the long term.

Yes, I'm pissed the PCV fried my rear coil, yes I'm pissed the vendor I purchased from stopped answering/returning my calls/emails, yes I'm pissed DynoJet didn't design the implementation of this product a little better. You live and you learn.

OTOH, my magnusson blower on my '05 Corvette was production number 3, and it took them 2 months to figure out how to put a 2ATM table into the GM ECM (meanwhile the car ran like crap for those 2 months) - early adopter blues - so I'm used to experimenting with mods.

Rick

 

[EOD J ROD]

Yes, I'm pissed the PCV fried my rear coil, yes I'm pissed the vendor I purchased from stopped answering/returning my calls/emails, yes I'm pissed DynoJet didn't design the implementation of this product a little better. You live and you learn.


Rick

Hey Rick the PC V had nothing to do with frying your coil. If this was the case that the PC V was at fault I am sure they would have in no way ever even considered covering that under warrenty, but I guess if you had to blame something other then HD so be it. The PC V is NOT a CD (capacitive discharge) system that changes or extends the spark. The coils going bad are a common issue and even new bikes are not exempt from the problem. I had a coil go bad on my Muscle within the 1st 100 miles of leaving the dealership without ever seeing a PC V or exhaust system.

As far as the fit/wiring problem, I am wondering if you recieved the wrong unit for your bike. Understand your furstraution with the dealer you WERE working with and I see you have not posted who but if read thru most of the posts most are very happy with their PC V's and have had great support from Fuel Moto, Jamie, and also DynoJet has setup 5 good techs to field phone calls to solve most problems with a phone call. Reading the Thundermax Thread (understand I also considered getting the TMax) I have seen the same issues, sometimes more often, as the PC V. IMHO

My 2 big reasons for not getting the T MAx......they do not use the anti knock system (a biggie if you ride where fuel made be questionable or have big alititude changes in a short distances) , if you have an issue on a ride you cannot disconnect for roadside troubleshooting, .

 

[SickRick]

Hey Rick the PC V had nothing to do with frying your coil. If this was the case that the PC V was at fault I am sure they would have in no way ever even considered covering that under warrenty, but I guess if you had to blame something other then HD so be it. The PC V is NOT a CD (capacitive discharge) system that changes or extends the spark. The coils going bad are a common issue and even new bikes are not exempt from the problem. I had a coil go bad on my Muscle within the 1st 100 miles of leaving the dealership without ever seeing a PC V or exhaust system.

As far as the fit/wiring problem, I am wondering if you recieved the wrong unit for your bike. Understand your furstraution with the dealer you WERE working with and I see you have not posted who but if read thru most of the posts most are very happy with their PC V's and have had great support from Fuel Moto, Jamie, and also DynoJet has setup 5 good techs to field phone calls to solve most problems with a phone call. Reading the Thundermax Thread (understand I also considered getting the TMax) I have seen the same issues, sometimes more often, as the PC V. IMHO

My 2 big reasons for not getting the T MAx......they do not use the anti knock system (a biggie if you ride where fuel made be questionable or have big alititude changes in a short distances) , if you have an issue on a ride you cannot disconnect for roadside troubleshooting, .

It may very well have been coincidental (the coil going), but when a woman jumps onto the passenger seat, right above the connectors and the bike goes to hell, I would tend to believe that the questionable location of said connectors was a direct cause/effect of the issue. The unit was sold to me by what I (still) consider to be a reputable vendor and VRod specialist, so I'm assuming it was the correct unit.

The fact that the service writer is a personal friend (and a "friend of Bills"), also factored heavily into my not having warranty hassles.

I concede your point on a crapped out TMax leaving one dead in the water (versus disconnecting a PCV and limping home), and the knock sensor ignore issue. I'm a creature of comfort, when I travel distances, my bike usually follows me on a trailer. Locally, I have enough friends in the biker community that a roadside pickup can be arranged in one phone call.

Again, t'was the lack of answers from DynoJet on the correct (SAFE) location for the aforementioned connectors (and I spoke with more than one tech who gave me the same answer), and the lack of support from the point of purchase, that just had me chuck the whole thing. Whether installer error or not - the folks at the local HD related issues they've seen with the PCV, and told me they have heard nor seen no problems with the TMAX.

We could really go back and forth, ad nauseam, but I think both our position are clear, and there is really no need to do so.

As far as the vendor - I have pointedly NOT mentioned their name - to offer them the opportunity to just take the return and give me a refund. I they choose to behave as gentlemen, I'll consider the matter closed and mention it no further. If not - well...

Thanks for the civil discourse...

Rick

 

[EOD J ROD]

It may very well have been coincidental (the coil going), but when a woman jumps onto the passenger seat, right above the connectors and the bike goes to hell, I would tend to believe that the questionable location of said connectors was a direct cause/effect of the issue. The unit was sold to me by what I (still) consider to be a reputable vendor and VRod specialist, so I'm assuming it was the correct unit.

The fact that the service writer is a personal friend (and a "friend of Bills"), also factored heavily into my not having warranty hassles.

I concede your point on a crapped out TMax leaving one dead in the water (versus disconnecting a PCV and limping home), and the knock sensor ignore issue. I'm a creature of comfort, when I travel distances, my bike usually follows me on a trailer. Locally, I have enough friends in the biker community that a roadside pickup can be arranged in one phone call.

Again, t'was the lack of answers from DynoJet on the correct (SAFE) location for the aforementioned connectors (and I spoke with more than one tech who gave me the same answer), and the lack of support from the point of purchase, that just had me chuck the whole thing. Whether installer error or not - the folks at the local HD related issues they've seen with the PCV, and told me they have heard nor seen no problems with the TMAX.

We could really go back and forth, ad nauseam, but I think both our position are clear, and there is really no need to do so.

As far as the vendor - I have pointedly NOT mentioned their name - to offer them the opportunity to just take the return and give me a refund. I they choose to behave as gentlemen, I'll consider the matter closed and mention it no further. If not - well...

Thanks for the civil discourse...

Rick

I am glad we have been able to keep this civil, as most times folks get bent out of shape. I also am sympathic to your deal. I am not real clear how having a passenger messed with the connectors but strange things happen. I helped do an install on a NRS and really didn't see anything being an issue but will go back and consider your input. As far as the techs from Dyno Jet....they know the software/hardware stuff but probably have never even seen an install, well maybe on a rice burner of their own. The cables for my Muscle were more then long enough to place the unit under the steel plate behind the fuel tank. I was able to put the factory cable and PC V connector under the that same steel plate. Keeping the install very clean.

I wish I had a better network for getting my bike home in case of an emergency. For me it will be the wife riding to house to get our sled trailer to load the bike into or waiting for the local dealership to come get me with their truck. Our network of riders has dwindled to one due to folks moving out of state. Also our fuel here in Alaska sucks. There is many places you can only get 87 octane and sometimes that maybe pretty old. Travelling the ALCAN can be even worse and that is the only other riding area.

The good thing for me is that I am above average inclined both mechanically and with technology then the average bear. I have to thank my Dad for that one as he never believed in giving up till you have exhausted any and all options.

Let me know how things go...I am interested in your progress.

 

[pfbmgd]

Any updates ?

 

[SickRick]

Thundermax in over 2 weeks now. My PC-V just arrived back at the vendor. Since they process a full refund for another item I got from them, I have no doubt they will act just as professionally on this transaction also. So I have NO ISSUES with them, and would do business with them again in the future.

Thundermax runs great. I called them with a question on autotune, and the guy spent over an hour on the phone with me, with my computer connected to the bike, going through reading and tuning, and calibrating the IAC.

I'm having a little weirdness with surging idle when hot, and noticed a dead spot at WOT around 6,700 RPM (that doesn't happen at part throttle) that I need to continue to look into.

Thinking about picking up an extra throttle body and sending it into thundermax to get the 58mm mod, and pick up the 58mm velocity stacks.

Aside from getting head & cam work - don't see there's much more to do with this motor.

This bike has made me fall in love with riding all over again (and I've been riding since I was old enough to steal the engines off neighbors lawn mowers for my mini-bike).

Rick