HarleyTechTalk

Technical Forums => General => Topic started by: fbn ent on May 21, 2020, 07:32:47 PM

Title: 2011 Softail no start!
Post by: fbn ent on May 21, 2020, 07:32:47 PM
Another phone call. Get this.....2011 Fat Boy...Owner got sick and parked it with only 60 miles on it! Now his step Dad is trying to make it run so it will bring as much as possible. New battery, new gas, put some oil in the cylinders....turns over well. No start. He says he can't hear the fuel pump run when he turns it on. I don't know anything about Can Bus but I assume the fuel pump is triggered by the computer with key on as it only has two fuses. Is there an old fashioned systems relay on these bikes? Searched Ronnies and didn't find one. He has tried disconnecting the fuel line just in case. Any info I can pass along would be appreciated.
Title: Re: 2011 Softail no start!
Post by: Rusticwater on May 21, 2020, 07:46:10 PM
Fuel pump is powered directly from BCM.
Title: Re: 2011 Softail no start!
Post by: Panzer on May 21, 2020, 08:54:22 PM
Like in the sporty section............try new plugs.   :emoGroan:
Title: Re: 2011 Softail no start!
Post by: Pirsch Fire Wagon on May 21, 2020, 09:58:19 PM
Seen this 1,000 times - Pull the Tank I'll bet the Pump and Filter have all but disintegrated and the Tank has stuff growing in it.
Title: Re: 2011 Softail no start!
Post by: RKRuss on May 22, 2020, 12:05:00 AM
Quote from: Pirsch Fire Wagon on May 21, 2020, 09:58:19 PM
Seen this 1,000 times - Pull the Tank I'll bet the Pump and Filter have all but disintegrated and the Tank has stuff growing in it.

There's your answer right there!

I've just been through this exercise with a Suzuki SV1000 and SV650. Both had been sitting for ages and the fuel had gone off. Fuel pumps were trash in both. Fortunately for me, non-genuine replacement pumps for these are dirt cheap.
Title: Re: 2011 Softail no start!
Post by: PoorUB on May 22, 2020, 05:32:09 AM
You didn't say how long it was parked, but I assume since 2011 with only 60 miles. I would believe everything in the tank in trashed, well hell, everything in the fuel system. He might get lucky and the injectors may be ok, maybe. Sitting nine years I would probably just replace anything plastic or rubber in the fuel system.

I bought my Yamaha R1 used. Didn't run, I helped the owner and we were able to spray gas into the intake and get it to fire, plus the price was right so I bought it. When I got it home and pulled the tank the fuel pump was shot. The gas was so corrosive it had eaten the copper wiring going to the pump. I replaced all the pump guts and it ran.
Title: Re: 2011 Softail no start!
Post by: fbn ent on May 22, 2020, 06:12:31 AM
Well isn't that nice.  :crook: I guess there's no more clean the carb an let 'er rip. I'll let him know.

He was wanting me to get it running but I told him by the time I get it road worthy it would cost too much. It's a shame that a new 2011 bike is not worth much. I guess that's what the MoCo was planning....
Title: Re: 2011 Softail no start!
Post by: sprocket99 on May 22, 2020, 06:25:00 AM
If the bike has a security fob the battery in it is probably toast.
Title: Re: 2011 Softail no start!
Post by: Pirsch Fire Wagon on May 22, 2020, 06:42:23 AM
Quote from: fbn ent on May 21, 2020, 07:32:47 PM....turns over well....

Fob Battery is okay. But, you are correct, replace Batteries yearly.
Title: Re: 2011 Softail no start!
Post by: PoorUB on May 22, 2020, 07:34:20 AM
Quote from: fbn ent on May 22, 2020, 06:12:31 AM
Well isn't that nice.  :crook: I guess there's no more clean the carb an let 'er rip. I'll let him know.

He was wanting me to get it running but I told him by the time I get it road worthy it would cost too much. It's a shame that a new 2011 bike is not worth much. I guess that's what the MoCo was planning....

Not worth $1,000? It wouldn't take much time to fix. I would just take the shotgun approach and replace pretty much everything in the fuel system. Even new parts and labor should hit $1,000. It you have room and time you could take it apart and  look everything over, and maybe save a couple hundred $$. If you are charging for you time it is probably not much difference.

If you peck away at it you will burn up more time than the parts are worth.
Title: Re: 2011 Softail no start!
Post by: RKRuss on May 22, 2020, 07:56:24 AM
 [attach=0]

This is what the fuel pump in my Suzuki SV650 looked like when I pulled it out last week. The guy I'd bought it from had let it sit for about 8 years.
Title: Re: 2011 Softail no start!
Post by: fbn ent on May 22, 2020, 08:53:06 AM
Quote from: PoorUB on May 22, 2020, 07:34:20 AM
Quote from: fbn ent on May 22, 2020, 06:12:31 AM
Well isn't that nice.  :crook: I guess there's no more clean the carb an let 'er rip. I'll let him know.

He was wanting me to get it running but I told him by the time I get it road worthy it would cost too much. It's a shame that a new 2011 bike is not worth much. I guess that's what the MoCo was planning....

Not worth $1,000? It wouldn't take much time to fix. I would just take the shotgun approach and replace pretty much everything in the fuel system. Even new parts and labor should hit $1,000. It you have room and time you could take it apart and  look everything over, and maybe save a couple hundred $$. If you are charging for you time it is probably not much difference.

If you peck away at it you will burn up more time than the parts are worth.

Yes, I agree but as we speak I have lots of space but no time.....moved away from working on most folks bikes. I have the house torn apart for a much needed refit and if I walk away for anything it'll be like this next year.  if he's dead set to get it going he will have to haul it 3 hours to get it done....
Title: Re: 2011 Softail no start!
Post by: Acetxx on May 22, 2020, 11:18:37 AM
 Early this year I acquired a 2006 Street Bob with 1500 miles on it. I never attempted to start it as it sat 10 years in a conditioned garage with 1/4 tank of fuel and never moved. I took the tank door off and a lot of the plastic parts were gone or sitting on the bottom. Lots of rust. Replaced pump, fuel level sender, fuel line from tank to injectors and filter in the tank then replace injectors. I had a 2006 Road Glide and remembered the problem with the injectors being 8 degrees and a recall to a 25 degree injector. ( that's the only reason I replaced them and they were't that expensive). Treated the tank with Lacquer thinner then a rust remover. Put it all back together and treated the cylinders with oil. I fired it up and have put a thousand miles on it no problems. Also replaced the tires.... Total cost was $450.00 for the tank parts minus the tires. Also changed all the fluids. When I first looked in the tank it was a shock. But after pricing the parts wasn't that bad.
Title: Re: 2011 Softail no start!
Post by: Hossamania on May 22, 2020, 11:29:16 AM
Even if he took it to an independent shop I wouldn't think it would take much more than 3 or 4 hours to get it going. Well worth the money to sell it. Were I looking to buy, a running bike is much easier to consider than one that is not. If it is not running, it would be worth half its value to me, possibly less. It's a buyer's market. Make it as sellable as possible.
Title: Re: 2011 Softail no start!
Post by: fbn ent on May 22, 2020, 01:29:22 PM
He is taking it into the preferred Indy. It'll sit in line for a while but it will be interesting to see what needs to be done. George says he won't have to replace parts, just clean them..... :pop: :pop:
Title: Re: 2011 Softail no start!
Post by: PoorUB on May 22, 2020, 02:37:55 PM
Quote from: fbn ent on May 22, 2020, 01:29:22 PM
He is taking it into the preferred Indy. It'll sit in line for a while but it will be interesting to see what needs to be done. George says he won't have to replace parts, just clean them..... :pop: :pop:

Good luck "cleaning" the parts that have dissolved away! :hyst:

He might get lucky, it might not be too bad.

When I bought the R1 the tank was all varnish. I soaked it in lacquer thinner and pressure washed it out and it still looked like crap inside. I figured it solvents would not dissolve it, it was there to stay. A few years later and a few thousand miles fresh gas has cleaned it up slowly. The funny thing was the tank was so bad and I ran across a whole set of throttle bodies with all the external fuel lines, fuel pressure regulator and injectors on Ebay and grabbed it up for $35 as I figured the whole fuel system was junk, but never used it. Where ever the fuel didn't have a chance to get air to it, it smelled fine, no corrosion of varnish other than the tank.
Title: Re: 2011 Softail no start!
Post by: Acetxx on May 22, 2020, 06:08:21 PM
This was 10 years of sitting. The fuel sensor fell to pieces when I tried to cycle it......
Title: Re: 2011 Softail no start!
Post by: fbn ent on May 22, 2020, 06:27:33 PM
A little rusty... :crook:
Title: Re: 2011 Softail no start!
Post by: MikeL on May 23, 2020, 08:04:28 AM
2002 heritage the owner parked it for 2 yrs was running. It amazing how much damage gasoline/10% ethanol will do to a fuel system. The filter sock was fused to the tank. $450.00 in parts got him going. I left the injectors alone. Had him run that Chevron techron for a couple of tanks.


                                                                                                                                                                     MIKE
Title: Re: 2011 Softail no start!
Post by: Hossamania on May 23, 2020, 08:43:42 AM
Run some Seafoam through it too.