HarleyTechTalk

Hey everyone, I own a 2007 Heritage with the 96ci. The bike has 15k miles on it and about two thousand miles ago I started to experience an issue when the bike was hot it would backfire on deceleration, and stall at idle (stop lights, stop signs, ect.)

I read up on the forums and came to the conclusion that I most likely had a hole in the flexible fuel line in the tank. The bike would only have these symptoms typically after a long ride, and when the tank level was low.

I opened the tank up and replaced all fuel lines (including the quick connect on the exterior of the tank) fuel pump, and fuel regulator. This seemed to take care of the problem. I did not have any backfire or stalling issues for the next few months.

I rode the bike throught the hot summer without problems and felt I had solve the issue. Fall comes around and Temps are still hot in my area and after roughly a thousand miles or so after repair, I'm riding home from an extended ride and the backfiring and stalling started back up again.

Short rides around town will not cause the issue so Im a bit perplexed. I have replaced plugs, wires, above mention fuel components, as well as the engine temp sensor, air filter, all with OEM parts and have cleaned the throttlebody and IAC which looked clean with no oil build up at all.  With that said where is the next place to look?

2 issues I remember from that lineage/era:
a) Speed sensor (VSS) can cause idle/stalling after a long run ( like stopping at the bottom of an off ramp waiting for traffic to clear. There were a few thousand speed sensors that were wired poorly, causing the IAC pintle to be erratic during slowdown. Thought all had been replaced by now? Is yours original?
b) IAC motor pintle clogged with carbon/dirt. Can be cleaned with carb cleaner and a handful of Q-Tips.

with only 15k miles on it I guess it still has the pi$$poor rotor/comp assy on it .....

As rigidthumper posted above; "b) IAC motor pintle clogged with carbon/dirt. Can be cleaned with carb cleaner and a handful of Q-Tips." I and several friends had 2007 bikes and it was a common problem. It is a quick fix and there are many posts on the web about the procedure.

Yes, the IAC Pintle is a very possible cause.
If you plan to DIY it, be very careful and follow the procedure without overdoing it. When I "cleaned" mine a year or so ago (same symptoms as you are experiencing) I damaged it and had to replace. They (OEM) were hard to come by at that time.

The OP states he cleaned the IAC in the last paragraph of his post, said it was pretty clean, rigidthumper suggested the VSS if faulty can cause the IAC to act up, I hate chucking parts at things but with some of these electrical doodads that don't always throw a code what choice do you have 🤷

Heritage? Did you verify the operation of the pintle upon shutdown? (Extends into TB then retracts). There are electrical tests you can perform if you have an Electrical Diagnostic Manual but it also requires a breakout box too.

We all agree with you Hilly, I'm sure! Nobody likes to throw parts at it.

It starts back up and acting normal again after a certain time of downcooling?