New member poster here! I've been a reader of the forums for years, but this is my first post. Sorry, but just couldn't find the answer to my question via searching.

I've got a 2007 EFI Street Glide that I've NOT made any modifications (besides shiney bling) for probably close to a year now. It's developed a hard starting problem, only when the motor is completely cold. When I say a cold motor, we're getting down into the low 50's but my garage probably stays in the 60's during the night. My protocol has been to turn on the ignition, then switch to run, then after the fuel pump runs its cycle, I would hit the start button. The motor turns over strong, but there just isn't any BANG. Seems like the motor has to turn over a couple of revolutions before it sounds like it's trying to start on just one cylinder. Once it fires up, I've also noticed that it seem to go immediately to regular idle. Meaning, there's no fast idle.

No check engine light, but I did check the codes and had a P0152 which is for a rich rear O2 sensor. I cleared the code to see if it will come back. The fuel should be good because I've gone through a couple of tanks with the problem now. I also replaced the plugs. They both looked fine in my opinion, but it was a cheap thing to try. I also ran some fuel-injector clear through the tank, cleaned my air filter, checked both ends of battery cables, and cleaned my intake with sensor-aware cleaner. None of those seemed to make any difference. The battery is less than a year old and stays on a tender too. Bike runs perfectly fine once it reaches normal operating temperature.

So here is what I've not been able to find an answer about by searching. I've read a couple of post that suggested that I do NOT wait for the fuel pump cycle to end before hitting the start button. Well I've been giving this a try for a couple of days, and it cranks normally if I don't wait for the fule pump to comple priming. So my question is what would hitting the starter while the fuel pump is priming indicate? Am I loosing pressure somewhere? Injector? And any suggestion how this could be related to no longer having a fast idle when cold.

Thanks in advance....

 

on my 07 rg I had two pin holes in the high pressure line inside the tank going from the fuel pump to the fuel filter ,the line runs underneath the hinged bracket and rubs on this bracket causing pin holes and possible hard starting,if all else fails might be worth a look.

 

What grade oil you running???You plug the bike into a battery tender?? have you had the bike dyno tuned??

 

So with the pin holes in the hose, were you having the same symptoms that I described?

I've got 22K miles on the bike, so I guess that it's time to change the fuel filter anyway and I'll check those hoses. I've researched on this site already what is involved, so I'll be replacing the seal and 10 screws as well.

I did find it very odd that when I called 2 local dealerships, neither one of them had the "fuel filter kit" in stock. Both have it on order without an ETA of when it will arrive. I find it strange that this should be included if you get a bike serviced, yet it's not something that is kept in stock. STRANGE....

 

I only run H-D syn 20W50 since I've owned the bike new. I've done all of the service myself (except for a warranty replacement on the radio), so I know exactly what has been done to the bike.

As for the battery, I indicated earlier that the battery was new and that it stays on a tender. Honestly, the battery was the first thing that I checked because it just seemed logical being a component that eventually fails. I even checked the voltage drop when being cranked.

I've never had the bike dyno tuned. I installed the V&H fuel pack along with V&H exhaust within a few months of purchasing the bike. I will say that I checked V&H's website to confirm that I was still using the correct map and also checked all of my settings. I also checked the ECM and fuel pack connections and put some fresh electrical grease on the connections. I even tried starting the bike without the fuel pack connected when the bike was cold, and it didn't make any difference.

Thanks for the suggestions of items to check. Let me know if you think that I'm still missing something. I replied to an earlier post that I'm waiting for a "fuel filter kit" to change the filter, and I picked up a new set of screaming eagle plug wires to install also. I'll only make one change at a time so that I can get it narrowed down. Thanks..

 

there is a thread floating around about the 07 and starter motor being not torqued currectly resulting in hard starts.Im checking mine this winter,just going to give the bolts a few grunts of torque.

 

Its possible the IAC, Idle Air controler, is sticking.
This would give the semptoms you have.
The code you had wouldn't be part of the starting cause it would still be in "open loop" for awhile.

ON the TB on the top side is the IAC (the top hat). Little motorized rubbery plunger goes up and down to control the air going into the engine when the throttle is closed. Controles idle air and anything to do with the closed throttle air operation

Inside the TB, on top side, is a little hole where the air goes in.
Squirt some carb cleaner into that hole, watch your eyes.

What I do then sometime, is squirt some silicone spray into that hole which lubricates the plunger. the ethynole in todays gas isn't good fro these things.
Only air goes thry this but it is close to a lot of fumes I figure.

 

Sounds easy enough to check. I'll add that to my list of items to check. Thanks..

 

Thanks. My guess is that the loss of fast idle is completely seperate from the hard cold starting problem. Still, I'll add it to my list of things to try over the weekend. So far my list contains:

1) Carb cleaner into a small hole on the inside top of the throttle body.
2) New SE plug wires
3) Check torque on the starter bolts

I'll have to wait to check the fuel filter and hose until the kit is available at either of my local dealerships.

 

Quick update. I'm going on the "assumption" that the loss of fast idle is totally seperate from the difficult cold starting issue.

Regarding the loss of fast idle, I cleaned out the IAC controller and it did seem to make a small difference. The day that I was performing the work, it was about 70 degrees, but I did notice that the fast idle did kick-in for about 10 seconds. FYI, I only used carb cleaner and did not spray any kind of lubricant into the hole as suggested. Figured that I'd try one thing at a time. Oh yea, I just want to make a comment about the oil-blowback that comes into the oil filter being the possible cause of a sticking IAC controller. I just want to point out that IF you are overfilling with oil in the motor, then you WILL get more oil-blowback than normal. I highly suggest reading the manual and knowing exactly how to check your oil level. Just a comment for anyone else with the same issue.

As for the difficult cold starts, a new set of SE plug wires made no impact to the cold start issue. And checking the torque on the starter was quite a larger task than I originally assumed. Still, seemed to be OK from what I could check.

My last item to try is the fuel filter and hose. I've got it on order at 2 local dealerships. Both tell me that the "fuel filter kit" is on backorder until sometime in January. At least one of the dealerships said that I should have it sooner though. At the later dealership, I told them about my problem and explained that I was trying to fix a problem rather than just normal maintenance. Basically, I was trying to get the guy to get one out of their service rack from their service department. Considering my problem, he went and checked and came back after a while of what I understand was searching, I was told that they didn't have any in the back either. He was standing right beside me when he called a 3rd dealership to see if they had any in stock, and they didn't have any either. What gives? Why is a damn fuel filter and hose so difficult to get? Isn't this a service item?

By this time the salesman had given his best shot at trying to help me, and he did offer up that he knew about holes in the hose being caused because of rubbing within the tank.

So overall, I'm just waiting for a "fuel filter kit" before I can report back on whether this was my problem.