Bike: Street Glide 2017

History:
Engine sputtering so I took it in for its 40K service.
I never had any issues before, Only battery was slightly degraded and only hold charge up 14V. Which is good to start the bike.
take the bike in, they do 4k service and says that codes that were historic have been cleared out. (P0264, P0522, P0562)
Ride home from shop, in 2 miles range, Engine started sputtering.
Called shop they says they did not do anything about sputtering as code were historic and bike was not throwing those code.
Take bike back, They diagnosis that ECM needed to be replaced.
Today (Dec 14) they replace the ECM. Bike started sputtering with in 5 miles radius. Now they says it can be anything.
They are currently working on it atm.
<end of history>

I dont know much about Motorcycles when it comes to repairing those.
I have started looking into it. When Harley dealership told me that ECM is a problem for engine sputtering.
It costed me 700 bucks and engine still doing the same.
Now there are giving all sort of excuses why they changed ECM.

I had few code on my bikeL:
P0151 - was the one that they are saying because of we changed ECM.

it had few of following codes:
P0264
P0522
P0523

I feel like I am being screwed over. I am turning to you folks. Help me understand why My ECM needed to be replaced.

What I am reading from internet that
P0151 158 02 sensor low/engine lean (rear) HO2S DIAGNOSTICS

Above code is the issue with Fuel/O2 issue. I am still not able to understand why they changed ECM.
Any pointers or any suggestion would be very helpful to understand this mess.

Best,
Alix C

Update 2: about 30 mins later after I posted this.
Foreman have been trying very hard convincing me.
He said that technician was able to do something with fuel injector and was able to reproduce the issue of sputtering. They are saying that they ordered fuel injector from sister shop and they would trying that out to see what is going on?

What is continuously driving me nuts is that none of the code that bike was firing don't say that ECM was bad.
I ain't not expert on motorcycles but I aint stupid either. I cross checked all the code from here
https://www.wilkinsharley.com/--Checking-Trouble-Codes-2019-Harley-Davidsons

He said that technician has this all flowchart as per Harley Davison. He did everything by the book and then decide to replace ECM.
I don't know what do they do behind those close doors but code vs diagnostic which one of you said was a guess. I paid 700 for that guess. Problem is still no fixed.
the fact that they they are keep investigation on my expense. How on earth that is right?

How would you handle this situation when you are already $700 deep ditch and issue still not resolved.

Thank you for suggestion that I should ask for bad ECM back. I would certainly do that.

 

They still have the bike, so it sounds like you’ll have to wait and see what they find. Good luck!

 

I’m not an expert but I don’t think any of those codes justify ECM replacement.

 

Hard to guess what is going on, but just based solely on your report, I'm not convinced the ECM needed to be replaced.... That's why I always demand the old, replaced parts when a shop says they need to replace something. That way I am sure they actually replaced the item, and I can then check it myself to verify it was bad, if necessary

If they tested and found a bad/low output signal from an ECM pin.... you would think they would then also check downstream in that circuit to ensure the signal is now getting to where it belongs, and that part of the circuit is functioning properly.

To now say "it could be anything", leads me to suspect they took a shortcut, and a guess. They guessed wrong....

You'll have to wait now and find out whatever else they find to better guess if they took a shortcut, or there was an unlikely failure of another part right after the ECM was replaced..

You might ask them to please give you your old ECM back.... I suspect there will be a reason why they can't do that... If they do provide the old ECM, then it may in fact have been bad...

Keep us posted on how this works out... and what they "find"...

 

Just tagging on to follow, but here's some more reading for you

​​​​​​https://www.fuelmotousa.com/p-29661-...ble-codes.html

 

Thank you so much for the reply. I really appreciate it.
I have updated the post with the details of chat with foreman bit later.

" or there was an unlikely failure of another part right after the ECM was replaced.." For this Foreman was saying when ECM is bad it is firing all the codes. Hence we thought ECM is bad. Not we have P0151 code we are investigating now.
But it was not after ECM replacement. This code was there even before. So there is no change after ECM replacement.
Bike is sputtering the same.

If in case they did bad diagnosis and costed me $700 (part+labor) I have no way to know if the ECM is bad. As they are now saying it is fuel injector.

It is happening to me first time. I am not even sure how to handle this situation. It's my words against theirs. Somehow I have this gut feeling that I am being screwed over. I want to be wrong but I can't shake the feeling that I am being taken advantage of.

 

you state:
Bike is a 2017 Street Glide
Engine sputtering.
Took bike in for 40K service...Guessing bike has 40K miles.
Never had any issues before, guessing that perhaps you have owned bike since new or for several years?
What are the changes on bike from factory stock?
Only battery was slightly degraded.....No idea what that means.
Holds charge up 14V......How was this tested?
You took bike and they did 4k service...4K or 40K service?
What exactly has been serviced on bike?
*From a distance... a major guess based on the limited information is that problem is fuel related.
Perhaps the fuel filter in the tank, a fuel line in tank has a pin hole or a piece of tank liner is blocking fuel suction.
What exactly has been serviced on bike?

 

@kel03 Thank you so much for the info. I will check this. I had to leave bike at the shop. They were still figuring it out. Now calling it probable Fuel injector issue. They need more time to investigate

 

I am a simple man, I would have cleaned and reseated the O2 connector and then replaced the O2 sensor if needed.

 

That line speaks volumes to me...

If the bike is "firing a lot of codes" may lead you to suspect a bad ECM. BUT THEN, you check the ECM to verify if it is bad or not....

Sure sounds like they made a bad guess, that cost you $700+......

If they just "thought" the ECM was damaged because of all the codes, and changing it out didn't fix the problem, you ought to ask them to put the old ECM back in. Then give you your money back on the new one, including all labor, since it was an obviously unnecessary, unneeded repair....

At the very least, I would ask for the "damaged" ECM? After all, it is still your property... they don't get to keep it, just because they replaced it, if you want it back... I'd love to hear their reason for not returning it to you...

Is there another dealer or good independent shop nearby.....?

I wouldn't have left my bike there. I'd be taking my bike to another shop. If all has happened as you say, and not just a misunderstandings between you & the dealer, I would have no faith in their service department's diagnostic abilities...

Sorry for your troubles, but we have all been there at one time or another.... keep us posted...