Finally got back on the bike yesterday (was in HOT Atlanta on businees all week) with the new Fuel Moto Stage one install, and filled her up. Mileage was 243 on the tank, and she took 5.493 gallons to fill up, so I got 44.24 MPG on my first tank post install. That's actually a bit better than what I was getting before. I have noticed more "burbling" on decel, but no popping to speak of. At this point, I remain very happy with the results overall.

 

I took my 09 FLTR into the dealer for the 5,000 mile service on Monday evening about 7pm. Bike was running great since I did the Fuel Moto stage one upgrade three weeks ago. No other issues, just need the “freebie” prepaid 5,000 mile service that came with the bike deal completed. Also told them to go ahead and change all the fluids. This is the same dealer I bought the bike from and they have always been excellent in every regard, sales, parts, service, and even the motor clothes department (for t-shirts).

So they call me about noon Tuesday and say it’s done, come get it. I stop in after work, about 4:30 pm, and the service writer goes to bring bike out for me (I could see it was sitting all nicely washed up, along with about 10 other bikes in the same condition). I see him start it, and then he gets a puzzled look on his face, shuts it off, waits a few minutes and starts it again, same puzzled look, and shuts it off again. I watch him do this about 5-6 times.

So I wander out to where he’s standing with my bike and he says “it’s throwing a check engine light whenever I turn on the master cruise switch”. Sure enough Check Engine light is on, and won’t go off, unless he shuts the bike down and lets it sit for a minute or so. Starts up fine, no check engine light, then he turns on the master cruise control switch and immediately we have check engine light, and it sounds like it’s running on just one cylinder. Definitely not right. Service writer spends the next 15 minutes trying to find the technician who did the work, but he’s gone for the day.

Service writer goes for help, to the shop manager. He asks if the ride test was done, including the cruise control check, and the Service writer says yes, everything worked perfectly when the bike was finished. Service manager does the same thing a couple of times, (start, hit cruise control switch, and shuts it off) and brings a big rolling tool chest to the bike.

He removes the seat, and sees the PCV, and looks at me like I’ve just raped his 6 year old daughter, and killed his wife, in front of him. What is this he says? You shouldn’t have this on the bike! This is your problem. Why did you put this on your bike? I tell him it was less than ½ the price of a comparable stage one package from him shop, with better performance, and I was bale to do it myself. Further more the bike was running perfectly until you guys worked on it. He says “You need to get the SERT, and a dyno tune and get this crap off your bike”. These things are all crap, all of them, and they will eventually leave you stranded by the side of the road. Most Harley dealers won’t even service a bike that has one of these installed on it.

So I ask him, trying to not get any more confrontational, could he tell me what this particular PCV did to cause this problem today since the bike was running perfectly fine when I dropped it off. He says, I’m going to disconnect it from the bike, and the bike will run perfectly with no error codes. He does, and sure enough, it does run perfectly with no codes with the PCV removed. He clears the error codes in the bike.

Then he proceeds to tip the two connectors on the PCV upside down and shake lightly, and we both can see water coming out, not lots mind you, but a few drops for sure out of both connectors. How the hell did that get in there? Not good with electrical parts.

He blows out the both the PCV connectors with compressed air, and re-installs the PCV, restarts the bike and it runs perfectly once again. Puts the seat back on, and drives it out into the lot for me.

Now here’s the interesting thing. I noticed that when he took the seat off the bike, it was obvious that the seat was not removed when the bike was washed. Plenty of dirt up on the bottom end of the tank under the seat and also on the portion of the rear fender that is under the seat.

So I’m thinking, did they purposely flood the ECM and PCV with water during the bike wash just to screw up the bike with the hopes of selling me a SERT, and a dyno tune, or is the PCV to ECM connection not water tight? Did I screw up by not using electrical grease on the PCV to ECM connection? I don’t remember anything in the instructions about that, but hey, I could have missed it

 

I got a PC III from them last week and the instuctions mentioned to put dielectric grease on both connections....not sure if you missed it or the PCV instuctions do not have it......

 

Geez, what a friggin' AAA-rated douche bag! I don't have a clue how water got in the connector, but if I were you I would avoid that dealer from now on. Their claims about the PCV being a debilitating or disabling influence on your the bike are bogus. Who knows if they did something untoward like pour water in the connector, as I wouldn't think it would get in there normally with the PCV being located under the seat. Mine is under the right side cover and isn't nearly as well protected, IMO, with a clear opening toward the rear wheel that could easily splash water into the area. When I had the PCIII installed I did not use dielectric grease, which would probably be advisable for all applications, and had no problems--but when I upgraded to the PCV I did apply some to the ECM connectors. I would do that in your case just as a precaution, as it will keep water out and certainly won't hurt anything.

My cynical guess is that this flaming dimwit who tries to pass as a tech sabotaged the damn thing, but there seems to be no harm done. Again, I would avoid that dealer or at the very least that tech for the duration of your lifetime. Are there any techs at that dealership that you know and trust? There is one at mine and although I do all my own work if I did have the dealer do anything I would ask for him and him only.

 

Thanks for the feedback and opinion. This is convincing me that their service department is the weak link in their entire operation. No more dealer service for me, especially since I'd have to pay for it from now on.

 

i got the same type of treatment when i got my bike dynoed this past weekend. "those things are junk"... is all i heard untill they dynoed it. they then said "that did run too bad"...

latter they put a 09 road glide on the dyno (HD stage one) and mine out performed it....LOL

i just took a drink of my beer looked at him in the eye and walked off....LOL

 

I don't know if this type of behavior is just ignorance, greed, or both. What's certain is that they make a nice profit on SEST, undoubtedly more than for a PC. Zanotti's sells the SEST for $100 off MSRP, so you know the profit margin is high if they're selling at full-retail.

They can be successful by steering people away from the low-profit tuners, as most customers will assume they are honest and knowledgeable and take their advise.

 

I don’t think the service dept did it intentionally, it probably got wet when they sprayed it down washing it. I have seen a few posts on here where the PCV gets wet during a wash and quit working. Dealer is there to make money though. I can’t blame him for trying to sell parts and more service. I would say that it’s a shame that he attacks aftermarket parts as the aftermarket is what makes owning a Harley so much fun. Just my thoughts.

 

There's sanity in what you say here, probably more than I exhibited in my rant, but the OP said that under the seat was dirty with no evidence that water had entered the area, certainly no indication that the seat had been removed before washing. What about condensation? I don't think so, as I live in the humidity capital of the world and haven't had any issues like this in 2½ years. Anyway, we'll never know and at least the bike is running okay now. What gripes me is the arrogance some of these people exhibit toward third-party devices that they either don't sell or don't make enough money on.

[rant]

Nothing that people report that comes from the mouths of service departments surprises me anymore. A good friend recently bought an SG from a dealer in another part of the state. When he asked the service writer what type of oil to use he said, "Don't use any type of synthetic except HD Syn3 because they will make your bearings skate." Now, now many years, how many decades will this ludicrous and baseless myth live on? Will it ever die? It just defies intelligence and reason. Don't get me started.

[/rant]

 

Cool
Looks exactly like what i want to do to mine, has anyone done a Dyno run with this set up?

Thanks

Stretch