Hey guys, I have a 10 FLHX, stage 1 AC, Rindhart TD's, PCV with custom tune. Approx 4 weeks ago I was out riding on a Saturday when suddenly the bike lost all power, it stayed running but no throttle... I shut the bike down and cycled off the ignition and that seemed to fix it. Approx 50 miles later this happened again... just running down the highway at 65mph it loses all throttle response. So I called my HD dealership and they actually came out and got me with a trailer which I thought was very cool of them on a Saturday at 5pm. The following Monday they said it was from moisture in a connector for the Fly By Wire causing the bike to go into "limited performance mode", they cleaned all connections and put some electrical contact grease in the connections and it was good to go. Now since then I have put approx 1200 miles on my bike with no issues. Tuesday morning I get two blocks from my house and bamm... loses power and goes into "limited performance mode" I limped it up to the dealership as it was only about 2 miles from me... they called me later that day and said they cant find any obvious problems to make it go into "limited performance mode" so they ordered me a new ECM... today they installed the new ECM and they say they are taking it for a 60 mile test ride and so far no issues. One of the techs told me this is the 3rd touring bike they have had this sort of problems with and have had to install a new ECM on all 3... and all 3 of those have had the PCV installed. The tech said "those PCV are ruining the ECM's in my opinion" just curious if anyone else has had this problem? Sorry for the long write up!

 

About a month ago I was heading to a charity ride on a Saturday morning on my 09 Streetglide Fuel Moto stage one set up and got about 10 miles from home and the bike did the same thing I lost all power and would idle about 1800 RPM but no throttle response. I checked and the bike was throwing a couple of error codes which I can not remember now. I was eventually able to clear the codes and get going again but about 15 miles into the ride the same thing happened and I had to limp the bike to the dealer. Well according to the dealer once they pulled the PCV off that was what was throwing the codes and once removed the bike ran fine but did require the down load to the ECM to make sure it would run correctly with the stage one installed so $200 bucks later and an hour of time I am out of the dealer. I had the PCV on the bike for just over a year and never had any issues until then. I called Fuel Moto and they said they cover the PCV for two years instead of the manufactures one year so I sent it back to them, after a couple of weeks they tested it, installed new firmware and a new map and sent it back to me stating there was not an issue with the PCV(They had there bike down working on the engine and could not test it until bike was complete). I currently have it sitting in my garage and am unsure if I want to put it back on the bike. With the HD download the bike runs good and have had no issues and the dealer stated they have had serveral failures of them even though they sell them and a buddy of mine said he knows a few people that have had them fail as well. So I again am unsure but I do a fair amout of riding in the middle of nowhere and need my ride to be reliable so for now it may just sit in the box. I am interested to hear other responses. I also want to post that I think Fuel Moto is a great company and has great customer service which is hard to find in todays world.

 

The PCV doesn't do anything to the ECM - it basically alters the signal coming from it.

 

Despite claims we have heard over the years from dealers and individuals claiming " a PC did this or that" with absolutely no supportive data I have yet to see an actual PC induced failure. My personal experience includes working with these products and bikes all day every day since the Power Commander was introduced

 

It would be nice if even one of these dealer personnel who make these claims would show one iota of evidence to support them. I've heard these rumors from time to time yet have never seen any supporting evidence, and knowing how the PCV works it is beyond my comprehension how one could damage an ECM. If they remove a PCV and the afflicted bike miraculously returns to life, it could be something as simple as a bent or oxidized connector pin, or water in the connector--any of which could cause problems. Also, in the OP's case, how did the dealer know the ECM didn't simply fail? They replaced it, so who's to say the PCV caused its demise? It would be about as rational to blame the exhaust system, and the tech's "IMO" assertion is just that, his opinion with no supporting basis.

 

harley just bashes the competition whenever they cant compete with it,ive heard the same garbage from more than 3 dealers,they dont tell ya that they have ecm failures on bikes without pc"s. many of there tachs are no more than part changers,if the op had two different fixes for the same problem whats that sayin?maybe the bad tbw conector threw some voltage spikes at the ecm?

 

Went through 2 PCIII's and had both fail... No more for me. PCIII bike wouldn't start, took them out and they ran fine.

 

Been fighting this same fight for about a year and a half now, I fell your pain. What I keep finding is water in the connector that's under the right side cover, not at the ecm. Last time what I did was blew all the water out, filled that bitch up with dielectric grease, and as well as I could electrical taped the **** out of it. Idk what's wrong with yours but that seems to be helping on mine, fingers crossed. Let me know what you find.

 

The PCV trick the ECM, or alters it. I'm no mechanic, but many guys I know that are bike builders and reputable, meaning they have builds that have been showcased, Dan from FTF Cycles, who also is a writer for Bagger and Iron Horse, as well as the boys at Shadley Brothers have told me one word; THunderMax. Maybe I am on my soap box becuase I bought one and love it, but I can tell you that it is awesome. Just my 2cents

 

I'd have to agree with this..
Looks like the information goes from the ECM to the PC to the bike.
If it was sending info into the ECM I could see the claim that the PC messed up the ECM.

I did have a service tech at my dealer tell me that the PC uses the ECM as a ground though and any electrical glitches in the PC system could fry the ECM.
I have no idea if that's true, just relaying what I was told.
But.. the same tech said that if I put the PC on my bike, my warranty was instantly voided.
Really doubt that is true.