I have had my bike into the local Harley dealer for the dreaded pinging. It went in a couple of weeks ago and all they did was mist some water in the intake to eliminate the carbon build up. It sounded better for a week or so. I am still having issues with it so I called my dealer again and he talked to HD and they want the dealer to send the ECM unit back to them. They said they will have it for a day and send it back. Not really sure what they are going to do. Dealer said HD knows they have a problem and still trying to find the fix for it. The dealer said they may hook up a tuner to it to solve the issue. I hope this solves this once and for all.

 

if this ends up falling to you, consider nightrider.com xieds.

these are a resistor pack which plugs inline with the o2 sensors and will slightly richen the mixture ( by fooling the ecm)

they plug in and unplug in minutes.

cost about $100

MPG may drop 2 or 3 %

that solved my ping on the 09 - in completely stock trim, it would ping @ 2800~3200 rpms up 6% grades.

after xieds, no ping and I was able to complete a stage 1.

Mike

 

+1 on the Xied's....very pleased with mine and my Stage I

 

My dealer had a new ecm sent out to them. When it arrived they called me and I brought the bike in and they switched them out in about 45 minutes. No more pinging.

 

Just to play devil's advocate for a moment, has anyone solved a pinging problem by richening the mixture? Pinging doesn't occur because it's running lean at least on my bike its wasn't.....I was only able to stop my pinging by retarding the timing not richen the mixture? So, who 'fixed' the problem by throwing fuel at it?

 

You need to get it tuned. Your air/fuel ratio is lean and or timing issues. A good tune should fix this. www.dynojet.com will show you the certified tuning centers in your area.

 

I have, as referenced above, adding xieds, which result in a richer mixture.


pre-ignition can be caused by one or more of the following:

lean mixture
too advanced ignition timing
too high combustion chamber heat
low fuel octane
high compression ( diesel type ignition due to compression)

depending on the vehicle, the ecm may retard spark timing in an attempt to reduce pinging, this retarded timing will probably reduce power and will reduce mpg.
if pinging is reduced by richening the mixture, then the spark timing will remain "advanced" and better power and fuel efficiency will be achieved.


Mike

 

Exactly. The ping is too much compression and fuel not adequate octane. Richening the mixture won't help. It may make the ping less audible but it's still there.
Timing would have to be slightly retarded which will affect power.

 

Is this specific to the 12 models? I have never heard my 11 103 ping that I know of. Maybe crappy gas in different parts of the country?

 

Both pre-ignition and detonation (they are NOT the same things) can be caused by a mixture that is too lean. Not always. But often. Therefore, they might be cured by richening the fuel. I've done it many times.