My brother washed his bike yesterday a 2000 Road King, now it wont start. No engine light at start-up, no light on PCIII, changed all of the relays and followed trouble chart in repair manual. We don't have the Harley test block but from what we can determine with a meter and test light everything points to a bad ECM. We took that off and yep water came out of it. We let it dry over night and still same problem. Is it most likely fried or will more time letting this thing dry out possibly bring it back to life? I know I know, elementary question for someone who is mechanically inclined...but it's a bike not a car Maybe the electronics are more forgiving.

Is this anOEM replacement only or does anyoneknow of aused source? One last thing, the bike is modified and as saidhas a PCIII on it, will replacing the ECM require reprogramming and dyno? I know the software is in the PCIII but since every bike is different will anew ECM change the performance it was married to before?

One last question;my bike...is a 99 Ultra...if we swap ECM's to verify his being bad can I damage mine or cause more damage to his since thebikes are not an exact match?
Thanks, Mike

 

Check the part nubers of the ECM for both bikes. They both have the M&M fuel injection system. As far as trying to use the good one on the other bike (if the parts are the same), I guess it's kind of a crap shoot. You might find out what you want to know or you might not, it just depends on a lot of unknowns. Good luck in whatever course of action you take.

 

Oe follow-up thought. There was a recall on 2000 model touring models for a bank agle sensor issue. This may or may not be an issue.

 

OK, I don't know where it is, but isn't there a circuit breaker hiding in there somewhere as well?
I seem to remember someone else going through this about a year ago. Tore the whole thing apart only to find a breaker needed to be reset.

 

Word of caution when dealing with electronics and swapping to see if it is bad. You could end up with 2 fried ECMs. If it is the ECM then something caused this problem, see where I am going with this. OK, just ask me how I know about swapping to see if something is bad and fring 2...Ahhhh, not me, I read on the internetabout some guy doing it to his Goldwing! Yeah thats what happened, I mean where I heard it!

 

Thanks guys. I'll check the book fora master circuit breaker, but the bike cranks hard etc. just wont start. Again no engine lite at start-up (the little red one that tells you there isa problem or flashes with codes).

I'm pretty sure it was the water that killed the ecm, quite a bit came out when we took it off and turnedit up-sidedown. But Idon't think I'll gamble with putting mine on it.

 

Don't take a chance frying yourecm.Try putting his ecm on your bike. If it's bad, then yours won't crank.

 

Good advice from RKC

 

Also over night may not be long enough to dry electronics are very finicky when it comes to moisture put that thing in the driest place and leave it there for a few days and see what happens......

 

I think that there may be more potential problems if you put the 'bad' ECU on the 'good' bike.

If the ECU from the Road King is indeed bad, putting it on a different bike could mess things up by sending voltage to places it isn't supposed to go. If you are confident that all electronics feeding the ECU are good, I (just my opinion) would put the ECU from the Ultra on to verify wheter you need to start looking for a replacement.

The wiring on each ECU should be the same, and if there is any difference in programming (fuel, timing, etc.), it should not be significant enough to cause any problems....

I would let the ECU dry-out, and try it again...I would also take the PCIII out to the loop, and let the bike try it that way. Let me know how it goes, I will talk to a few buddies of mine & see if I can source an ECU - I think a friend of mine had a complete ECU/fuel injection system from a 99 Road King.

BTW - It is very refreshing to hear that someone else is attempting to troubleshoot electrical issues...This post is a nice change from the "Are You a RUB" BS.