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[Z10]

For the second year in a row we decided to spend Thanksgiving at a friends beach house on Holden Beach NC. Bike ran great on the 340 mile trip. Got in around 5:30 PM. Wednesday. Went out yesterday morning to start it up and get gas. It fired and ran for about 2 seconds before it began making a terrible metallic knocking sound.  I shut it off immediatley. Cranked it up again, the motor turns over, no knocking noise but will not start. After talking to the HD service department in Wilmington, it sounds like I might have a failed cam chain tensioner. The bike has 25,032 miles on it. I'm hoping this is all it is. Going to install the new hydraulic tensioner. Looks like the kit comes with a new oil pump.

Fortunately we took two vehicles down. Going to call Beach House HD this morning to see if they can pick it up. Having a hard time explaining to my wife why my 1995 FLHT went 105k miles without any problems and this FLHTCUSE has already left me stranded with 25k miles on odometer.

[rayz1951]

I've got 25,000 mile on my 08, maybe I should have mine looked at.

Ray

[Z10]

Ray...I believe your bike has the hydraulic tensioner.

[cptdenny]

My 2011 FLTRUSE did the same at only 950 miles on the clock.  Turned out the intake valve broke loose causing $1,400 in engine damage, all covered under warranty.  Decided to use the $1,400 credit towards Stage lll engine mods.

Engine running better than ever now, but getting about 31 mpg average.  I plan on re dynoing it to lean out further.

Latest issue, front wheel weight letting go and denting chrome oil cooler cover.  Plan to get it resolved this morning once the wet weather leaves the area.

[sadunbar]

For the second year in a row we decided to spend Thanksgiving at a friends beach house on Holden Beach NC. Bike ran great on the 340 mile trip. Got in around 5:30 PM. Wednesday. Went out yesterday morning to start it up and get gas. It fired and ran for about 2 seconds before it began making a terrible metallic knocking sound.  I shut it off immediatley. Cranked it up again, the motor turns over, no knocking noise but will not start. After talking to the HD service department in Wilmington, it sounds like I might have a failed cam chain tensioner. The bike has 25,032 miles on it. I'm hoping this is all it is. Going to install the new hydraulic tensioner. Looks like the kit comes with a new oil pump.

Fortunately we took two vehicles down. Going to call Beach House HD this morning to see if they can pick it up. Having a hard time explaining to my wife why my 1995 FLHT went 105k miles without any problems and this FLHTCUSE has already left me stranded with 25k miles on odometer.

I suspect you have a (bent) valve stuck open - and have lost compression on a cylinder.   

[Twolanerider]

Is it an 06 Ultra or one of the later iterations? 

Early 110s especially had their share of problems in the cam chest and elsewhere (everywhere else).  06 still had the 103 which has been a reliable engine though.  That engine did still have the old style cam tensioners.  But you'd likely have heard something prior to any sudden final failure. 

When engaging the starter does it sound now like it's spinning over a little faster or easier than it would have normally?  As if it is spinning against less compression than normal?

[sadunbar]

If it's possible to pull your spark plugs and spin your motor over, you could find out if you've lost compression on one or both cylinders...  If one, it's likely a stuck valve, if both, it certainly could be that you've lost cam chain tension...

[bloper123]

Yes, this happen to me the seat in the head came lose, the seat is where the valve sits on, it turned in the aluminum  head  waiting on new heads now . the shop said this has had before they new what to look for, may be under warranty.     Good luck

[Z10]

The Wilmington NC HD shop picked up the bilke this morning. Won't get to look at it till Tuesday. Will post findings.

[2k]

Sorry for your troubles....I was going to recomend not going to Beach House, 3 years ago they (the mechanics) screwed my '07 Ultra up. Had to bum a ride home and go back with a trailer to retreive my sick scooter. THEY SUCK!!

[Z10]

Sorry for your troubles....I was going to recomend not going to Beach House, 3 years ago they (the mechanics) screwed my '07 Ultra up. Had to bum a ride home and go back with a trailer to retreive my sick scooter. THEY SUCK!!

Since I'm less than 20 min from that shop I called them this morning. If they had the ability to pick it up today and not Tuesday, I would have gone with them. They were short handed today and couldn't come till Tuesday. Someone from the Wilmington shop came at 10:30 this morning to get it. BTW the person who owns the Wilmington shop also owns Beach House. 

[timo482]

i had a 2000 ultra - the thing went from running completely perfect

to trashed cam chest - in about a mile..

the bearing failed - i noticed a small loss of power and then the engine light came on - drove the last mile to home - zero noise or anything

right when i pulled in the drive was when i heard the very first noise

completely toast

the tensioners and the cam bearings are really dodgy in the pre 07 engines

the crank in the 07 later engines makes switching to gear cams difficult

however - if i EVER have to take the engine apart - ill have the crank trued and plugged / welded - then install gear cams

that combination seems to make the twin cam as reliable as its possible to get

to

[Z10]

No broken cam tensioner and nothing wrong in the valve train,

They cranked it up last Saturday before they closed and it was running on one cylinder. They tore into it Wednesday. Pulled the plugs, compression good on both cylinders. Opened the cam cavity, tensioner and everything looked fine. Looked at primary drive chain, tension was correct. Queried ECM...no fault codes. Ran without the Dyno Jet, no problems. They did notice that the plug gaps were too tight. I installed them two weeks ago and gapped them per the direction on the back of the SE box they came in...035 for that part #32192-10.  The service manager said they should be at .040.  I looked at the box later that night, there are three plug part number where it calls out a .040 gap (32187-10, 32188-10, 32189-10.) The part number I purchased clearly calls out .035. I told them to hold on to them. Having a hard time accepting that plugs brought all this on.  Also heard HD motors can sometimes start up and run backwards and sound like it's about to come apart. Maybe I had that going on. Has anyone heard of this before? If so what causes it? And if this did happen wouldn't a fault be declared (crank sensor sensing the crank is spinning in the wrong direction?)

They've  put 50 miles on the bike with no problems. I won't be able to pick it up till next Friday. I told them to crank it up and run it each day. He said the noise I heard was spark knock on one of the cylinders. I told him I've heard plenty of that before on small block chevys but nothing that violent. I talked to a friend who's owned multiple Harley's and said a spark knock on a HD V twin can sound awful. With no water jacket surrounding the cylinders to muffle the sound, it sounds like the bike is about to come apart.

I'd certainly like to hear what everyone has to say. Maybe I just had one plug go out and the noise I heard was typical for a V twin running on one cylinder. That's why I didn't hear the noise on the 3rd attempt becuse the bike only turned over but would not start.

[Twolanerider]

Obviously can't know what you had or have going on since didn't hear and haven't seen it.  But a few things that are just "out there" you don't need to worry about.  A difference in gap from .035 to .040 on a plug won't keep a cylinder from running.  And while a two stroke engine without valves could run backwards your Twin Cam could not.  If any of that came from your service department you've got more trouble than just the bike.

[Z10]

Obviously can't know what you had or have going on since didn't hear and haven't seen it.  But a few things that are just "out there" you don't need to worry about.  A difference in gap from .035 to .040 on a plug won't keep a cylinder from running.  And while a two stroke engine without valves could run backwards your Twin Cam could not.  If any of that came from your service department you've got more trouble than just the bike.

Certainly agree on the gap comment. Don't think they were saying that. I think they said one of the plugs wasn't firing when they started it and noticed a tighter gap when they pulled them. I want to meet this guy, he must have some awesome eyesight to visually see the .005 difference. The backwards running engine was brought up by a couple old wrenches I know. Never dealt with the dealer before. They were the closest to where I was staying.

I did have a friend share with me this morning he had a similar incident on his 2010 Ultra this past August. He said it didn't last long and cleared itself. Took it to the dealer the next day and they found nothing.