2005 Rocket III Strange No Start Issue

[Stealth_guy]

Let me start of by saying that this is not my bike, it's a friend of mine's who is a bit less mechanically inclined than myself. He has a 2005 Rocket III (with only 5k miles) that has the strangest no start issue and I'm here to ask for some possible culprits because I'm at my wits end with it. He's planning on taking it to the dealer in a few days if I can't get it figured out. I typically work on older Harley's so I'm a little out of my element with this beast and all of its sensors.

Problem: Key on, fuel pump primes, gauges sweep, all lights (headlights included) work, and the bike just cranks and cranks and cranks but will not fire. Tried with kickstand up and down, clutch in and out (in neutral), and tried bumping the bars from stop to stop to see if it was an ignition switch issue for good measure. The bike ran before it was parked for winter and had a new battery put in this season.

What I've Tried: I checked the ignition coils resistance from the pins at the ecu (all 3 read 1.8 Ohm's), got 12V+ to the wires at the coils and just to be sure i pulled one plug and grounded it to the cylinder head and verified that I got spark. Fuel pump primes and i can definitely smell fuel as I crank it(the plug i pulled had a little wet fuel on it as well from the cranking), for good measure i pulled one of the intake boots loose on the left side and hit it with a little starting fluid to see if it would sputter but it did not. Battery is new and tested good (also had a large jump pack hooked up as well because i read these bikes are power hungry). Pulled the crank sensor on the bottom and it was clean. Verified that it had the factory alarm bypass/jumper plug installed. All harnesses and plugs under the tank appear to be in good shape and connected. All fuses tested good and I switched the 4 pin relays around, still nothing. Hooked it up to my bluetooth obdII adapter with Torque Pro app and it register's 300rpm and the timing advancing by 8 degrees while cranking (no trouble codes). The only conclusion I have come to so far is that maybe when he put the new battery in he shorted something out or maybe toasted the ECU or something. The bike is currently at his house 25 minutes from me so if it would be possible to get a short list of things together to test/try before I head back, that'd be great. Thanks in advance for any help or insight that anyone can give.

 

[TRIIICK]

JM2C.. My 2005 has a phantom draw on the battery. You might try putting it on the battery tender for awhile and give it a try... Once it slips below 12 volts i get the same symptoms...

 

[Stealth_guy]

I believe he has a phantom draw on the battery also as this is now his 3rd battery in 5yrs, but he does have it on a battery tender and the jump pack I had hooked onto it is pretty much a car battery inside. Volt meter showed that battery at rest was 12.4/12.5V IIRC. Definitely something I'll keep in mind though, thanks

 

[phar2slo]

I believe that the battery to be around 13.4 volts to get the beast to start.

I had to get a new battery when I got my beast deliver to my house.

As last owner left key on and lights going for twenty minutes.

With new battery I had on the charger for 15 hours before firing up the beast.

Have you tried connecting up heavy duty car battery with jumper leads? For that extra boost.

 

[Tal]

Just for what its worth.....I NEVER use my kill switch...always turn the bike off with the key. The reason being I had a Triumph Storm and the kill switch became faulty resulting in cut outs as i was leaving a gas station on one occasion. I think a simple thing like the kill switch can create head scratching problems...maybe it helps, maybe not...good luck finding the problem.

 

[FE_rex]

Test battery voltage and spark (w/inductive timing light) when cranking trying to start. These newfangled bikes/cars with all the computer stuff need a lot of volts or they just don't fire injectors or spark. On my r1100rt I have seen a bad a starter pull so much current, it drops voltage below where the ECU could function.

Check fuel pressure also. On my FI VROD and K1300, I have had internal fuel leaks and/or bad fuel pumps that will allow FI system to come to pressure when cranking and immediately drops pressure when cranking stopped. Fuel pump prime is timed, not based on pressure. Bike will not start in that case. You will get fuel smell and maybe wet plug, but pressure not enough to give good injection spray to start. I would assume Rocket is same

Be careful with that ether, it causes one hell of a detonation problem and can wash down a cylinder. That being said - if it has spark from above and still won't fire on ether - test compression. Just remember, you can flood an engine with ether (too rich to burn) just like gas. Just like gas - a lean mixture will detonate.

Also - how old is the gas?

 

[Stealth_guy]

Thanks all for the input, I'll definitely have to try to test it for fuel pressure. I sprayed the ether on the intake side of the throttle body (with the throttle twisted) but with the bends in the intake boots and stuff I don't really know if it made it all the way into the cylinder, so that gives me something to start with. I believe my father has an inductive timing light so I'll be sure to bring that as well. He topped it off with fresh gas a few weeks ago but he didn't mention how full it was when he filled it so I'll take a fresh gallon or two and siphon out what he has in it just to be on the safe side. Who know's maybe its something simple like that that I might have overlooked haha. We all know what happens when we assume things. And the jump pack is a JNC1224 with 3400 peak amps and 850 CCA that my brother bought for his Powerstroke for hard winter starting, so should be fine there

 

[warp9.9]

Ok this might not matter but since its a 05 and they had a tune recall in 07 for all early model bikes which tune do you have in the ecu ?

 

[Jag]

For the ether to work, remove seat and filter.

 

[cootertwo]

If it did not try to pop on ether, it must not be making any spark when it's cranking. My 2013 is picky about voltage when cranking. Tired battery = no fire. Will turn over, but no spark.