03 Texas chopper running on 1 cylinder?

Thompsongunner · #1 (**permalink**) 06-30-2012, 01:32 PM

Hello,
I was out last night riding and my bike had a dead miss here and there. I took it out this morning for a ride to check it out some more and suddenly it started running on one cylinder. I pulled over and shut it off for about 5 minutes and checked for loose wires. I started it up again and it was fine. I headed for home and it missed a couple more times. I dont see anything loose and I dont think I fouled a plug. It seems electrical like a coil or ignition issue. I have been reading a lot of posts about the faulty ignitions on these bikes. Does anyone know if the ignitor is bad could it cause the bike to run on one cylinder? I am trying to get it to malfuntion at the house so I can troubleshoot it. I am going to switch the coils to see if the opposite cyl dies next time it acts up to rule out the coils being the problem. Is there a replacement that can be swapped into an 03 ironhorse? I see new setups for the 04 and up but none for an 03. Thanks for any help. Dan

rapatner073 · #2 (**permalink**) 06-30-2012, 02:00 PM

dan, i'm having simaler issues as well. i have an 2003 outlaw. when you crack the throttle does it cut out on you as if y0ou were running out of gas? thats the issue im having... let me know what info u find on the coils and ignitions. i think im gonna replace them..randy

Orange skullz · #3 (**permalink**) 06-30-2012, 02:17 PM

Sounds like the Ignition, heat eventually kills the POS they put in these bikes. I believe that the Twin Tec setup for the '04's can be used for the '03s also. Pretty positive nothing was changed from one year to the next.

Best advice is to call them to make sure .........

Batto · #4 (**permalink**) 06-30-2012, 03:56 PM

Do a plug test first check for spark and make sure you look into the plug when checking, if it sparks on the inside as well then its a plug. Check your leads do all the simple stuff first if its a single fire coil then you cannot swap wires over it,it will run like its 180 deg out.

Skydiver · #5 (**permalink**) 06-30-2012, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rapatner073

dan, i'm having simaler issues as well. i have an 2003 outlaw. when you crack the throttle does it cut out on you as if y0ou were running out of gas? thats the issue im having... let me know what info u find on the coils and ignitions. i think im gonna replace them..randy

I had that exact problem on my 03 Texas Chopper. I installed a Daytona Twin Tec ignition and new coils. It runs fantastic now, the new ignition and coils really woke up that S&S 107. I used the race curve with multi spark and advance slope 2. The rev limit was set at 5700 and it pulls hard all the way there with no pinging.

Ricky-D · #6 (**permalink**) 07-01-2012, 11:04 AM

It all depends upon the condition of the motor.

If you've a worn out motor, that would be the reason for the problems.

But, if the motor is in good condition, and you verified that the plugs, wires, and coils are good, the next candidate would be the ignition.

When the cylinder pressures increase, like when opening the throttle; and the rpm's are optimum for good pressure, the force needed to fire the spark plug is greatly increased,,,, strictly due to the high pressures.

When the ignition module starts to go bad, it, as the controlling instrument, acting as a grounding device, has a difficult time grounding the current coming from the coil(s) and thereby effectively reducing the potential of the spark and the demand of the coil(s).

And so, if your motor is in good condition, that explains what could be going on, (or off) if you may!

Thompsongunner · #7 (**permalink**) 07-02-2012, 04:05 AM

Ok I went over the whole bike and couldnt really find anything wrong. I also cleaned the carb really well too. I did not think that was the problem but I wanted to check everything. I did not take the ignitor off because that is a project but I did pull the plug out on it and it looks fine. My plugs also look fine but I am going to swap them out anyway. Well after that, I took the bike out yesterday for about and hour ride and rode it really hard trying to get it to act up and it worked perfect. Now I dont know what to think. I know I didnt find any issues but maybe something was loose or? I have a feeling this problem will return at some point so I am still leaning towards replacing the ignition system because now I am afraid to go too far from home and end up stranded.
I have a couple questions about these changes.

Skydiver... thanks for the great pictures of your swap. Did your bike originally have the ignitor on the stainless plate in front of the rear wheel and the crank sensor mounted in the cone on the right side of the motor? I see the Twin tech kit for the 03 bikes gets mounted here and I was wondering if it actually fit in the original housing or did that have to get changed also. My wiring looks real close to the schematic I have from Orangeskullz for an 04 and I am wondering if i could use the later type that just plugs in after fitting the new connector? The only thing different on my wiring is that I have two black wires (not sure where they run) instead of the two wires that run to the map sensor. Is this on an 03 and where is that located? ( I thought those were for fuel injected vehicles?)
My other question is do the coils have to be swapped out also? I have heard the stock GIll coils are not that great so I will probably change them regardless I was just curious if this was manditory.

Rapatner073- I am not experiencing the problem you are having right now. My bike did act up like that a while back and it was crap in the bottom of the float bowl. Brown clumps that were floating around the bottom. If I rode real slow, the bike ran fine but it you dumped it real quick, it would just die like you ran out of gas. I am thinking those pieces were getting sucked up against the main jet and closing it off. I know it was not the accel pump because that was working fine. My issue now happens at any given speed.

Thanks for all the help with this! Dan