Starting and Stalling

By Dennis Santopietro

Q: I have an 01 FLHTCUI with over 40,000 miles with an issue of starting and stalling. It always starts easily when cold and idles well, but after a few minutes, if I’m idling awhile to get out of my driveway, the idle will fall and the engine will threaten to stall. If it does stall it’s hard to get started again, I have to give it a little throttle to get it to start and stay running. After I’ve been riding for awhile and the engine warms up it will idle stronger and is usually fine, but once in awhile when I start from a stop sign or light it will stall and I’ll have to give it some throttle to start and idle up. Of course it never does it when the dealer has it. I also find that in warm weather it’s better to let the engine cool for 5 or 10 minutes after a stop before I start it again. All in all it’s a strong running bike and this is usually just a minor annoyance, still if there’s a quick fix I’d love to hear it.Thanks -Bob

A: Bob, the most common reason a m/c will act this way is because of an intake leak. Start the bike cold. Mist the intake flanges with brake cleaner. If your bike’s idle drops, or the engine stalls, you have an intake leak. If this is the case, replace the intake seals along with the front & rear intake flanges. If the bike passes the intake test; have the dealer or your mechanic scan the m/c for possible codes. You may need to replace your ET (engine temp sensor), TP (throttle position sensor), or your IAC ( idle air control sensor). Thanks for the question and good luck.

Related Video: Exhaust R&R

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2 Responses to “Starting and Stalling”

  1. glenn d hurst

    2003 Heritage same issue. Very annoying and frustrating. I have replaced everything in the tank, install a commander 5 (ran lean before that) , replaced the plugs too. Problem not always there so when you think you solved it it shows up again. Yesterday on a long ride average temp 55 degrees it stalled at every stop light unless I help the throttle open just a tad. No codes, no other signs of anything wrong. Now o replace gaskets and sensors all at once or one at a timeuntil the problem goes away lol

  2. lcaporaso

    I have a 2003 FLHTCUI with approx. 60,000 miles on it. The bike starts fine when cold and runs perfect through all RPM ranges. After riding a while and it is hot it will stall at idle but starts back up with no problem. It just will not idle. It will also return to normal and idle fine after stopping for lunch. It sometimes is fine for the rest of the ride. Any Ideas?