20 Most Recent 2003 Harley Davidson FLSTF Fat boy - Page 5 Questions & Answers

hose in the tank ??? do you mean the drain from the fuel cap area that drains off spillage or water round it ? if so pro job ! try and enlighten me ! P...

First, make sure the fuel line itself isn't cracked/torn from age. Then check if the leak is actually where the hose meets the petcock (fuel shutoff), as if the hose clamp is loose. Finally, if it's coming from where the petcock meets the tank, it's sealing washer (o-ring, gasket, etc) needs replacing.

Top right side just below yer engine oil reservoir but above the frame rail about 10". An allen head plug, approx. 5/16ths faces up & forward @ about a 45 degree angle (it's your dip stick too) Takes about 1 qt. ??? Q is...how do you DRAIN it ???

You say it won't start but we need a bit more information than that. Does it do anything? What lights are illuminated? Security system related?

I can only tell you this with the amount of information that I have. The usual life of a battery in a Softail is about two years. This is because the battery is mounted inside the "horseshoe type" oil tank and the hot oil in the tank heats up the battery. This is one of the drawbacks of the this type of oil tank.

Remove the seat from your bike by removing the two large bolts, one on each side of the seat. Lift up and pull back on the seat once you have the bolts out. Disconnect the battery, negative side first, and take it to an automotive parts house and have them test the battery. If the battery is good or you purchase a new battery, when installing always connect the negative last. Disconnect negative first, reconnect it last.

If you bike still does not start, please repost and we'll take another shot at it. Good Luck.

Adjust clutch!Loosen adjuster on clutch cable completely.Remove round cover on primary cover.Loosen lock nut around screw in center of clutch plate.Back off adjusting screw.Tighten screw until it JUST touches.Back off 1/4 turn.Hold in place while tightening lock nut.Adjust clutch cable adjuster until there's 1/16-1/8" free play at hand lever.

There are two bolts that hold the rear caliper into the rear caliper bracket. Remove these two bolts and the caliper lifts out of the bracket.

Notice how the pads and the anti-rattle hardware is positioned in the bracket. Replace the pads and hardware making certain that you get the fiber side of the pads against the brake rotor.

Now, you must get the piston back into it's bore. I use either a large C-clamp or a large pair of slip joint pliers to press the piston back into it's bore. Use rags or thin pieces of wood to protect the finish on your caliper.

Once the piston is completely pressed into it's bore, carefully replace the caliper back into the bracket without disturning the pads. Slowly depress and release the rear brake pedal until you get a full firm pedal. Test the brakes before you ride the bike. Failure to properly service the brakes on your bike can result in serious injury or death. Make certain that you do this job correctly or take to an experienced person to have it done. If your bike quits it makes you mad, if it won't stop, it hurts you.

Ride safe.
Steve

Stand the bike upright. Remove the dipstick from the oil tank. Remove the drain plug on the bottom right side of the frame. While the oil is draining, replace the oring on the drain plug. Remove and replace the oil filter, after filling the new filter half full of oil. Replace the drain plug. Put 3 quarts of oil in the oil tank. Replace the dipstick. Start the bike and check for leaks. No leaks, you're done! I use HD Syn 3 synthetic oil in my '04 Fatboy, but you can also use a conventional 20w50, as long as it's made for use in and air cooled motorcycle. Don't use car oil!

The wire connection should plug into the taillight. Remove the lens and you will see what I'm talking about. You will need to remove the black connector after you unplug it and probably cut the silver plug off to get the wire through the standoff. If you're good at soldering, just cut wires about 2 inches from the black connector and solder them back together and coverr the splice with heat shrink when finished. Good luck!

Several things could be causing this. Make sure the connections under the tank are ok. The fuel sender inside the tank could be bad. The float could be stuck on the side of the tank. Sometimes this happens on early 2000's bikes. I the float is stuck, you have to go into the tank and bend it away slightly from the side of the tank.

On the right side, and the top rear of the trans case. Before you buy a new one, remove the allen bolt holding the sensor in the trans case. Twist the sensor slightly while pulling up to remove it. Clean off any metal shavings on the magnetic sensor, then reinstall it and see if cleaning it fixed your problem. If it doesn't, you will need a new sensor.

you need to replace the o ring on the oil drain dolt that should stop the leak

I'm going to assume that by "hiccup", you're talking about the engine spitting back through the carb or simply missing sporadically. If this is the case, it sounds like your bike is running lean for some reason. There are several possibilities. One, the bike is jetted too lean. Maybe this problem has just started, if so, it may be the fuel that you're buying. Make sure that the fuel does not contain over 10% ethanol. They've been playing games with that here lately. Next, there could be trash in the jets in the carb and it needs to be disassembled and cleaned. Or the fuel petcock on the tank may be giving a problem. Harley uses a vacuum operated petcock and if the diaphragm gets a hole in it the fuel flow to the carb could be reduced causing the engine to be on the verge of running out of gas even though the tank may be full. Finally, you could have a vacuum leak at the intake to head gasket or at the intake to carb seal. Check the hose that plugs onto the backside of the carb that goes to the VOES and the petcock for cracks. Also, check you fuel cap on the right side. If the vent is stopped up, your tanks cannot vent air to the inside and a vacuum will build in them reducing the fuel flow. I hope this helps.

Good Luck
Steve

That's normal.... when the key is off the electricity goes off too.... so the gas meter stops working...
Hace a nice day.....

I assume that you want information on how to replace the starter on a Fat Boy. First, disconnect and remove the battery. Then drain the oil from the primary and remove the outer primary cover. Take the small bolt out of the starter jackshaft and remove the jackshaft. Then go to the right side of the bike and remove part or all of the exhaust system as necessary to gain access to the starter. Take the bolts and mounting hardware loose from the oil tank so that you can lift the tank slightly. You should not have to remove the oil lines. Take the battery cable loose from the starter and unplug the single wire at the solenoid part of the starter. Remove the two large socket head bolts that hold the starter on. When the starter comes off, there is a coupling that connects the starter with the jackshaft. Mark the direction it goes back in or make sure the counterbored end of the coupling goes towards the jackshaft. Reinstall the starter in reverse of these procedures.

Good Luck
Steve

When you bike won't start, either your starter is bad, the charging system isn't keeping your battery charged, or the battery is bad. The first thing check and the easiest to fix is the battery. Take it out and take it somewhere and have it "load tested" to see if it's any good. If the battery is over two years old, it may need replacing. Softails are especially tough on batteries because the battery is inside the horseshoe oil tank and heat gets to the battery. Start there and then check the charging system.

This is how you check the charging system. To do this you need to fully charge the battery and you'll need a good Digital Volt Ohm Meter. Using the meter's function selector switch, set it to DC VOLTS with a range of 20 volts or greater. Connect the red meter lead to the positive battery post and the black meter lead to the negative battery post. Start the engine and bring it to a high idle. After about a minute or so, your meter should read between 14.5 and 15.0 volts. Any lower than 14 volts, your battery will not be charged.

If you don't have the minimum voltage at the battery in the previous test, you need to check the alternator to see if it's generating sufficient voltage. You'll have to follow the wires from your voltage regulator going to the lower left front of your engine until you come to a plug. Unplug the plug and look into the engine side of it. You'll see two metal contacts in the rubbber plug. This is where you are going to test the voltage from your alternator. Since you'll be testing AC voltage, it makes no difference which meter lead goes into which contact, just one lead into each contact. Set your meter's function selector switch to AC VOLTS with a 50 volt or greater range. Start the engine and bring it to a high idle. Insert one meter lead into each of the metal contacts. Do not let the leads touch each other or the engine case or ground. Your meter should read at least 25 volts.

If you do not have the 25 volts from the alternator, your stator is bad and must be replaced. If you have 25 volts or more but not the 14 volt minimum at the battery, your voltage regulator is probably bad. Make sure you voltage regulator is properly grounded. Check the condition of the wire coming from the regulator going to the battery. This wire is usually larger in diameter than the other two going to the alternator.

If the problem pesist, respond to this post and we'll go through that.

Good Luck
steve

hello dustin... when the starter is going you will start to hear a clicking sound when you attempt to start it up. Joe

Have you checked the front brake master cylinder to see if it's got brake fluid in it? If it does, try bleeding the brakes. If that doesn't work. You've got a major problem with the master cylinder and you need to rebuild or replace it.

Remove the seat. It's in the center fo the "horseshoe" oil tank.

Good Luck
Steve

Ok, I'm not exactly sure what the problem is on your Twin Cam but I can assure you that it is oil pump related. One the earlier models with the external pump, you had two pumps in one body. One pump was a "feed" pump that pumped oil into the engine. The other pump was a "scavenger" pump that pumped oil out of the engine back to the tank.

When Harley designed the Twin Cam engine, they employed a better design of pump inside the engine. It's located in the gear case along with the cams. I do not know too much about the Twin Cam engine as I specialize on the older Evolution, Shovelhead, and Panhead engnes. The older engines had a breather gear that used the crankcase pressure built up inside the engne to blow the oil from the crankcase into the gear case. I don't know if the Twin Cam still uses that method of getting the oil out of the crankcase and into the gear case.

So, with my limited knowledge of the oil pump on the Twin Cam, I'd say that this is the problem. You need to find someone that is familiar with the construction of the pump. It may be that the entire pump is bad or something as simple as a sheared pin.

Good Luck
Steve

"Oh, and now I can\'t even read the oil level on my dipstick due to the fact it is significantly LOW" This is not a good sign. Now, my expertise is NOT on the Twin Cam bikes but I do try to help when I can. In your case, if your engine were an earleir Evolution or Shovelhead engine, I'd say that you had sheared a scavenge gear drive key in the oil pump. Now, I do not know a thing about the oil pump in a Twin Cam as I've never worked on one. It sounds like your oil pump is not scavenging (sucking) the oil out of the engine and pumping it back to the oil tank. Once the pump pumps the oil into the engine, it stays there. Thats why you're seen the "massive amounts of oil spitting out of the little hoses behind the air cleaner". Take your bike to a dealer or qualified shop as soon as possible and I'd refrain from running it. An engine full of oil would also expain why the engine does not want to run as well.

Good Luck
Steve