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Cold Weather Cranking

yegg

yegg

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Sep 18, 2015
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Now that the colder weather has set in here in Northern VA, my 2015 FLHXS is having trouble cranking. I have a new lithium HD battery and a recently installed (and working great) upgraded charging system from Cycle Electric. The bike is kept in a garage but it still doesn't want to turn over.

Should I be changing my oil to a lighter weight for winter weather? If so, do I change all three fluids? Again, if so, what is recommended by you guys?

Thanks. Ride safe.
 
yegg said:
Now that the colder weather has set in here in Northern VA, my 2015 FLHXS is having trouble cranking. I have a new lithium HD battery and a recently installed (and working great) upgraded charging system from Cycle Electric. The bike is kept in a garage but it still doesn't want to turn over.

Should I be changing my oil to a lighter weight for winter weather? If so, do I change all three fluids? Again, if so, what is recommended by you guys?

Thanks. Ride safe.
Click to expand...


Lithium batteries "go to sleep" after extended time (like over night) at cool temperatures. They have plenty of cranking power cold if they are "awake". The best way to wake them up is to connect the charger for a minute.

Other options are:
1. Turn on the headlights for a few minutes- until they are bright
2. Hold the horn button for a few minutes- until it sounds normal
3. Cycle the fuel pump 10-15 times, until it sounds normal.
 
Thanks. I’ll provide an update tomorrow.


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It did seem a bit better this morning. I think I’m going to start a chart and use a timer to see how it works out. Thanks for the help.


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Ok, so I’m still having problems. The bike has been on a tender since I last rode (3 days ago). I got up and turned the bike on and let it sit for 29 minutes prior to trying to start it. It was better than before but still very rough and gave me a V INERR message on the LCD before coughing to life. This only happens in cold weather. What should I be checking next?


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That lithium Battery is only 8 amp hours, so the lights & power on for 29 minutes will just about drain it.

If that battery is on the lithium battery tender, you should be able to unplug the tender and start immediately.

Over discharging a lithium battery will damage it.
 
None of this is making sense to me. I always keep my bike on a tender when parked and this only happens in the winter. It happened in previous years with the stock battery and now this winter with the lithium battery. Ugh!!!


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I just saw an item in my owners manual. The automatic compression releases (ACR's) are only on (open) for the the first ten seconds after the run switch is turned on. If they are not open the engine is very hard to crank. If power is on more than ten seconds, you must turn off and back on again, then hit the start button.
 
The last cranking was like the first should be. By chance do you have summer gas in the bike? The fuel formulas change for cold weather with a more volitile mixture for cold starting. If the gas is ok, then the FP3 tuning for start-up is not right. Call them and show them the poor idle right after starting. That should not happen. Or you may have a bad temperature sensor and the bike does not realize that it is cold.
 
Thank you so much! I ride year round so that gas has been in the tank (from the pump) for less than a week.

I will check with V&H this week and get them to check out the video.

As for the temperature sensor, is that in the service manual?




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yegg said:
As for the temperature sensor, is that in the service manual?
Click to expand...

Yes. There are both a cranking fuel table and a warm-up fuel table that you can set with the FP3. They both work from feedback from the front cylinder head temperature sensor.
 
I spoke with V&H today and they tweaked my map. I’ll have to wait until tomorrow morning to see if it helped. This morning was really bad. I’ll make sure to take a video in the morning.


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When you pull the trickle charger the battery should be ready.

Turn the handlebar run switch on first, then the main switch, then hit the starter button as soon as the fuel pump stops. Should be just a couple seconds wait.

Good luck.
 
Yes don't wait too long to hit that starter. I'm running 10.6 to 1 compression and just wait for the fuel pump and hit it. Unless you have done some motor work that starter may need replaced
 
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