Harley Davidson Ignition Coil Symptoms
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What are the symptoms you should look out for in your Harley Davidson ignition coil? For established riders, this is a no-brainer. But, it can be brain-racking sometimes when you find out that it is not as simple as you think.
Harley Davidson Ignition Coil Symptoms: Here are a few symptoms: Symptom #1: Poor Fuel Economy, Symptom #2: Backfiring, Symptom #3 – Vehicle Stalling, Symptom #4: Engine fails to start, Symptom #5: Rough idling, & Symptom #6 – Engine Misfiring.
Harley coil symptoms can sometimes be so fiddly that you find it hard to locate the issues that give rise to the signs you see on your motorcycle. It is important to equip yourself with all the important details to be able to prevent further damage to your motorbike.
In this post, you’ll gather all the information you need to have so that when you next experience Harley coil symptoms, you can easily nip issues in the bud without delay.
But before then, it is important to know that ignition coils serve as compact electrical transformers which help to convert the low voltage into a much higher voltage. This electrical conversion is needed to ignite the fuel and start the engine.
Hence, technically, when we say there’s a bad coil, we may be referring to low voltage. Overall, failed or weak ignition coil symptoms vary depending on the extent of the damage of the ignition coil.
Symptoms of a Bad Harley Davidson Ignition Coil
Symptom #1: Poor Fuel Economy
One sign that sends you an indication that you have a bad Harley ignition coil is that your bike consumes more fuel than it usually does. When this happens, your motorcycle gets less mileage. Check your ignition coil as it may have a fault.
Symptom #2: Backfiring
Harley coil symptoms also show in the form of engine backfire. Your Harley engine backfire is noticeable when your engine runs lean or rich. It’s rich when there’s more fuel than air present in the engine, and lean when there‘s more air than fuel present. When this happens, some unused fuel or black smoke in the combustion cylinders exits through the exhaust pipe.
Learn why Harley Davidson Motorcycle’s Backfire here.
Symptom #3 – Vehicle Stalling
Failed Harley ignition coil results in your bike stalling while working. This usually occurs when the weak coil starts to send some irregular sparks to the spark plugs. As a consequence, your car may completely stop working or fail to restart after shutting up.
Symptom #4: Engine fails to start
When your engine fails to start, it is a clear symptom of a failed coil. You’ve got to watch out. This is a common sign in single-coil engines, and the engine will produce some cranking sound with no sparks coming from the cylinders.
Symptom #5: Rough idling
Engine jerking, rough idling, and power problems are clear symptoms of whether your ignition coil is bad or weak. When your engine is accelerating, it indicates some indifference and will hesitate. Hence, your bike will sound as though power is missing.
Symptom #6 – Engine Misfiring
Engine misfiring is one Harley coil symptom that is easily noticeable, which indicates that vehicle ignition coils are malfunctioning. Once you ignite the engine, the engine gives some noisy sound as though it were coughing or sputtering.
Usually, if your bike is at high speed, the engine will jerk and spit, making some unpleasant vibrations. And when you get to a stop sign, the engine may fail to start, or it’s idling. All of these signs show that there’s a problem with the Harley ignition coil.
How to Replace an Ignition Coil
Once you find out that your ignition coil is bad, the first thing to do is to disconnect the negative terminal on your battery and locate the coil that needs to be replaced. Try to disconnect the cable that leads to the bad coil.
Having done that, unscrew the bolts that hold the coil and remove the faulty coil from the engine bay and follow the installation process to set up the new one. Make sure the new ignition coil is compatible with your engine.
Final Thoughts
Depending on the model and make of your motorcycle or bike, the cost of an ignition coil varies. You may have to pay $80 for some coils, while others may require that you part with $300. On average, prepare something in the region of $150.
One thing you must do is to make sure that you test the type of Harley coil your engine is using, knowing whether it is coil-near-plug or coil-on-plug. You can get online all the instructions to follow to carry out this test.
Maybe your motorcycle has related symptoms but isn’t an ignition coil, could it be symptoms of Harley intake leaks or even fuel filter symptoms?
Finally, never underestimate the implication of that popular saying: ‘procrastination is the thief of time.’ Delay is dangerous. Get your ignition coil symptoms resolved as soon as they show up.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What are the Harley Davidson Ignition Coil Symptoms?
The following are the Harley Ignition Coil Symptoms:
- Poor Fuel Economy
- Backfiring
- Vehicle Stalling
- Engine Fails to Start
Q: How to replace an ignition coil?
Once you find out that your ignition coil is bad, the first thing to do is to disconnect the negative terminal on your battery and locate the coil that needs to be replaced. Try to disconnect the cable that leads to the bad coil. Used car guide.
Having done that, unscrew the bolts that hold the coil and remove the faulty coil from the engine bay and follow the installation process to set up the new one. Make sure the new ignition coil is compatible with your engine.
