Looks to me like all you do is push down on middle tab on top which releases the catch and then pry underneath on the ridge to pull the plug. It's not budging. I warmed the bike up to 4 bars - still no budge. I am using a screw driver to press the tab and the hook end of a bottle opener to pull underneath.

Can anyone give me a pointer before I bust something. It seems like this should be a snap but I don't want it to be the snap of my main wiring harness breaking.

* Last updated by: Rook on 8/5/2009 @ 9:45 AM *

I useally press the button down and push it in then pull out.Seems to help!

Thanks, ninjamaster. I'll try that. At least I know I have the basic procedure correct.

Any more tips welcome.

Rook you are doing it right its just a pain in the ass to connect the harness

ok. I'm on phone with fuelmoto usa now. This is the worse conector I have ever tried. My fingers went numb on this @^$#@#$#!!!!!

This is fugin' ridiculous, you guys. The plug has come out about a mm and the tang is no longer in enough to latch. I got a small screwdriver under the plug and I'm prying my ass off. The screwdriver has slipped a few times and taken a couple small gouges out of the ridge on the bottom of the plug. I'm about ready to call it quits for now if all there is to this is keep prying. I can't believe this is in there so damn snug. I think I would have heard a lot of posts about it if it was such a problem. Seems like some kind of tool like a big tooth extractor with chisel edge jaws would be ideal but I don't have one of those.

Can anybody help a brother out? Does this sound normal that I am having to work on this so hard?

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH--- success.

Finally got it. Once the plug gets pulled a little bit, there's no sense in continuing to pry on the bottom. It will just wedge as you pull and that doesn't help at all. You have to reach in there with some kind of hook edged tool (I used the hook end onmy bottle cap opener) and pull a little on the top two ridges. After 1 mm disconect, give top a couple little pulls and she will pop right out.

Sorry about the language up there but I was getting really fuggin pissed.

* Last updated by: Rook on 8/5/2009 @ 11:28 AM *

One more question: I see there is red locktight on the threads that hold the coolent resivour on. Is this a case where red locktight SHOULD be used?

Also, isn't there some kind of solvent that is supposed to be used to remove the old locktight befeore applying the new?

Took 3 hands (I only have 2) to get that sucker loose on mine. Hellfire activated the latch and I pulled with both hands. Just when I thought someone had welded it together it broke free. No locktite on that reservoir bolt that I remember, just get it good and snug, that's the PC ground.

Kruz

Rook that red stuff on the factory bolts isn't red locktight. It's a powdercoating style locktight, about equal to the blue stuff.

I was told that stuff doesn't really ever get hard. So as long as the bolt still has a good amount of it on it I just re-install the bolt. If it's gotten thin I just add a drop of blue.

I'm guessing your installing a Power Commander??? If you are here is a good tip. Take that overflow bottle bolt to the hardware store and get a stud about a half inch longer. Pick up one of those thin nut's, a regular width nut, and a tooth washer. Screw in the stud in place of the bolt. Put the tooth washer on. Then the P/C ground wire. Follow that with the thin nut. Then the coolant bottle, your washer from the bolt and then your regular nut. Improper ground problem will be fixed, forever.

Oh, and if they don't have a stud that size just buy a bolt a little longer than the original and cut the head off.

* Last updated by: Philhnnss on 8/5/2009 @ 3:39 PM *

Thanks for locktight info, Phil. Blue it shall be since I already peeled some off of one screw. I'm going to have to make a note of that ground mod too. It started up fine but I would hate to have it shut down while riding or just not start one day. I'd probably forget what the cause might be so better do it now and forget about it.

Yes, it's a PC5 with Fuel Moto flies out map that I have put in. I'm planning to take it off again and reinstall under seat if I can fit those plugs or the unit itself through the frame behind the gas tank.

Like the new avatar, BTW. :))))

Yea, you can almost count on ground problems if you followed P/C's instructions. The plastic the overflow tank is made of will deform and cause a loose connection. Then the only fix is to over tighten the bolt. That will just crack the plastic making a bad situation worse. Been there done that, LOL!! Using a stud will hold the ground wire solid. Using a tooth washer behind it will give a better connection by digging into the powder coat on the frame.

Yea, I hate Elmo!!! And the little short, fat Cox Cable icon looked to much like me. Well, if I wore white leathers. But the short and fat was right, LOL!!

rook when you plug the pc into the plug that is stationary make sure it snaps in good give it a lil tug to make sure it stays mine came unplugged and was sliding in and out and made the bike run and sound like it was running on 2 cylinders and would keep stalling out they dont give you much room to work in there but yea just push down on that center tab grab wires and gently work it back and forth till it pops out it was like there was a lil suction holding it together just dont pull too hard on the wires

Yea, you can almost count on ground problems if you followed P/C's instructions. The plastic the overflow tank is made of will deform and cause a loose connection.

I'll second that. I had a radiator leak and the bike got very hot. The plastic tank (at least the area around the top mounting point) started to melt and I lost the ground connection to the PC III. I'm going to add the washers as described here next time I have the left fairing off. Good idea! -bg

* Last updated by: bgordon on 8/6/2009 @ 8:21 AM *

scottjkyl wrote

rook when you plug the pc into the plug that is stationary make sure it snaps in good

Thanks, Scott. If you push the stationary half of the harness toward the rear brake side of the bike (Right), it will slide off of the the bracket that holds it in place. This makes it easier to push the PC plug in because you can get your fingers behind the plug and thumb on the front. It's a little hard to get it the harness hooked back on the bracket but easier than trying to connect the two halves while the harness is stationary. For disconnecting the plug, I definitely recommend leaving the harness stationary. It would have been nice if the wire on the back of the harness was long enough to pull the whole thing out of there for the disconnect but it just isn't. I don't know how you guys with big hands got this done.

Philhnnss wrote:

I'm guessing your installing a Power Commander??? If you are here is a good tip. Take that overflow bottle bolt to the hardware store and get a stud about a half inch longer. Pick up one of those thin nut's, a regular width nut, and a tooth washer. Screw in the stud in place of the bolt. Put the tooth washer on. Then the P/C ground wire. Follow that with the thin nut. Then the coolant bottle, your washer from the bolt and then your regular nut. Improper ground problem will be fixed, forever.

It would be nice to ride a couple hundred miles to drain the gas tank down so it will be easier to reposition the PC under the seat. I would do the ground wire mod then too.

What is going to happen if the PC ground looses contact while I'm riding?

What is going to happen if the PC ground looses contact while I'm riding?

Engine dies. -bg

No Buddy, it's not like it's going to loose contact tomorrow. It will wait till your miles from anywhere like BG on vacation. Honestly, I think I rode around for a year till I had problems. Then I just added washers to the front and back of the coolant overflow bottle. Then the next time I had the plastics off I permanently fixed it with the stud.

rook y u putting pc under seat? on my 08 it slides right down by the air duct on left front of bike is ur year different?

I also have an 08, scottjkyl. I have the PC5 which is supposed to be smaller than the PC3. It fits under the left side cover but I would rather have it under the seat mostly because I like the look of that better. I would like to get a Speedohealer under there too. Seems like after market electronics will come in less contact with rode grime and dampness under the seat but I'm sure they are designed to withstand that stuff if positioned per installation instructions. It will be a lot more work installing stuff under the seat because I will probably have to lift the back of the gas tank to fit the PC or the plugs through. Hopefully the USB cable is long enough to reach from under the seat to the clipons because I plan to use the liquid crystal display at some point.

now that will piss me off if the pc5 works on the 08 cause id of bought one lol speedo healer is nice ive got it on my zx9 r u going to install the last top speed button that comes with it? nice feature. but i had it installed but i still had to program the healer for my sprocket set up not fun for me almost have to be a math wiz to figure it out. let me know how the pc5 works out for you are you getting the self tuner also? well goodluck

Yeah-- well i don't think it's such a big deal but the PC5 does work on any year ZX-14. Not much of an advantage even if you are custom tuning, i hear. It's a bit more sensitive to tuning. Don't hear PC3 owners rushing to "upgrade." But It is the latest and wasn't that much more expensive than the PC3 so I went with it.

I have the Autotune unit but not the pipe yet. I plan to order an A-head full system soon. No big rush, I'd like to figure out the PC a little before I get into actually tuning for a pipe.

I tested the bike tonight and the Fuel Moto USA map made a nice improvement on a basically stock bike. Most notably, the idle to 3500 rpm power lag was smoothed right out. My flies are pulled but I could tell the stock map is too lean for flies out. You get more air with flies out but the fuel delivery and thus power, doesn't change at all unless you remap. On and off throttle jump also was much improved in lower gears. Overall power delivery feels a bit smoother. Seems to be a little faster??? The bike seems to run warmer now but stayed at 3 bars on the highway. I don't think I felt the heat on my legs with the stock map like I do now, though. Also noticed a vibration in the heal guards???? was it there before? ???? The improvements were noticable, the drawback so slight - I don't know, I might be imagining them. I'm happy. Can't wait to see what it does for a pipe!

Do your homework before dropping big bucks on a pipe Rook. You strike me as the type who is impressed by large dyno numbers, no offense meant but I've picked up on this. Know what you want as the pipe will change the character of the machine completely and will cost you big bucks. I like the Yoshimura slipons on my 14, lots of smooth, low to midrange hit while giving slightly more on top end...wouldn't change a thing. It's the partial throttle response the dyno charts don't ever show you that is important, not the WOT runs that produce impressive HP numbers. The Yoshimura full system on my CBR I don't like at all. It shifted the power too high up into the rpm range where I don't like to go. 12,000 rpm on the street all the time is not fun, trust me on this one, track yes, street no. I lost power in the 40 to 60% throttle range in order to gain in the 80- 100% throttle range. This is not a good tradeoff for the street in my humble opinion. If I wanted to rev the snot out of my bike I would have bought a 600. Think about this stuff before dropping your hard earned dough. Nuff said.

Kruz

Everyone likes big dyno #s but if that means street riding is seriously compromised, I don't think it would be my thing. There doesn't seem to be any shortage of 14s with full systems. Dogo and Mass both used the Alien head full system and I didn't hear any complaints. Bolert was the only person i ever heard who seemed to feel his full system was making his bike less street worthy. The topic of Brock's full systems comes up often enough. I never hear anyone say "I hate my Brock's it sucks." I've asked the bottom end loss question of others and the answer seems to be that the A-head doesn't diminish the bottom end at all.

Maybe I'll do a poll.

Better than a poll....see if someone will let you ride their bike equipped with whatever pipe you think you'd like. Everyone is different, I've known guys who thought their bike ran great but had no low to midrange at all. I've seen others that popped, snorted and farted down low but pulled hard on top and the guys couldn't have cared less. That kind of thing drives me crazy, I got to have smooooooth power, no dips, no hesitations, no flat spots. I rode someone elses 14 (Reeves owns it now) equipped exactly as my bike is now before dropping the bucks and got exactly what I expected and wanted. CBR was a different story, I couldn't find anyone on the forums that had what I was looking for. I might as well have dropped in from outer space, all they talked was peak dyno numbers. The new buzz word is driveability and that's coming from the racing guys in WSB and MotoGP. Big HP without tractability is a waste of money. Spend wisely!

Kruz

* Last updated by: Kruz on 8/7/2009 @ 9:24 AM *