82 GS850L dies after 20 minutes, calling guru's

[Blue Falcon]

OK, here is the symptoms. Rode the bike for 5 hours yesterday...no issues, I had taken the petcock apart and discovered it NEEDED replacement and ordered a new one. Rode it today and after 10 minutes... started cutting out, sputtering, backfiring, popping and died. Tried to restart, would not start, turned over, had spark no fuel. Pulled the plugs, I had spark. Luckily I was close to the house, found the petcock diaphragm stuck in the seat hole, turning the petcock to prime had no effect on removing the diaphragm from the seat.....

The guy I got this from said he dumped "a ton of money" into the bike, kept taking to a mechanic in Tampa to fix it. How did they not replace the petcock??

Other issue, fuel smell in crankcase, either that or my nose was corrupted by the petcock. Compression is ~145 in all cylinders and holds. I know the 850 has breather tubes on the carbs, my question.. do these overflow tubes for the carbs...they were positioned up towards the gas tank. I thought these were overflow tubes and routed them down as such. The carbs were all set 5+ turns out all cylinder rich, actual varnish glaze on the spark plugs.... set them to 2 1/2 and the engine purred. Need to replace the plugs. Holes drilled in airbox and open holes left from bracket on top, sealed all of them. Aaaaaand finally, the gas tank level gauge is waaaay off. I'll wait til I repaint the tank before messing with it.

[hillsy]

The tubes are float bowl breather tubes, not overflow tubes - hence they are routed under the seat / tank to keep them out of the weather.

If your fuel tap had problems being stuck shut it may well have had issues NOT shutting off which would then potentially dump fuel into your crankcase via the cylinders.

Change your oil.

[850 Combat]

Well, it sounds like you have solved that mystery. One of the petcock failure modes allows the fuel to be sucked into the vacuum line to the carb bank, and may be causing the fuel to get into the crank case.

[gsrick]

I think you'll be very happy with the upgrade in power over the 450. My wifes 450S was a hoot to ride, but nothing beats cranking the throttle on a big four. Next you'll want a 1000 or 1100 to stick in there.

[Blue Falcon]

The tubes are float bowl breather tubes, not overflow tubes - hence they are routed under the seat / tank to keep them out of the weather.

If your fuel tap had problems being stuck shut it may well have had issues NOT shutting off which would then potentially dump fuel into your crankcase via the cylinders.

Change your oil.

oil change is a given...waiting for new petcock before doing that. Thanks for the breather tube confirmation. Back where they were before. Someone had opened the petcock before and removed some of the innards. Does. Not matter where you put the setting, nothing changes on the inside of the petcock. Gas cap vents very well, soaked it overnight just in case, covering all angles here...hoping that it is just a fuel issue. All things are pointing that way, but I like contingency plans.

[Blue Falcon]

I think you'll be very happy with the upgrade in power over the 450. My wifes 450S was a hoot to ride, but nothing beats cranking the throttle on a big four. Next you'll want a 1000 or 1100 to stick in there.

Looked at 2 1100's, too heavy for my knees. I think 850 will be my top end....until I get my knees fixed.

[Steve]

Looked at 2 1100's, too heavy for my knees. I think 850 will be my top end....until I get my knees fixed.

You might want to take another look at the specification charts.

I don't know about the chain-driven 1100s (which were lighter), but the '82/'83 shaft-driven GS1100G was 10 pounds LIGHTER than the same year GS850G.

The '80/'81 GS1000G was 15 pounds lighter than the same year GS850G.

.

[JTGS850GL]

You might want to take another look at the specification charts.

I don't know about the chain-driven 1100s (which were lighter), but the '82/'83 shaft-driven GS1100G was 10 pounds LIGHTER than the same year GS850G.

The '80/'81 GS1000G was 15 pounds lighter than the same year GS850G.

.

Always been suspicious of those numbers. Since the 850 shared the same frame and the engine was basically the same along with the same body parts, I wonder where that extra 10 or 11 lbs came from?

[Blue Falcon]

You might want to take another look at the specification charts.

I don't know about the chain-driven 1100s (which were lighter), but the '82/'83 shaft-driven GS1100G was 10 pounds LIGHTER than the same year GS850G.

The '80/'81 GS1000G was 15 pounds lighter than the same year GS850G.

.

It was either in my head or it was true.....the 1100's felt heavier and more difficult to move around than the 850... hmmmmmmm if what JTGS850GL said is true... that would explain the GS1100 meter set and various other 1100 elements to the bike.... after last night and today, I have realized the bike has been frankensteined a little. Judging how the vin says its an 81....the title says an 82 ....smh.... I wonder what other surprises I am going to find.

LINK TO THE 850GLX

[Blue Falcon]

Calling all guru's again... smh

Here is what I know so far, frame is an 81 GS850GLX and motor, it has a mixture of 79-8? 850/1000/1100 parts on it that I can tell.

The CDI, correction.... IGNITOR.....currently on the bike 32900-45411 which does not match the parts lists I can find. I have not popped off the signal generator cover yet to look. Is this one OK to use or do I need to order the right one? I have spark

The petcock is bad... already hashed over that - ordered here on Friday. going to put some clear fuel line and a filter inline so I can visual the flow just in case it is not the only issue.

The meter hood is off of a 79/80 GS850-1000... at least it looks like the ones they used. - will this throw off the fuel tank level indication?

Gas in oil - changing oil after I get the petcock installed.

I'm just glad a lot of the parts crossed over models... had me worried for a bit.

I am going to have to add some ground wire, there are some floaters still on the bike.

Paint job is shyte - they didn't prep the tank, old color under it peels right off, it was a red color. Not sure if it's even an 850 tank.

Someone tried to strip or cover anything that said "Suzuki" on the bike

I need to look at the fuse box and make sure everything is looking good and making contact, PO did have a shop do this already, but so far I can't trust what they have done.

[Steve]

From what I can see in your album, it's an '82.

You say the VIN says it's an '81. Are you saying that because of the assembly date? What does it show? Hopefully you realize that some bikes had to be assembled in '81 so they could get to the showrooms in time for the October/November unveiling of the new models. Production of the '82 models might have started as early as August, but was definitely going by September. When was yours assembled?

There is no "CDI" on the bike. Not even on any GS ever produced. It is not a Capacitive Discharge Ignition, it is merely a box full of transistors that replaces the points on the older bikes. They still control current through inductive coils, which a CDI system does not have. It is more-properly called the "ignitor", and the part number you have is correct for your bike. At least it's the same as what is on my wife's '82 850L.

Yes, the meter assembly is off a G, not a GL, but that should not affect the accuracy of the fuel gauge. One thing you will be missing, though, is a side stand warning light. You probably have a switch on the frame, just ahead of the side stand, but no light in the gauges.

There are a couple other things that say you have an '82.
- One of them is the larger fuel tank. The '80/'81 850L tanks held less than 4 gallons, the '82/'83 tanks hold 4.5.
- Another difference is the crankcase. The shape of the clutch cover is straight up and down at the back. The '81 and earlier engines still had a hump there, where the kick starter used to be on the '79 models.
- The wheels are also typical of the '82, but they are not definitive by themselves, as I have similar wheels on my '80.
- The turn signals are not from '82, they were round. Yours look like they are from an '83.

.

[Blue Falcon]

From what I can see in your album, it's an '82.

You say the VIN says it's an '81. Are you saying that because of the assembly date? What does it show? Hopefully you realize that some bikes had to be assembled in '81 so they could get to the showrooms in time for the October/November unveiling of the new models. Production of the '82 models might have started as early as August, but was definitely going by September. When was yours assembled?

There is no "CDI" on the bike. Not even on any GS ever produced. It is not a Capacitive Discharge Ignition, it is merely a box full of transistors that replaces the points on the older bikes. They still control current through inductive coils, which a CDI system does not have. It is more-properly called the "ignitor", and the part number you have is correct for your bike. At least it's the same as what is on my wife's '82 850L.

Yes, the meter assembly is off a G, not a GL, but that should not affect the accuracy of the fuel gauge. One thing you will be missing, though, is a side stand warning light. You probably have a switch on the frame, just ahead of the side stand, but no light in the gauges.

There are a couple other things that say you have an '82.
- One of them is the larger fuel tank. The '80/'81 850L tanks held less than 4 gallons, the '82/'83 tanks hold 4.5.
- Another difference is the crankcase. The shape of the clutch cover is straight up and down at the back. The '81 and earlier engines still had a hump there, where the kick starter used to be on the '79 models.
- The wheels are also typical of the '82, but they are not definitive by themselves, as I have similar wheels on my '80.
- The turn signals are not from '82, they were round. Yours look like they are from an '83.

.

EDIT: my blind arse... it is GLZ.....ugh working nights plays a number on ya, so ya it's an 82. Disregard my next sentence

last 3 letters of the ID tag on the frame GLX not GLZ X = 81 Z = 82... ya think it might be at that "wellllllll lets make it an 82" point in the year?


ok ok ok not "CDI" .... ignitor

and thank you Steve, so I do have a Heinz 57

I'm at work right now, will check assembly date when I get home in the morning. ----answered above...I'm blind

[850 Combat]

I was under the impression that the ignitions changed from mechanical advance to an electronic advance in 1982. Is this correct?

The GS850 engine is based upon the GS750 engine. Suzuki was on the ropes when they designed it. They could not afford another non seller like the rotary, and the two stroke sales were falling off. The 750 was designed to be super robust. The 1000 is lighter, and Suzuki had more time to remove material from the cases where it was not needed. The 850 also had vestiges of the kickstart remaining which added a few pounds. This is what I read, anyway.

I've owned a number of 850Gs (including a '79 with a kick start), and a number of 1000Gs. I've also owned one 1100G. I can't tell any difference rolling them around. Any difference in feel in the garage probably relates to how much air remains in the tires, and what kind of handlebars it haqs. They are all 600 lb bikes.

There are a lot of these around, because they are very robust and they can absorb lots of abuse and neglect.

[Steve]

I was under the impression that the ignitions changed from mechanical advance to an electronic advance in 1982. Is this correct?

It may have started late in '82, but I have been under the impression that it came out with the '83 models.

However, typical of Suzuki, if something was available early, "let's start using it now".
If they still had plenty of something on-hand, "let's keep using these until they are gone".

It's hard to say exactly when any particular item started or ended.

.

[Blue Falcon]

Just to check my double check because I am OCD about some things..I did my "bad petcock quick fix" and the bike ran fine for hours..then this morning..would not start at all. I went through the wiring, cleaned connections etc. Checked the Sig Gen - intermittent good/bad readings.... which means its bad in my book, had a good one handy for reference check. Same for the "CDI" (for Steve lol), uh.. I mean igniter, took it off to check it out, the shell and aluminum bottom is cracked... I had already ordered a new igniter already. On a good note... the coils are kicking . Everything else seems to be working fine.... other than the PO removed the kick stand safety and clutch safety switches. Wiring looks good otherwise...fuse box is in really good shape, looks like someone cleaned it and spruced it up. A lot of the electrical mods on the bike posted on bikecliff have been done to the bike, leading me to believe this is a member/former members old bike...or someone really resourceful. It used to be red/black on the tank... anyone got anything for me?

PO did replace the stator and R/R... I am going to check those once I get the bike running....nothing seems kosher.... by the pricking of my thumbs something wicked this way comes.


so to sum it up... I got the trifecta of problems all in one shot. I asked what it could have been and BAM....everyone was right.... how often does this shyte happen...smh

Petcock
Sig Gen
Igniter

Why couldn't it just have been a loose wire????