No start, replaced many parts, what next?

[SuperCell]

'81 GS550. 17,000 miles on engine. Will not start without copious amounts of starting fluid.

I have replaced:

Stator
Voltage regulator/rectifier
Air filter
Spark plugs
Both ignition coils
Spark plug wires and boots.

STILL WILL NOT START.

I'm thinking a carb cleaning is in order. I have the kits here, but I'm not sure I really want to completely dissemble them.

Anything I can do as far as cleaning them that would not require me to completely tear them down?

Thanks a lot!

 

[Rocky]

Have you checked the start drive? My little CM200T (Honda) is in the shop getting it worked on now. Could only start it most times with the kick start.

 

[bonanzadave]

Anything I can do as far as cleaning them that would not require me to completely tear them down?

That would be a big N O. Most guys are gonna tell you to bite the bullet and get er done. Youll be glad you did.

 

[Steve]

While you are getting up your nerve to take them all apart...DITCH THE STARTING FLUID. :shock:

It's too easy to get carried away with the stuff, and real easy to do damage. Far better to just get things right.

The carbs are not that hard if you follow the carb series. When you get around to dipping the carbs, keep all the parts for one carb together, dip them overnight, not just for an hour or two. Yeah, it takes longer, but the results are worth it.


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[SuperCell]

While you are getting up your nerve to take them all apart...DITCH THE STARTING FLUID. :shock:

It's too easy to get carried away with the stuff, and real easy to do damage. Far better to just get things right.

The carbs are not that hard if you follow the carb series. When you get around to dipping the carbs, keep all the parts for one carb together, dip them overnight, not just for an hour or two. Yeah, it takes longer, but the results are worth it.


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Excellent post. That .pdf document kicks ass!

 

[tkent02]

Does it turn over?
Does it have spark?
Does it fire at all?

Can you smell any fuel?

 

[SuperCell]

Turns over fine.

Plenty of spark as it runs fine once started.

More than likely this is a carb issue.

 

[Guest]

Is the choke operating?

 

[Suzuki mad]

had a small Petter deisel engine that was a hand start. Ran well but had to be started on 'easy start' to get it going.

Stripped it down to find that the piston was full of carbon, a valve push rod was bent and the injector was not firing correctly.

Once all the bits were sorted out engine started with out 'easy start.'

You will have to get your hands dirty and get in there to sort this one. Carbs is a place to start, also check the coils and leads for a good spark when starting. After that its compression tests to see how the engine is holding up eg valves, rings etc.

Suzuki mad.

 

[emjay]

If you want to try something before the carb rebuild, check that you don't have any air leaks from the carbs all the back to the air filter box.

I had a similar problem and found that a PO had left off the clamps of the two inner intake boots. Too difficult a job for them I guess. :? New clamps took care of it.

 

[tkent02]

Plenty of spark as it runs fine once started.

I have seen a few that had no spark while cranking, but A GOOD SPARK ONCE THE STARTER WAS RELEASED. You might want to check the spark while cranking it.

 

[walt]

Are you using the choke for the cold start? Also is your battery good?

 

[SuperCell]

First float bowl off, FILTHY!!!!

 

[Nessism]

Good job getting up the gumption to tackle the carbs. If you want the bike to run right do not attempt to short cut the rebuild process - take them completely apart and replace the various o-rings. Also, do the rubber boot o-rings - they almost alway leak air which leans the mixture.

Good luck.

 

[Steve]

Take the carbs completely apart, as directed in the rebuild series mentioned earlier. Order new o-rings from cycleorings.com, get the ones for the intake tubes, too. Hopefully you also have a can of Berryman's dip. Drop your carbs and jets in there, one carb at a time, and leave the carb and parts in there overnight. Yes, you only do one carb a day that way, but look at it this way. You start on Friday night, dip the first carb. Second carb on Saturday night, Third one Sunday night, fourth one Monday night. Tuesday night you have them all put back together and do a bench sync, put them back on the bike and do a dynamic sync. You are riding again on Wednesday.

Now let's say that you rush the job, dunk a couple of them for an hour each on Friday night, the other two on Saturday morning, throw them together and have them on the bike by Saturday night. You try to ride on Sunday, only to find out that they are still not right. So, Sunday you take the apart again, go through the whole process again and maybe try to ride again by Tuesday. Now you have to do it again...

Wouldn't you rather take a little time and do it right the first time? 8-[
I did that for each of my GS bikes two years ago. With proper winterizing, I have never had to do it again, so the extra time cleaning was well worth it.


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[walt]

In the pic the crud looks like rust. Either seal the inside of the tank or clean with muriatic acid. A fuel filter would help too. Otherwise you will go thru all this again.

 

[Nessism]

In the pic the crud looks like rust. Either seal the inside of the tank or clean with muriatic acid. A fuel filter would help too. Otherwise you will go thru all this again.

Good point! Yes, looks like rust.

Phosphoric acid is better than muriatic though and is a common ingredient in rust removal chemicals. Go to Por-15.com and check out the products there. Good stuff.

 

[Scottydog]

SuperCell, what timing.
Recent new GS550EN owner.
Compression seems good with "thumb" test.
Points were way out, so adjusted, and now sparking.
Adjusted plug gaps.
Bike was laid up for 4 years, so checked inside tank.
PO had painted tank, but not sealed off inside -- some paint flaking inside tank!
Got good fuel and Redex into tank and jump leads to a running car.
The GS eventually ran under her own steam, after about 5 minutes cranking with plenty of starter motor rests.
Not firing properly, so felt each exhaust header to see if there was heat. One still cold.
Took plugs back out and heated with blowtorch until ceramic started getting "a bit warm!", and replaced.
Took air filter pods off and squirted Redex/fuel in whilst running.
Seems like I have a stuck float or some such too.
I'll be keeping an eye on your progress, no pressure!
\\/

 

[Steve]

Got good fuel and Redex into tank and jump leads to a running car.

I can tell you're new here. :shock:

By the way, welcome. 8-[


DO NOT, under ANY circumstances use a running car, truck, bus, motorcycle, etc. to jump-start your bike. Virtually all of them have alternator outputs greater than your regulator is capable of handling. The way our charging systems are designed, your bike's regulator will try to regulate ANY voltage it sees, including the vehicle donating the jump start. Since your regulator is not capable of handling that much current, there is a good chance it has been fried or toasted or merely cooked. When you do get your bike running again, do some careful checks to make sure your rectifier/regulator is working properly. Easiest way is to simply check the voltage at the battery terminals when the bike is idling and when running about 3,000 rpm. Idle might be anything above 12, faster speeds should be a minimum of 13.6 volts.


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