Need help troubleshooting

[Anonymous]

I have a 1982 GS400. It's never charged properly, so last season I took it to a Suzuki dealer and they replaced the R/R. I just got it insured for this season and sure enough it still doesn't charge, and of course it died in the middle of nowhere. I took the battery home and charged it up, and took it back to the bike the next day.
This is where the second problem came up that I need help with.The bike now starts on full choke, but dies 3-4 seconds after, and dies completely if you blip the throtle. I figured it might be a fuel problem, so I completely cleaned the carbs, but the problem still persists, so I suppose it's and electrical problem.
As for the charging problem, I went through the stator pages... and found a 100000 something ohm wire going into the stator, so thats been replaced.
Could both problems be related? The only idea I have is the spark plugs maybe aren't getting enough voltage, which is why it dies when I give it more gas.
Any one have any ideas? Any help is appreciated!

 

[earlfor]

Re: Need help troubleshooting

When the bike dies after 3-4 seconds, have you immediately turned the ignition off and taken out the drain plugs in the float bowls to see if there actually is fuel in the float bowls?

Earl

I have a 1982 GS400. It's never charged properly, so last season I took it to a Suzuki dealer and they replaced the R/R. I just got it insured for this season and sure enough it still doesn't charge, and of course it died in the middle of nowhere. I took the battery home and charged it up, and took it back to the bike the next day.
This is where the second problem came up that I need help with.The bike now starts on full choke, but dies 3-4 seconds after, and dies completely if you blip the throtle. I figured it might be a fuel problem, so I completely cleaned the carbs, but the problem still persists, so I suppose it's and electrical problem.
As for the charging problem, I went through the stator pages... and found a 100000 something ohm wire going into the stator, so thats been replaced.
Could both problems be related? The only idea I have is the spark plugs maybe aren't getting enough voltage, which is why it dies when I give it more gas.
Any one have any ideas? Any help is appreciated!

 

[Anonymous]

No, but if its runs for a while there is fuel getting to it, and the carbs are squeky clean.... so that shouldn't be a problem shoud it?

 

[Anonymous]

...I checked and there is fuel in the floats

 

[Anonymous]

Try to run the bike with the petcock set to prime. I had this problem after I messed up reinstalling the carbs on my 400.

Steve

 

[earlfor]

If it runs initially, that tells you there is fuel filling the bowls at startup. It does not tell you there will be sufficient fuel flow to keep the bowls filled once it is running.

Earl

No, but if its runs for a while there is fuel getting to it, and the carbs are squeky clean.... so that shouldn't be a problem shoud it?

 

[earlfor]

How much in each float bowl?

Earl

...I checked and there is fuel in the floats

 

[Anonymous]

I would say they're pretty much full.
Another thing is the spark looks a little weak, my clymar manual says it should be a 'fat blue flame', but both plugs have wimmpy looking orange/yellowish sparks...

 

[argonsagas]

I would say they're pretty much full.
Another thing is the spark looks a little weak, my clymar manual says it should be a 'fat blue flame', but both plugs have wimmpy looking orange/yellowish sparks...

That is an interesting situation. If you have enough voltage to bridge the gap/ arc the gap, the spark should be blue, even if it is a faint and fleeting blue. If it appears yellow/orange, that suggests combustion, so you may have something on the plugs that burns as they spark.

 

[earlfor]

OK. so it appears we have sufficient fuel. I want you to do one more thing for me. Without starting the bike, measure the voltage of the battery at the battery terminals. Then, turn the ignition switch on and again without starting the bike or touching the starter, measure the voltage at the + terminals on your coils. Let me know what those readings are.

Earl

I would say they're pretty much full.
Another thing is the spark looks a little weak, my clymar manual says it should be a 'fat blue flame', but both plugs have wimmpy looking orange/yellowish sparks...

 

[Anonymous]

The battery is 13.5

The coils are 9.7 and 11.6

Appreciate all the help Earl. How do you know so much anyway, are you a mechanic?

 

[frosty5011]

Bob wrote:

Appreciate all the help Earl. How do you know so much anyway, are you a mechanic?

Hey Bob,

I'm trying to figure that out myself. Word has gotten around that Earl raises gators, in fact owns several gator farms down in S. Florida. However, I have the suspicion that he is actually a major stockholder in a company that manufactures "induction tube O-rings". :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[earlfor]

With good connections (good grounds and clean contacts in the harness plugs) the voltage to the coils and the voltage at the battery should be pretty close to the same thing. As an example, on my 750, with a battery voltage of 13.5, my voltage to both coils is 13.4 You do need to clean some contacts and recheck voltages to be sure you have the system "electrically clean". You cant trouble shoot anything if you dont have a properly functioning electrical system. (one step at a time huh)
Hang in there, we just need to take care of the groundwork first.

Earl

The battery is 13.5

The coils are 9.7 and 11.6

Appreciate all the help Earl. How do you know so much anyway, are you a mechanic?

 

[earlfor]

I was a bike mechanic in the late 70's, early 80's. Now, I just fix things for a yacht repair facility. I get to play in a lot of different areas. eh eh

Earl

Appreciate all the help Earl. How do you know so much anyway, are you a mechanic?

 

[Anonymous]

I gave the battery a good charge, and it now starts on full choke and eventually will idle a little rough with the choke off. However when I give it gas it gasps and dies. I did clean the carbs, but after looking at the carb clean up pages for a second time I've realized I didnt clean the needle jet and pilot jet. From what I've read on the forum this seems a like a big ommision! Another thing to note is just before I started having the problem I put the petcok on res (I thought I had run out of gas, but the battery had died... that's second on my list to fix). That was the first time it had run on reserve in a long time, and may have sucked some gunk into the carbs.
Do the symptoms described sound like a dirty pilot/needle jet?

 

[Anonymous]

Could be many different things still, but cleaning the pilot jets is a must do in any case. This will for sure help with the bike dying when giving it gas.

 

[nabrams]

I had an identical problem. In my case, the air filter had disintegrated. After putting in a filter the bike would rev up, but I still had to clean the carbs thoroughly to get decent power while in gear.