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Problem starting in cold

  • Thread starter Thread starter ShirleySerious
  • Start date Start date
S

ShirleySerious

Guest
I'm having trouble starting my 78 GS550E. It's been cold for at least a month, so I haven't been able to ride it. It's in storage, so any extensive work is a no-no. There's some Stabil in the tank from when I thought it would be freezing all winter long (I took it out a couple times.) I've tried the past few days to get it started, but I think it's too cold.

I've heard that my carbs might be dirty, so I went and bought some Seafoam. They don't give you the best directions, so after putting in the right amount, I tried cranking it until the battery ran out. My question is, if I use Seafoam, how long do I have to wait until it takes effect? I put it in the tank. They never make it clear if you have to put the choke on or off, how long to crank it, or whether to prime it or not. If I crank it too long, I get backfires out of the exhaust. That scares the bejesus out of me, so I'm reluctant to spray some starting fluid in.

Taking out the carbs is beyond my means now. What should I do?
 
I had the same problem last night, but I got too cold before the battery gave out. Cheapest solution is to get a can of starter fluid. Squirt it into the air box and try and get it to fire over. I found a can of some stuff that contains no Ether, so it's supposed to be easier on the soft parts. And make sure you're keeping your battery charged. Mine is currently hooked to a tender and it keeps the battery fresh.

Brad bt
 
bradleymaynar said:
I had the same problem last night, but I got too cold before the battery gave out. Cheapest solution is to get a can of starter fluid. Squirt it into the air box and try and get it to fire over. I found a can of some stuff that contains no Ether, so it's supposed to be easier on the soft parts. And make sure you're keeping your battery charged. Mine is currently hooked to a tender and it keeps the battery fresh.

Brad bt
Click to expand...



My bike has pod filters instead of an airbox. With the starting fluid, do I spray that in each carb with the filters on or should I take them off?
 
ShirleySerious said:
My bike has pod filters instead of an airbox. With the starting fluid, do I spray that in each carb with the filters on or should I take them off?
Click to expand...

Someone will have to correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd say you'd be okay to remove them until you get it running. I have the stock box and filter so this is an unknown for me. I would suggest you stop the engine once you can get it to run without the fluid and replace the pods.

Brad bt
 
I would think you would have to remove them because it makes more sense, but I'm just afraid of it backfiring. I was thinking spray some in each carb with filters off, then put the filters on and start. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Side question, how cold is too cold to try to start it? It was about 10 degrees when I tried.
 
Since your battery is flat, and you're in the Chicago area, the first thing to do is get that battery on a trickle charger before it freezes.

After that, and after the battery is at full charge, try the ether. (Or starting fluid... up 'till now, I thought the terms were synonymous).
 
robertbarr said:
(Or starting fluid... up 'till now, I thought the terms were synonymous).
Click to expand...

So did I until I bought a can of starting fluid from the local Ace Hardware. I went and grabbed the can from the garage. It's called "3-IN-ONE Professional". It claims to be an "advanced" engine starter and conditioner, providing lubrication while starting engines quickly and a "revolutionary" non-ether formula to reduce engine wear. No where does it say what it's chemicals are.

As for replacing the pods before starting, if you can do it quickly enough, then go for it. If you use ether-type starting fluid, it may evaporate before you get them back on.

Brad bt
 
If I were to spray it directly into the carbs, would I open up the throttle? Seems like if I sprayed the filters, they would catch fire if it backfired, but if not, the carbs would just suck the vapors of the starting fluid in.
 
You can just spray it on the filters...

You can just spray it on the filters...

They don't need to come off. It doesn't take much either, try blowing on those vent hoses first, it's better to just use gas. Full choke no throttle it should start if the rest is good.
But if you do use starting fluid, the ether passes through the filter as easily as air does.
It all evaporates away in a few seconds, it won't work if you don't start it right away after spraying it.
 
tkent02 said:
They don't need to come off. It doesn't take much either, try blowing on those vent hoses first, it's better to just use gas. Full choke no throttle it should start if the rest is good.
But if you do use starting fluid, the ether passes through the filter as easily as air does.
It all evaporates away in a few seconds, it won't work if you don't start it right away after spraying it.
Click to expand...


I've tried the vent hose trick with no success (it caused an exhaust baffle to blow out.) But I'll take the rest of your advice and try it tomorrow.
 
Okay, here's an update on my end. I went back out and with the air filter removed, sprayed the starter fluid into the carbs. The bike fired over (choke fully on) quickly and died. Repeated a couple more times until the bike was running. While it was running, I replaced the air filter and air box cover. After a minute or so I was able to push in the choke and it ran fine.

One thing that I should have mentioned however,:oops: I have a throttle lock which allows me to hold the throttle open. Now when I was first attemting to start the bike, I only had the choke on, but once it was running and everything was back together, I locked the throttle so the bike was around 2 grand. I then slowly pushed the choke in.

I think you'd be okay to get the bike running without the pods in place, but as I said before, once it's able to start/run without the starter fluid, shut it off and replace the pods. Then you can restart and let it warm up.

Brad bt

BTW, even though it's cold, remember to open the garage door. Asphixiation isn't fun.;)
 
So a big backfire????

So a big backfire????

ShirleySerious said:
(it caused an exhaust baffle to blow out.)
Click to expand...

Sounds like you did a little too much blowing.

Sounds like way too much fuel got into the exhaust pipe.

My Dad exploded a car muffler that way once, kept cranking it too long when it was flooded. KABOOOMMMM!!!!!!!
It was loud. Woke up the whole neighborhood.

Good luck.
 
So I should have the throttle somewhat open when cranking?

As for the explosion, it scared me for a bit because I thought the engine was gonna explode. If brief flames come out of the exhaust pipe, is that relatively harmless for the rest of the bike?
 
ShirleySerious said:
So I should have the throttle somewhat open when cranking?
Click to expand...

No, with the choke fully on, no throttle is necessary. I only used the throttle lock once the bike was running on it's own without any choke (a little blip on the throttle, but nothing sustained while choked). I did shut off the choke and open the throttle when I sprayed the starter fluid into the carbs, but this was before I started the bike. When I started the bike, the choke was on and the throttle was untouched.

Brad bt
 
Get battery charged up, Spray a LITTLE bit of starting fluid on each pod filter, choke only, no throttle, hit starter. bike may hiccup and try to start, if doesn't start, spray a little again (1/2 second burst or less) on pods and hit again. doesn't start this time , then take choke off and try one more time. if it fires, push choke on quickly and hope it stays running. May take several times but if bike ran and started good before this should do it.
 
I recently had a similar problem with my 82 GS450 when I wanted to take one last ride before putting it away for the winter. After much cranking, backfires, and starter fluid shots I installed a new set of plugs and it started immediately.
 
O-rings on 1978, etc. 8-valve motors

O-rings on 1978, etc. 8-valve motors

Did the bike start and run OK before the cold weather? Every winter my '78 GS 750 would get a little hard to start. The 8-valve motors have an o-ring between the intakes and rubber manifolds, and when they get old, dried out, or cracked, let air get into the post-carb flow, leaning out the mixture and making them hard to start, especially when the cold causes everything to shrink a little. I'm in the process of replacing the boots and o-rings, which I believe will solve the problem. The job isn't complicated, just a PITA getting the air/filter box and carbs out of the frame to get to the manifold screws, which are usually seized enough to need to use an impact tool, but there isn't much room to swing a hammer to get to the bottom screws on the inner two manifolds. I ended up removing the battery, battery box, and r/r to get a clearer shot at the inner two bottom screws. If the manifold boots look good (aren't dried out,cracked, etc.) you can reuse them, but replace them if in doubt. The boots are available through alpha-sports.com or bikebandit.com. The o-rings are cheap, and available from Suzuki, or here on theGSresources from Robert Barr. You might want to search the archive for threads about this, it's been brought up many times before.
 
There's too many things to go wrong with this bike now, but the boots look fine. The bike ran fine until about a couple weeks ago, and now it won't start at all. I tried using starting fluid, but that didn't do jack, except get my hands all greasy. I don't get what's wrong with this damn bike. Cranking will not start it, so I'm thinking the engine is flooded. How can I tell? What size spark plug socket do I need? I need to get it home, even if that means renting a trailer. Too bad mechanics don't make house calls, because the nearest Suzuki dealer is 12 miles from my storage area.
 
O-rings

O-rings

Even if the boots are fine, odds are that after 20+ years, the o-rings are shot. They're not expensive, just a pain to get to. The round rings are usually flattened and hard, looking more like a fiber washer. They are in a groove on the side of the boots where the base aluminum plate screws to the head. It should be a lot easier with pods on the bike, but it's well worth doing.
 
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