Sat for 2 months, now it won't idle??

[ssanderson1]

Hey guys, I've been a member of the forum for a couple years now, but couldn't remember my login info for some reason...weird.

Anyhow, I have an 81' GS650 G. I've owned it for 5 years and it's been great. BassCliff and I ended up adjusting/fine tuning my valve clearances and syncing my carbs about a year and a half ago. Bike has run great until today.

It's been sitting in my garage untouched for the last 2 months. I dusted her off today, pushed the start button......nada. Wouldn't start. I gave her a little push start....still wouldn't turn over. Finally got her to start w/ the choke all the way out. I had to sit there holding the choke out while the engine warmed up. Whenever I tried to give it gas, it would die. After 5-10 minutes of holding the choke out, it finally let me give it a little gas, but only with the choke half-way out. I put it in neutral, held the choke out and pushed the bike up to 5 mph before putting it in gear. I was able to keep it running at this point, but only by giving it at least 1/4 throttle. If I dropped below 1/4 throttle, it would die. From 1/4 to 1/2 throttle, the engine sounded really muffled as well. Sounded normal beyond 1/2 throttle.

I've had the carbs apart a couple times and thoroughly cleaned them. It's a nightmare and I really don't want to do it again, so I'm hoping that's not the issue, but I bet it is. Not sure which jet controls low RPM, but it could be plugged up?

Anyway, any opinion you can offer would be GREATLY appreciated. Sorry for the long post, just wanted to be thorough.

 

[Nessism]

Maybe you should sell the bike. Old bikes require maintenance, and if a simple carb cleaning is a "nightmare" you might want to just get rid of it.

 

[ssanderson1]

Haha. Not looking to sell. I'm not sure what kind of extra time you have...but it sounds like a LOT more than me! : )

Cleaning the carbs isn't hard or overwhelming...it's just time consuming. I'm sure you can appreciate that fact, no?

 

[Nessism]

Haha. Not looking to sell. I'm not sure what kind of extra time you have...but it sounds like a LOT more than me! : )

Cleaning the carbs isn't hard or overwhelming...it's just time consuming. I'm sure you can appreciate that fact, no?

I understand time constraints. Regardless, the bike needs maintenance. Have you ever adjusted the valves?

 

[ssanderson1]

I understand time constraints. Regardless, the bike needs maintenance. Have you ever adjusted the valves?

Yeah, I mentioned in my first post that Bass Cliff and I adjusted the valves a year and a half ago... We synced my carbs as well. The airbox boots and intake boots are a year old. It also has all new spark plugs and o-rings as of a year ago. I've been through all the normal maintenance these bikes require...

 

[Nessism]

Good job doing the valves. Cliff's a nice guy.

Only thing I can suggest is dump half a can of Seafoam into a full tank of gas then take the bike for a ride to make sure you have fresh gas in the tank. If you get really lucky the grunge will break down. Otherwise, you are looking at a carb removal. Most likely all you have to do is clean the pilot jets but there is no assurance on that.

Good luck

 

[1_v8_merc]

If you want to cheat, you can pop the tops off the carbs, and blow some compressed air down threw the main jets...gently. It will usually disturb the carbs enough, and knock the gunk out of them.

There is also ether...which is not great for your engine, but it usually forces the engine to fire up hard and can clear the carbs out once it gets the engine going.

 

[ssanderson1]

I'll try the Seafoam first... Hopefully that does the trick. If not, I'll just have to pull the whole rack I guess. I really don't mind taking the carbs apart and cleaning them...it's getting them on and off the bike that's the biggest hassle.

Thanks for the input!

Just got to thinking...Anything wrong with just spraying carb cleaner into the jets(assuming I'm taking them apart partially)?

 

[Guest]

I had that happen recently to my 1000, it sat too long (so much rain this summer hadn't had much chance of getting it out) Drained out the old gas and put fresh in, removed the air screws and shot a little cleaner in there,
it worked, I also gave it a healthy dose of Star Brite Star Tron to help keep it from happening again.

 

[Ice]

Start your bike at least once a month, man!

 

[tatu]

There is also ether...which is not great for your engine, but it usually forces the engine to fire up hard and can clear the carbs out once it gets the engine going.

Squirting ether into the engine will do nothing to help carbs that couldn't be helped by not using ether.
Wretched stuff belongs in the same pile as wd40 and pinkertons snake oil and its mythical cures, causes more problems than it cures.
Starting the engine hard on that stuff will just wreck it.

 

[tom203]

Yes, try the Seafoam- it's worth a shot. Your pilot jets are clogged and maybe seafoam can find a way to reach them. On a ninja, I drained fuel bowls partially and then injected straight Seafoam down fuel line, got bike to start , ran a bit, shut off and let rest overnight. Next day, after a reluctant start and a cloud of white smoke, the idle circuits were much happier. If you can't run bike regularly, best to dose it with Stabil- ethanol is nasty stuff.

 

[cowboyup3371]

Start your bike at least once a month, man!

Just starting your bike does nothing for it if you don't get that engine good and hot. If you're just going to start it to get things moving, either take it for a long ride or properly winterize the thing.

 

[tatu]

Just starting your bike does nothing for it if you don't get that engine good and hot. If you're just going to start it to get things moving, either take it for a long ride or properly winterize the thing.

+1 on that, If it doesn't get good and hot enough to burn off the condensation it will cause corrosion in the combustion chambers, valve/seats and rot your pipes out really quickly, all this is helped by the acid residues of the burnt fuel.

When I leave my bikes I drain the fuel out of the carbs via the brass screw and leave them out, so that it all dries out completely. Its never been an issue to restart after long lay ups.

 

[Guest]

Yes, try the Seafoam- it's worth a shot. Your pilot jets are clogged and maybe seafoam can find a way to reach them. On a ninja, I drained fuel bowls partially and then injected straight Seafoam down fuel line, got bike to start , ran a bit, shut off and let rest overnight. Next day, after a reluctant start and a cloud of white smoke, the idle circuits were much happier. If you can't run bike regularly, best to dose it with Stabil- ethanol is nasty stuff.

+1 on that but I would add that if you always use ethanol, you always use some Seafoam in the tank.

What I would do and have done is take the tank down to around 1/4 or so (about 1 gallon of fuel) then add a $3.99 can of Berrymans Carb Cleaner (not the dip, the stuff in the pour in can). Get it going the best you can, get it out on the road and run that puppy!

 

[ssanderson1]

Finally had time today to try the seafoam. I only had about a gallon and a half of fuel in my tank....I added about half of the seafoam can. It started right up with the choke all the way out. Still wouldn't let me give it any throttle until it was warm, at which point it would only let me give a little throttle w/ the choke all the way out.

Finally got it moving, but it still wouldn't idle, or even stay running if I let off the throttle. If I completely let off the throttle while moving (3rd gear, 40mph) it would pop/back fire. It would pop/backfire again when I gave it a little throttle. As I continued to give it more throttle, the engine did nothing until ~ 1/2 throttle, as which point the RPMs would take off. Pretty difficult to ride, since the engine would die every time I tried to stop unless I kept the RPMs above 4500.

Looks like I'm pulling the carbs...........bummer.

 

[Guest]

Finally had time today to try the seafoam. I only had about a gallon and a half of fuel in my tank....I added about half of the seafoam can. It started right up with the choke all the way out. Still wouldn't let me give it any throttle until it was warm, at which point it would only let me give a little throttle w/ the choke all the way out.

Finally got it moving, but it still wouldn't idle, or even stay running if I let off the throttle. If I completely let off the throttle while moving (3rd gear, 40mph) it would pop/back fire. It would pop/backfire again when I gave it a little throttle. As I continued to give it more throttle, the engine did nothing until ~ 1/2 throttle, as which point the RPMs would take off. Pretty difficult to ride, since the engine would die every time I tried to stop unless I kept the RPMs above 4500.

Looks like I'm pulling the carbs...........bummer.

Pilot jets are plugged almost certainly. I like Seafoam as a semi-regular additive but for this job I would have done the Berryman's. Its very tough stuff.

 

[Guest]

Finally had time today to try the seafoam. I only had about a gallon and a half of fuel in my tank....I added about half of the seafoam can. It started right up with the choke all the way out. Still wouldn't let me give it any throttle until it was warm, at which point it would only let me give a little throttle w/ the choke all the way out.

Finally got it moving, but it still wouldn't idle, or even stay running if I let off the throttle. If I completely let off the throttle while moving (3rd gear, 40mph) it would pop/back fire. It would pop/backfire again when I gave it a little throttle. As I continued to give it more throttle, the engine did nothing until ~ 1/2 throttle, as which point the RPMs would take off. Pretty difficult to ride, since the engine would die every time I tried to stop unless I kept the RPMs above 4500.

Looks like I'm pulling the carbs...........bummer.

Now that you got seafoam in your carbs, letting it sit with it in might allow things to loosen up. I'd give it another run before ripping out the carbs.
What's the worse that could happen? it doesn't work and you pull your carbs.

 

[tom203]

Now that you got seafoam in your carbs, letting it sit with it in might allow things to loosen up. I'd give it another run before ripping out the carbs.
What's the worse that could happen? it doesn't work and you pull your carbs.

I agree, nothing to lose by being patient. Bike will run poorly until most of Seafoam is consumed.

 

[Guest]

I agree, nothing to lose by being patient. Bike will run poorly until most of Seafoam is consumed.

I have used Seafoam in the past, I now use StarBrite StarTron. I also have some marine Stabil but haven't used it yet, and I may never, I need to read up on it to make sure it has a cleaner, otherwise I'll stick it in the lawnmower or something. I know that StarTron treats the gas for ethanol, but it has a cleaner in it also. So far, so good. But I learned that if I'm going to put gas in it, I either need to put the StarTron in it first or ride it a bit after I put gas in it and StarTron later. Reason being, I need to ensure that whatever gas sits in those carbs has the StarTron in it. Simply putting gas in it, then riding it for a spell, then putting the conditioner in the gas only to let the bike sit will treat the gas, but what about what's already in the carbs? That conditioner won't get to the carbs unless you run out some of that fresh gas.