Need Immediate help with an Electrical Problem (I think)

[KCDre]

I am an avid reader of GSTwins and this is my first post.  I am bummed to have to make a repair post cuz my  93 Gs500 has been running great for over a year.  Basically this is the problem:  Over the winter I kept it in covered parking, unridden, for close to a month.  I go back to the bike and try to get it started, it gets spark, but wont turn over. I blew some spark plugs, cuz I was too dumb to realize not to turn the petcock so as to create a vacuum. I replaced the spark plugs and the bike now gets occasional spark.  It will give spark, but wont turn over, and after a few tries stops giving spark.  It actually turned over for about 30 seconds and was running low idle, and then it died.  Its got plenty of juice in the battery and all lights are bright.  I have heard talk of flooding the carbs, sadly, I am ignorant when it comes to that sort of stuff, and my handy Clymer book, doesnt really help me out too much.  Any thoughts on this are VERY VERY VERY much appreciated, cuz if I dont get them from you guys then I have to pay the mechanic 71.50 to just tell me whats wrong, and then....well you know what happens next.

Andre

[Kerry]

I didn't quite "get" the spark plugs / petcock / vacuum part.  :dunno:

Do you happen to have a can of starter fluid around?  I don't suggest that you "go crazy" with it, but it might get the engine to turn over a few more times and "loosen things up".

If you're SURE that the battery has plenty of juice, the maddening thing is that nothing has changed and yet something has.  :x  In that case the next suspect is usually the fuel itself.  Do you have any idea how old the fuel is?  Not just how long it sat still with the bike, but how long beforehand that it was pumped into the tank?

Just for kicks, shine a flashlight into the fuel tank and see if you've got rust developing.  Between possible rust and possible "gummy" fuel, there may be enough to explain the symptoms.

BTW - how full is the tank?  And did you use any fuel stabilizer after your last fillup?

[KCDre]

Concerning the Petcock/Vacuum thing:
I though the petcock created a vacuum for the fuel to enter the carbs since its not fuel injected.  Judging by your confusion acout my comment I guess I dont have a clue what I am talking about.
I will look at the bike tomorrow and look at the gas in the tank specifically.  The starter fluid you mentioned, where would I put that?  And how much is "going wild"?
Thanks for your prompt reply Kerry
Andre

[Kerry]

If there is any question about whether you're even getting fuel to the carbs, then here are a few things to check:

1) Perhaps you have forgotten to pull the choke lever towards you?  It can be easy to overlook something like that when you haven't ridden in a while.  My bike (with stock jetting) won't start without choke until summer, and sometimes not even then.


2) Make sure the petcock attached to the underside of the fuel tank is ON.  I don't know how it could have been turned OFF if you didn't do it, but humor me here....

If you kneel on the right side of the bike and look across the frame right behind the engine you should be able to see the petcock:



If the slot is vertical then it's ON and you can move on to the next step.

If the slot is horizontal then you can either get fancy with a LOONG thin screwdriver    or you can remove the tank mounting bolts and lift the right side of the tank (after pulling the tank rearward a bit) to gain access to that petcock slot.


3) If there is any chance that you're low on fuel, put the frame-mounted fuel selector switch in the PRIme position.  This is the position that will allow fuel to fill the float bowls regardless of vacuum - whether the engine is running or not.  Assuming there is any fuel to flow, that is....




4) If there's still no progress, THEN try the starter fluid:



Just a 1 second "shot" should do.  By not "going crazy" I mean don't just keep using starter fluid over and over, even if it seems to help the bike start but the engine keeps dying.  That starter fluid is some pretty volatile stuff - I've heard that it can be kinda hard on the engine.   :dunno:

I'm mainly trying to see if the engine starts right up with the fluid.  If it does but then dies, we need to continue down the diagnostic path.

[gsJack]

I've been riding all winter for over 20 years now in NE OH and all six bikes I've had ( 4 Hondas and 2 GS500s) are hard to start after they have sat for over a couple weeks in cold weather.  If I can't get them started before the battery runs down, I just jump start them.  

My 2 GS's sat for about 3 weeks in January and neither would start before battery was too low.  I jump started the 97 GS from the car and rode it that day and then jumped the 02 from the 97 the next day and rode it.  Charged them both back up by riding.  Been riding more frequently since then and both have started OK.

When trying to start a bike in cold weather, the starter motor is taking most of the voltage from the battery and you are getting a very weak spark resulting in hard starting.  Plugs are gas fouled quickly. Hook it up to a car battery with jumpers and it turns over fast and as soon as you get a good connection it fires up every time.  Plenty of voltage available for a hot spark.  Blow dries the wet plugs quickly. Don't run the car engine while jumping the bike.

[dgyver]

Check your plug wires and wires from the coils to the igniton for any corrosion. Typical cause of low/rough idle with intermittant spark.