Kreemed my tank, but have a problem..

[97gs500e]

I've been having problems with my bike starting the last two weeks.(Lately it would required a pushstart)   I replaced the battery, spark plugs, cleaned the carbs, and just yesterday I replaced the fuel lines and finished derusting/kreeming my tank.  

Put the bike back together, and now the engine won't crank at all.  I even recharged the battery and checked the main fuse(which is good).  The lights work, but Im getting no cranking now...

Does this mean my starter is shot?  

My local suzuki service dept. won't take my bike b/c they're way backed up for the next two weeks.

What should I do??

[Gisser]

Does this mean my starter is shot?  

The starter or the starter relay.  The relay is basically a switch which sends juice from the battery to the starter and connects to the + battery cable.  It is common for this switch to burn out and a clue is when you hear a click from the side of the bike but engine doesn't turn over.  To check the starter motor you can bypass the starter relay by connecting the + cable directly to the the out wire leaving the relay.  Hope that helps.

[97gs500e]

there isn't any clicking sound.  It's totally silent, when I press the electric start button.

[yamahonkawazuki]

clutch switch?
:dunno:

[Kerry]

I'm with Gisser -- start with basic stuff and work your way up.

1) The fact that your lights come on proves that the fuse is OK.  But it doesn't prove that the battery is powerful enough to do anything else - even to make the starter relay click.  The least intrusive test you can do is to attach a (working) car battery to your bike battery with jumper cables, make sure all of the interlock switches are ON (ignition, engine kill switch, clutch switch, sidestand switch) and hit the START button.

2) If the starter still doesn't turn, you will have to go even MORE basic.  To test the starter motor itself, start with the procedure described in

this post (have we already gone this route? :dunno: ) and see what happens.

3) Assuming another "zilch" result, check the cable connections at the battery, especially at the negative terminal.  The main, thick cable should have a solid connection to the rear of the engine, above and behind your right footpeg.  The smaller cable that splits off near the negative terminal MUST have a good connection too.  That is, it shouldn't affect whether or not the starter motor turns over ... but it has a LOT to do with making your bike actually run.

4) It's possible that the connections to the starter motor terminals are bad.  If you have to, connect a single jumper cable between the + battery terminal and the + terminal on the starter motor.  (Follow the thick black wire from the starter relay.)  Make sure the bike is in neutral, etc. as descibed in the post I linked to above.

5) If still no joy, check the connection between the starter motor and ground (the engine or frame).  If you have to, figure out a way to connect the other jumper cable directly from the - terminal on the battery to the - terminal on the starter motor.[/list:u]If the starter motor turns over in ANY of these tests, then you know it is good and you need to move up the chain to find the faulty part or connection.  If you can get the starter relay to click using a "direct" hookup, then concentrate on the interlock switches and their wires and connections.  Use starwalt's simplified diagrams, or one of the full-blown wiring diagrams floating around.

Most of all, keep a record of your tests and of any changes you make as you progress through them.  That information will be invaluable if/when it comes time to report your findings and ask for diagnostic help.  If we don't have all the facts we'll be forced to write long, comprehensive posts like this one, or make wild guesses, or just throw up our hands and wish you good luck.

[Daniely]

The child inside me REALLY REALLY REALLY wants to laugh at these funny titles every time a tank question comes up....

[97gs500e]

thanks kerry, I'll take your advice and get to work on my bike right after work tomorrow.

[The Buddha]

I have ... in addition to kerry's checks ... also had the not so rare occasion where the start button fails to make good contact between the 2 terminals.
Cool.
Srinath.

[BigRedMonkeyButt]

The child inside me REALLY REALLY REALLY wants to laugh at these funny titles every time a tank question comes up....

Yeah, I always chuckle when I see somebody say they Kreamed their tank.   :lol:

[97gs500e]

Connected jumper cables to my bike from my toyota today, and tried to start bike.  Lights still work, but still no cranking..
So I went over to walmart and bought a multimeter for $15 to figure out the electrical issues I'm having.  Hope to get this done later today..

[97gs500e]

Ahh jeeze.. My clutch handle had been unplugged the whole time (just under the bar).    Still my bike is still really hard to start, this is driving me crazy..

[Kerry]

My clutch handle had been unplugged the whole time

Any more specific symptoms we can work on?

[97gs500e]

actually yes, I'm glad you asked.

I was just able to start my bike twenty minutes ago..  It started right up and idled for about two minutes and died- it died at 2k rpms!  (the tank is full).  I thought this was weird, so I put the petcock on prime for about 45 seconds and then tried to start it again.  It started right up again, but was making all sorts of nasty popping sounds, idling very slow and totally lacked throttle response.   It actually sounded like my engine was gonna blow  

Will my bike ever run right?    :dunno:

[Kerry]

Hmmm, it may be a good thing that you got that meter after all.

This is sounding electrical - like an ignition signal / spark problem.  The main reason I say that is because the bike cut out so suddenly when warm.  It's possible that an electrical component heated up enough in that amount of time for a fault to show up.  (One which will no doubt go away as the bike cools again.)

I don't have a specific testing procedure in mind yet, but maybe you can tell us what electrical tests (if any) you have run so far.  Including testing for spark after the weirdnesses start, etc.

[97gs500e]

just did a spark test.  I have spark, except my plugs are dark and from what my repair manual says, I think they may be oil-fouled.  Bike still doesn't want to start.  

This whole thing has left such a bad taste in my mouth.  Granted my bike has 17k miles, but my suzuki service dept. is no good either.  

My next bike will not be a suzuki  :x

[Kerry]

just did a spark test.  I have spark, except my plugs are dark and from what my repair manual says, I think they may be oil-fouled.  Bike still doesn't want to start.

Oil-fouled plugs would indeed be a bad sign in a 4-stroke engine.  But I can't think of anything that you described in your original post that could have ruined your rings or valve guides.

Take a look at the Spark Plug Chart from the Haynes manual.  Read the descriptions for the 2 "dark" conditions.  I would bet that your plugs are carbon-fouled rather than oil-fouled, and that there's a perfectly logical explanation for it.  Let's take the items mentioned in the chart one at a time.

an over-rich fuel/air mixture.

You mentioned cleaning the carburetors.  Did you tweak the float levels at all?  Get ALL of the O-rings back in place?  Goof with the mixture screws at all?

You also mentioned replacing the fuel lines.  You're sure that everything got routed right? :dunno:

faulty choke operation

Did you disassemble the choke assembly (plungers, etc) when you cleaned the carbs?  If so, are you sure you put it all back together correctly?  You almost certainly disconnected the choke cable; is it reconnected correctly?

blocked air filter

This one is pretty self explanatory.  I doubt you messed with the air filter itself, but maybe reconnecting the carbs to the airbox didn't go as well as it should have?

This whole thing has left such a bad taste in my mouth.  Granted my bike has 17k miles, but my suzuki service dept. is no good either.

I understand your frustration, but in the grand scheme this bike is fairly simple.  If it's configured the same way as when it rolled out of the factory, it should run the same way too.  With "only" 17K miles the bike is far too young to die.

My next bike will not be a suzuki  :x

With a bike this simple, and a dealer you can't count on, are you sure you even want to get another bike?  How will going to a different brand improve things?  Unless you can afford to replace your bike every time it breaks, your best option seems to be to work the problem until you figure it out.

I promise you - it will end up being something simple.  It may take time and stick-to-it-iveness to test all of the possibilities, but you WILL nail it.  And then you'll feel like you're on top of the world.

So, let's keep at it.  If you have to take the carbs apart again -- or whatever -- so be it.