another gs stalling...stumped...please send help!!

[frankieG]

make sure the little holes in the gas cap are clear, especially if your problems tend to come up in hot weather

[vwlover]

If the problem doesn't happen under load it's not lacking fuel. If it was a starvation problem then all the bike would want to do is idle and at WOT she would buck choke and die same goes for the peacock. Check the coil and the ignition control module.

[Wrecent_Wryder]

  I hope you got your oil leak fixed!!

Thanks, yes, I kept tuning it while all this was going on, and it's riding better than it ever has (saying that in a post is probably enough to jinx it).

In fact, I rode for about 90 miles yesterday, just enjoying that feeling, a glorious day out when everything is working smoothly and perfectly.

Tell me again about how this is saving gas?

[starwalt]

General Bump for curiousity's sake---

- in fact, we drained the tank,  examined interior with a flashlight ...

One would hope the Seafoam would rid the carbs of any water accumulation that *may* have gotten in there. I also thought that if H2O were in the fuel tank, it could be hitching a ride to the carbs intermittantly. It would settle in the bottom of the carbs and as the bike was moved about, get mixed in with the good stuff.  That usually explains the rusty crap found in the belly of neglected carbs.

I hope the shop drains the carbs as well as other checks. Tis a shame our little GSs don't have more brains to tell us what is going on. On the other hand, if they were too smart, they might tell us what for! 

[blueskygal]

The bike sits in the shop. Still.  Mostly cuz I made the sales manager mad at me, so he ordered that my bike be serviced last after any other bikes.  I know this b/c he bragged to me about it today.

The good thing is that the mechanic allowed me to come back and watch him do a few things (bike went up on the rack at 5p and they close at 6p).  Smart guy and walking me thru everything. SO FAR - the floats are fine, the lines from tank to carb are clear. The carb is clear but the o-rings around a valve - type screw had tiny pieces of debris and some darkened areas.  The diaphragms in the carb are fine.  The air filter was due for a change at the service a few weeks ago, but they didn't change it out b/c they didn't have one in stock.   And that was all that they got to do. 

So no riding for me until this weekend, fingers crossed!!

[starwalt]

The bike sits in the shop. Still.  Mostly cuz I made the sales manager mad at me, so he ordered that my bike be serviced last after any other bikes.  I know this b/c he bragged to me about it today.

Gee, what'd ya do to tick him off so much? And on top of that, what kind of shop would punish a customer for having a problem? 

Do we all need a group hug and sing the Barney song?

   

[blueskygal]

Starwalt - all ya gotta do to piss off a mechanic wannabe manger type who seems to like steroids and alcohol is ...

be a female who won't take BS answers to her questions.   It's real easy to do!!  Sorry - I generalize and don't mean any harm. I am just still angry.

Basically, I wouldn't let the guy pat me on the head and tell me "there, there, dearie, it's just a motorcycle"....

UPDATE - they took the carb apart and put it back together and....took it for a test ride and....still stalling.    They suggested I go ahead and take it on my 1200 mile round trip vacation planned for today and see if it happens to me too.     I just grabbed the bike and got out of there as fast as I could....which wasn't too fast cuz she was stalling on me...and took her to a noncertified zuki shop. 

But the mechanic formerly raced suzukis and is a small shop.  I gave him the history and he listened to everything and just went step by step thru the differential you guys gave me.  He has a few ideas - and is going to pull the carb out again.

I am driving my Sky on vacation.  Please keep your fingers crossed for me!! thanks for your help!

[starwalt]

I was going to recommend another wrencher as it was obvious they couldn't help you much. If they had just come out and told you they didn't have a clue why the bike was stalling/dying, at least they would have your respect. Also, there is no incentive for a shop to do warranty work before paid work. That's just bad customer relations and service.

This reminds me of a visit to my personal automechanic a couple of weeks ago...

I was ferrying a car to him and in the first bay was a 68 Camaro. It seems noone in town could keep it running on idle. Classis Edelbrock manifold, Holley 4 barrel, etc. No ECU, no sensors, no EFI, etc. Just points, distributor, a coil, and a battery. The "new age" auto techs didn't know what to do with a machine that didn't connect to a computer.

My mech had it purring in about 15 minutes. The owner is going to get in soooo much trouble with that car. 

I give up. What's a "Sky"?

[Jay_wolf]

A Saturn Sky ? ive got testdrive unlimited , its on there 

[bigfatcat]

I'm looking forward to the solution to this stalling prob.  Sounds like they've given the entire fuel system a good look...

Therefore I'm betting electrical - like maybe the signal amp or whatever the gs 500 has that does the job of breaker points

[blueskygal]

A Saturn Sky ? ive got testdrive unlimited , its on there 

Yep, I've got a great Saturn Sky that is my second vehicle - usually try to ride the bike!  I love the car.  What is "testdrive unlimited"??

[blueskygal]

I'm looking forward to the solution to this stalling prob.  Sounds like they've given the entire fuel system a good look...

Therefore I'm betting electrical - like maybe the signal amp or whatever the gs 500 has that does the job of breaker points

I am looking for a solution to this stalling problem too.  OK - I picked it up from the second shop today.  After tearing down the carb and cleaning it out, they found some oil/crude on the 'valve cut off' which he says is and ELECTRICAL plug.  They cleaned it off (only exterior).  I cannot find it in my Clymer. 

I drove 5 miles and it was idling at 3500 in first at the stop lights.  I went right back to the shop and he adjusted the idle down.  Drove to the end of the block and it stalled. 

I came home and got my mechanix glove and drove around town pulling over, upping the idle....downing the idle....I cannot get the bike back to it's happy place.

Just to share how desparate I am - I did all this tweaking this afternoon between hail storms, gusts of wind, pouring rain and lots of other stuff.

WHAT DO I DO NEXT   Electrical?  Keep bumping around the idle?? Isnt that a bandaid??  Start praying or put an ad in the paper??!! NO I love my bike!!

Thanks!
Carlie

[bullseye]

I think you need to get a fuel injected bike!!

I'm at a loss too, I told Carlie I'd ride it for a long period this weekend and duplicate the prob. I've tried to figure out how a rider could input that would cause these intermittent probs and just cant.

I 'm beginning to think electrical, The other thing I considered was clutch drag stalling the bike but it even does it higher gears.
Chris

[blueskygal]

OH OH OH - AND I forgot to add this piece - 

the idle will not stay where I adjust it.  eg - if I set it at 1200 and then ride a bit, it changes either up or down.  Not just cold/hot bike.  But I was riding around for hours this afternoon - it will change thru out the ride. 

Is that any clue?   

forlorned in columbus ga
Carlie

[Wrecent_Wryder]

Dunno, but I'm thinking electrical now.

1. You said it cuts out with no sputtering or distress signals. Much more likely to be electrical than fuel from that.

2. You mentioned that it doesn't "sound" as if it's idling as fast as the tach says it is. That's sort of subjective, but does it always sound the same? Maybe it's running on one cylinder at idle? Maybe intermittently?

I think I'd shift from focusing on fuel to focusing on spark. After the time when you "might" have gotten diesel or bad fuel, have the spark plugs been pulled? Anyone actually checked for spark in each at idle?

Just a thought.

What year is it? The later models have a TON of hoses and places for a vacuum leak...

[blueskygal]

Dunno, but I'm thinking electrical now.

1. You said it cuts out with no sputtering or distress signals. Much more likely to be electrical than fuel from that.

2. You mentioned that it doesn't "sound" as if it's idling as fast as the tach says it is. That's sort of subjective, but does it always sound the same? Maybe it's running on one cylinder at idle? Maybe intermittently?

I think I'd shift from focusing on fuel to focusing on spark. After the time when you "might" have gotten diesel or bad fuel, have the spark plugs been pulled? Anyone actually checked for spark in each at idle?

Just a thought.

What year is it? The later models have a TON of hoses and places for a vacuum leak...

Its an 04, plugs were changed after the possible diesle incident, BUT you bring up good question if spark was checked at idle - not sure about that. Something else to check. How would we be able to tell if running on only one cylinder during idle?  The idle is sooo erratic - it is like it has a mind of its own now!! 
Thanks!!

[mp183]

When I had erratic idle ages ago, it was time to do the valves.
I would adjust the idle and when it got hot the idle would shoot up pretty high.
I would adjust it down and it would be too low.
Even when it was full warmed up the idle was not consistent.
Would have to rev it high when taking off to keep it from stalling.
Felt like it was lacking power when taking off.
Just because they said the did the valves does not mean they did them
or did them correctly.
Carbs get blamed for too much stuff.
On the other hand there is nothing like a FI bike.
Can be 15 degrees and I hit the starter on my V-Strom and it just starts.
Good luck.

[Wrecent_Wryder]

Its an 04, plugs were changed after the possible diesle incident, BUT you bring up good question if spark was checked at idle - not sure about that. Something else to check. How would we be able to tell if running on only one cylinder during idle?  The idle is sooo erratic - it is like it has a mind of its own now!! 
Thanks!!

Sorry, I missed this...

Well, the easiest way to test is one that I hesitate to recommend. That's just pulling the plug wires, one at a time, when it's idling. It should start "loping" when you pull either plug wire. If one kills the engine, and the other makes no difference, then you've established which cylinder is not firing.

The reason I hesitate to mention it is that the plug wires can give you a heck of a jolt. I've never done it with a bike, and the last time I did it was with an older car where the coil was a lot bigger (used to be one coil for ally the cylinders), but it was not pleasant. If you're not careful, or you're better grounded than you expected when you grab hold of that wire... well, I've never actually heard of anyone being killed that way, but for a fraction of a second you may well be in doubt...

You can also take the plug out, put the wire back on it, ground it, and see if it's sparking. You still have to be careful, though, and that just tells you that there's spark, not that the cylinder is actually firing.

[vwlover]

I wonder if the TPS has a burn in . To check that yourself all you need is a DMM set to DC volts and probe the signal wire and ground out the other probe. Then just open the throtle slow and watch the volt climb ( from 0 to 5 volts) and backoff slow. You must do it real slow because the DMM is only refreshed about 4 times a second. You should see the volts cllimb smoothly . If when you are backing off the throtle it just jumps down to 0 volts that could be your problem. TPS sensors do wear out beacuse of the mechanical contacts inside them. If that checks out fine the plug wires need to be check. If they have a high resistance the wires could be using up all the energy that is needed to make the spark. Some IGN. control MODs only use a small dwell time at idle ( when the throtle is closed ).  If that is the problem the spark is being blown out at the higher rpms when the throtle is being closed. I had a Toyota once that did the same thing when getting off the freeway and the only problem was the plug wires, replaced them and the problem just went away.

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

'nother thing to check that just occurred to me because it's happening to me, and it's such a "duh" thing that I didn't think to check it... what's the inside of the tank look like? Mine developed some decent surface rust, and I believe it's that which is causing my problem.