GS500F Died while driving down interstate now won't turn back on? Help!

[shadow8586]

Was driving my   04 GS500F back to school yesterday   when in the   middle of going up a hill I had it completely die on me and lose all power. I pulled it over to the side of the road tried  to get it to turn over. Nothing happen when I hit the ignition switch I heard one click, and that is it. From talking to a buddy that is a mechanic I found the 20 amp fuse on the right hand side of the bike (I'm guessing this is the starter selionid please feel free to correct me) after replacing the fuse in what I believe to be the starter selinoid I still did not get the bike to do anything to get it to turn over. The next thing I did was check my oil, my bike was hot at this point and sitting on the side stand but I ended up what it looked like to me of having no oil. This does not make sense however because back in August I put new seals on the  bike. I haven't had an oil leak sense, and I know my oil light works because the last time I changed the oil it came on. I never saw the oil light came on. Anyone know why my bike wouldnt start?

[adidasguy]

The fuse out in the open on the side is a spare.
The REAL fuse is under the rubber cover for the starter relay.
Check battery with a meter. Quite possibly the battery died and/or the voltage regulator died.

Oil must be checked on the center stand and level.
On the side stand you will usually think you have no oil. (Bike is tilted and all oil went to the left side so no oil on right side for the dip stick.)

[The Buddha]

Click = the solenoid is closing.
The battery may be bad, the motor may be stuck ... something is preventing the starter from spinning over the motor.
Cool.
Buddha.

[shadow8586]

Ok. So I was finally able to look at my bike since I have been busy over the past month. I was told by one of my friends  that works on bikes to by pass the starter selinoid and just hit the wires together to see if it would turn over. I tried this and the bike sounded like it wanted to start but still would not turn all the way over   . Just   to be curious if I did run out of oil I loosened the oil plug on the bottom of the bike, and oil ran out (I would believe this means I didn't run out of oil.) So then I took my bike and hooked jumper cables up to the fully charged battery  to see if it just didn't have enough juice. Hit the two wires together and still nothing. To respond to if the fuse was bad I checked the fuse and it was fine, and I also fully charged this battery before testing all of this. I have had one person tell me to check the ignition coils and someone else tell me that it might be a bad starter clutch. Any more ideas?

[Old Mechanic]

See if you can move the engine by pushing the bike in gear and then letting the clutch out carefully. Use higher gears for this test.

regards
Mech

[Soloratov]

^^ This

or, easier is pull off the right side cover (not the whole thing, just the round stator cover), put a wrench on the bolt head and see if you can spin the crank by hand. If not, then something is wrong inside the block. Otherwise, I'd follow Adidas or Buddha on the electrical route. Check wire continuity between all the switch points and starter, make sure no wires have lost connection.

[dinkydonuts]

See if you can move the engine by pushing the bike in gear and then letting the clutch out carefully. Use higher gears for this test.

regards
Mech

I have read that it is easier to push start a carb'd bike in 2nd gear. Just hold in the clutch and start pushing it and dump the clutch and it might turn over. The rest is a balancing act of either hopping on the bike and shifting it into neutral so it won't die again or doing some brake magic to keep the bike from running away from you.

[adidasguy]

Couple things.

1. We don't have a starter clutch or starter solenoid. We do have a relay (you can hear it click) that goes when you press the starter button. That makes the starter motor go and it is geared, by means of a one way mechanical clutch (that rarely goes bad) to the main crank.

2. We DO have an interlock that stops the bike. The bike must be in neutral OR the side stand up. Id not in neutral and the side stand is down, the side stand relay goes off and the bike will not run or start. On center stand, if bike is not in neutral and you raise & lower the side stand you can hear a faint click from the right side when the relay goes on and off. Best when working is be in neutral AND on the center stand with the side stand up.

3. The clutch safety switch is wired in series with the starter button. If clutch not held in or the safety switch broken or wires off, the starter button does nothing even if all of the above are OK. If in doubt, you can short the wires to the clutch safety switch. Newer bikes you can wrap a small wire around the contacts or pull the plug and stick a wire in it to complete the circuit.

4. Remember the real fuse is under the rubber cover.

5. If electricals are functioning, you WILL hear a click of the starter relay when you press the start button. There should be a chug or some type of sound from the starter motor unless the battery is too weak, the starter motor is fried or the wires tothe starter motor are not connected.

6. You know the fuse is good of the oil light comes on and the headlight works. The battery has at least some power, too.

7. A volt meter is your friend to see what voltage you really have and to trace out electrical issues.

8. Removing the right side timing cover as mentioned and rotating the engine clockwise with a 19mm wrench will tell you quickly of the engine is seized.

[shadow8586]

Ok. Well I tried most of the things you said adidasguy. When I try to start the bike in neutral with the side stand down  I do hear the clicking from the relay that you were talking about. When I had the relay connected all the bike would do when I hit the ignition button is just click, click, click, click, as I held it down. I did check the real fuse under the rubber cover that is the 20 amp fuse that is yellow the metal connection on that is still fine. Next, i took the positive and the negative cable from the relay to test and see if that would work like I said still nothing. The battery was fully charged the  last time I tested this and as you said adidasguy "there should be a cug or some type of sound" I got no sound from the engine area. Would this mean that my starter motor is fried or possibly the wires to the starter motor are not connected as you said. The only thing I did not try when i was last at home was the thing  with removing the side timing cover as mention and rotating the engine clockwise with the wrench. I'm guess if it doesn't rotate it is seized correct? 

[Soloratov]

Correct. If you can not turn it by hand then you have a problem inside the case. If it does turn, then you are probably just dealing with a bad  starter. If the battery is fully charged, and you are just getting a rapid clicking when you try to start it, that's a sure sign your motor is not functioning. Out of curiosity, does your headlight dim or drop out when you try to start it?

[shadow8586]

Yes the headlight does dim and at a certain point the battery ends up dying because of me trying to get the bike to start so many times.

[Soloratov]

Ok. So at least that tells us the power is going somewhere, and the only place for it to go really is the starter motor. My guess is that's your culprit. Pull it out, and just pop a 12v line on it, see if it spins. I would  secure it first....

[adidasguy]

Without a meter you don't know WHAT you have for  power.
You have the symptoms of a dead battery.
Get a meter.
Jump the bike from a car battery (non-running car) or use a different battery you know is good.

For god's sake people - everyone must have a meter to do any electrical work. Days and days of guessing. No meter is like checking the oil by unscrewing the drain and seeing if any oil comes out. If some comes out, there must be some oil in there (though no idea how much) Stick on the meter  probes. Less than 13v? Bad battery. Hit the starter once and it drops to 10v? Dead battery. Over 13v? Probably good. Hit the starter and drops & stays low? Bad battery. Hit the starter then voltage jumps back to 13v or more when you let up? Good battery so trace wires for other problems.

Not that hard. Meters are easier than a torque wrench. Turn on meter. Set to DC voltage scale higher than what you are measuring. So looking for 12v? Set to 20v scale. Put red probe on red battery terminal and black on black. Read meter.

Now for the locked engine - that's 2 minutes tops. Remove the 3 bolts for the timing cover. (7mm or 8mm I recall). Grab a 19mm wrench and see if you can turn the engine clockwise using the hex end of the timing rotor. If you reach "Damn - that is hard" then the engine is seized. If it turns and there are easy and hard spots - it is OK. Hard spots are where the cams are pressing the valves and then the easy spots are where valves are not pressed. If turns OK, replace cover. If not, replace motor.

(Yes I am a Grumpy Cat today. Not been riding since Monday when I got home 5 minutes before freezing hail. Been below freezing ever since and will be for a few more days. Bike Cave closed for the weekend due to cold. No raccoons to demonstrate my pellet gun to. Frustrating. So I'm grumpy.)

I should add (ok, so I will) that your bike can die if the charging system is not functioning. Your bike  will run 10 to 30 minutes on the battery alone (ask me how I know). If the regulator or stator dies, you have limited time before the battery drains and the bike dies. Rare, but the regulator can die. Usually it dies giving over voltage bike runs, but lights keep blowing out) . On rare occasions it can die and stop charging. OR the wires could get disconnected resulting in the regulator not being connected to charge the battery. With your meter and the bike running, you can check the status of the charging system just by reading the voltage at the battery while revving the motor.

[Suzuki Stevo]

Harbor Freight Tools 7 Function Digital Multimeter $3.99

[Soloratov]

Adidas got angry!  But made a good point.

[adidasguy]

Adidas got angry!  But made a good point.

Not angry - GRUMPY!
Not been riding since Monday at 5:45pm. Going through withdrawal symptoms.

But I do get frustrated with things going on and on for days and weeks discussing batteries and jumping and charging and not once was it mentioned what the real voltage was on the battery. Its like "There's gas in the tank but bike won't run very long. Must need to rip out the petcock and do crap". But have you tried RESERVE or filling up the tank? "No - because I see some gas in there". DUH! Flipped to reserve and bike ran. Went to go fill up with gas. I've personally seen that MANY times and even had emergency phone calls when a bike stopped working. True! Same thing: Go to reserve. You're out of gas. Now go fill up.

Man I will have to start a bike tonight just to relieve tension. Suzi needs a hug. Junior wants to make noise. Heck, I'll even sit on the EX.

And on Steevo's picture: go 2 clicks counter clockwise to set it to the 20 volt scale. No harm - just better readings of 12v when on a 20 volt scale verses a 1000 volt scale. Plug black probe into the bottom hole and the red one into the hole just above it. (Turn meter OFF when not in use so battery doesn't drain - then you need another meter to test the battery in the first meter).  And if you connect the probes backwards? No harm. It will just read a MINUS voltage like -12.8 rather than 12.8. Same thing - just probes reversed.

Now thanks to Steevo's picture and suggested price of a few bucks there is no reason not to go out - every one of you - and get a meter. Harbor Fright, Radio Schlop, Homor Despot, they all have meters. I'd say a meter is more important than a torque wrench. Torque you can feel and learn to feel - where bad ass tight is good for the axle but just snuggy is right for the oil filter cap. I've been taught the "2 finger torque test" by Bike Cave members. Electricity is hard to tell in the low DC range. Sticking your tongue on wires doesn't work very well. Shockingly fun - but not very precise. So skip the thrill of trying to be Uncle Fester and get a meter. Cheap insurance and gets the job done in seconds versus weeks of postings and you still don't know the voltage of the battery.

[adidasguy]

Getting over the grumpies because....

Must have been approved just today! The new UW Purple license plates just made available. This will be so cool!

I got this email:


Thank you for signing up with us to receive email reminders for your:

• 1998 SUZI GS500E with license plate HUHSKY

When it's time to renew instead of receiving a paper copy we'll send you an email.

Questions?
Email us: titles@dol.wa.gov.

[Suzuki Stevo]

Here's another Idea, a 12V accessory outlet 

Monitor Voltage


Charging/Storage: Battery Tender Cigarette Lighter Adapter


Charge phones, Zunes, Ipod's

[Suzuki Stevo]

Not angry - GRUMPY!
Not been riding since Monday at 5:45pm. Going through withdrawal symptoms.

Ride your Suzuki 185 Enduro  over to Stevo's house and I will take you trail riding in Stevo's 100 Acre Woods. I don't street ride this time of the year, but my WR250R gets ridden enough it never has to go on the charger or have Sta-Bil added to the fuel.

[shadow8586]

So after being able to finally come home for a little bit back from college to look at my bike I have a pretty good idea that the engine is or was seized . I did what you guys told me got a mutlimeter put it up to the battery tried to get it to start. Nothing really ever happened to the battery stayed at about 12 or 13v. Then I got a 19 mm wrench took the timing cover off, and then tried to turn the timing thing that requires the 19mm wrench. Turned it clock wise and it spun around still make a clinking noise. Then i plugged it up to a regular car battery and   then  tried  to get  it  to turn  over. To make a long story short after about 3 mins on the starter it turned over but then made a horrible metal on metal  noise. I am guessing either  the engine is seized or that a piston broke?  Any other suggestions on what it would be? I put oil in it before I started it as well. Just curious on if it could be anything loose behind the timing cover. I know I'm probably wishing for the best, and that in all honesty it needs a new motor. Would a new motor be the cheapest way to go or getting a rebuild kit?