Overpaid for a lemon and have put another ~$800 into it. Still not running 1992

[troyboy4life]

So some asshat sold me a '92 GS500 and my dumbass bought it from him after a ~20 minute test ride.  Everything seemed fine.  On the freeway on my way home it broke down, that was in August 7 months ago.  Since then I have slowly and accidentally spent $800 on three mechanics trying to fix it.  What happens is that it pretends to run out of fuel.  I "we the mechanics and I" thought it was electrical, then we thought it was a bad Kreem job in the tank, then we thought it was the carbs.  I kinda want to sell it for whatever I can, take a loss then get a brand new bike on a loan.  I thought I would come to you all for some guidance before I move forward.  Please help me?

[joweaver88]

Funny enough I am in the exact same boat... I overpaid for mine, and literally exactly the same thing happened. Broke down on the way home and it seems to run out of fuel, except it isn't running out of fuel. I am about to put a lot more than $800 into mine to rebuild it from the ground up. I feel your pain man... but take solace in the fact that the GS is about as simple as motorcycles come which makes them easier to work on. You should try doing some of the work yourself, no one including mechanics will give it the attention that you will. If you want to sell it, fine it might be easier for you... but the bike may be incorrectly configured or a part or two may be broken, but unless it is burnt to a crisp it is fixable.

[Janx101]

Inline fuel filters? ... Lose them!  .... Split/clogged fuel lines? ... Clean them! ... Bunged up petcocks? Clean them! ... Bad battery? .. Replace or charge properly... Missing or wrongly connected vacuum lines? ... Get a diagram or pic and sort them out... Etc etc

Start with simple and easy to check things lads, work through it from the top... Ask plenty of questions here, even 'simple dumbass' questions that you think 'couldn't be that cos I looked' ...

Patience and sitting down beside the bike with some quiet time is really handy.... One thing at a time... Good/bad ident on each single thing, fix or move on ...

The bike is simple, tractor tech ... Wiring, fuel, connections of both .... A lot of times it's just a basic issue .... Finding that issue with patience is the tricky bit..... The satisfaction when you do and she purrs sweetly .... GOLDEN!!!

Not knocking your mechanics troyboy, but unless you trust them beyond reproach... Mechanic$ love $pending time $orting through i$$ues with $low and $ly method$ ..... $ending you the work$hop bill i$ even $weeter!!!!

Basic equipment, Clymers or Haynes workshop manual, basic tools of good quality and correct type, multimeter, patient and clear mind..... Oh and a milkcrate or comfy stool to sit your bum on beside bike while you work!!

Simple first... Clear it .. Move on ... When you get into a tricky bit or something seems not quite right ... Ask! ...

Sorry to keep repeating... But sometimes it takes a few times to tell people eh!? 

[piresito]

Sometimes fuel starvation happens...if it's happening full throttle uphill at 100mph I think you will have to live with it unless you change the stock petcock.
If it's not happening in that situation, then you might have some venting clogged or pinched fuel line!

[robfriedenberger]

Janx101

Forgot a 6-pack!

[The Buddha]

Its a common phenomenon for newbies to think everything that isn't wrong ... is, and everything they think is fine, is bad.
Well sort it out - keep posting about your problems.

And no, dont listen to adidasguy - he's just messed up 

Cool.
Buddha.

[illenium]

I would start with cleaning the carbs agan and a compression test. Equipment from Haborfreight for compression check > 30 bucks. Since you said it was running just fine
this is likley not your issue BUT will show if its worth working on to begin with or if you are in for new rings / top end rebuild so thats a good start.

If compression ok, you're golden. If you dont care for compression, proceed straight to:

1) Drain ALL the fuel, check for particles
2) Take out the fuel shutoff and see if the filter in the tank is clogged, you need to replace that gasket, the bolts could be hard to get off, carefull not to damage the tank.
3) New Spark plugs
4) Clean filter (WRITE DOWN IF ITS A KN FILTER (red fabric) OR STOCK (white paper) or FOAM
4) Clean that carb again, blow through all passages, WRITE DOWN JET SIZES FOR US, put em back together and on, fill her up with fresh gas, see if problem is gone.  Post your results.

If not:

4) take carbs off again, spray on dish detergent with water, using no more than ~10 psi spray air in the ports and see if bubbles form. Dont cover anything up or you get too much
presure and it will leak if it doesnt already. You can also look for greenish discolorartion
around the float bowl and the top that indicates vaccum leak and gas escaping


If it runs fine and suddenly chokes out on the hwy 9 times out of 10 you have fuel starvation
due to some sort of clog in the carb or in the tank / fuel lines or you dont get enough
fuel to begin with because the filter mounted on the inside of the tank (ontop of fuel shutoff)
is too dirty for good flow

One other thing i noticed on some old GS500 carbs is that the choke rail on the side of the
carb likes to come off on the older (89-96?) carburators, that will alow air to get in the carbs and that throws everything off. So look carefully on the soap test. There are only two ports that should let air out and they are clear as pie meant to be there when you see them

Dont get discouraged, these bikes are great.

PS: I like piresito thought too, if the tank can't vent you wont get gas, check your gas cap / assembly also to ensure it can 'breathe'

[BockinBboy]

I've copied some info below that I posted on another thread today regarding a non-runner - it definitely applies here.  There are some things you may be able to fill in for us still though, such as: Anything not stock? (air filter, jetting, exhaust, etc.) What do you mean by broke down, what did it do, how do know its pretending to be fuel starved?  Does anything indicate that it is such as plug color, or other symptoms?  Does it start or run at all?

''In a case such as this, I'd do a top-down approach to eliminate possible problems all down the way.  If you intend to keep the bike and ride it, I'd replace things along the way... If not, I'd ensure things are clean and work as they should along the way.  Start with fueling (and air), then to spark, then to compression... Its systematic, and it starts with the cheaper/quicker stuff first.  Use stock configuration, line routing, etc on everything - its a proven setup guaranteed to work. Start with the tank(fresh fuel), vent, tank filter, tank petcock, fuel lines to frame petcock, frame petcock, fuel line to carbs - check through those fix, clean, or replace as needed before going to the carbs.  You can bybass this if you do an auxiliary gravity fed tank setup to eliminate all those variables to focus on the everything after that for the time being too.

At the carbs you determine if you need to open them up again, assuming the jets have already been cleaned - specifically pilots and choke circuit for starting issues.  Check float height with the clear U-tube method.  If that doesn't check out, open 'em up and figure out why - clean/fix/replace as needed.  Now you are at the airbox - make sure fliter and box is clean and double check for any possible leaks - clean/fix/replace as needed (note the manifold connections are a 'popular' leakage area).  The other part of air that most often gets looked over by assumption is exhaust, check that nothing is blocking your exhaust... Then you can move onto spark/electrical - go ahead and replace plugs, its a cheap thing to completely knockout, and bikes love new plugs.  Have your meter handy if your strong spark doesn't check out on both sides.

This systematic approach is the only way to ensure you're not going to be shooting at a moving target...''  You need to confirm everything that feeds the engine is working as it should in order to have a reliable runner.



- Bboy

[troyboy4life]

Sometimes it will run for 2 miles and sometimes it will run for 30 miles.  Then it just kinda bogs out, chokes up and dies.  I've had the fuel lines, petcock, fuel tank, spark plugs, voltage regulator all replaced.  I suppose I should just list the things that have been done to it since I had it.  It will run for a while, (longer at lower speeds) then it "runs out of fuel" then I let it sit for 2-10 minutes and in runs again for a shorter amount of time than the previous stretch of not dying.  Each time after it dies it takes a break but runs for shorter and shorter.

Add water to battery and check electrical - $20
     Mechanic change

Redo the fuel lines and speculate a bunch of stuff - $ 90
    Mechanic change

New Voltage regulator - $230
     New mechanic says the battery was being overcharged and boiling the water out of the battery.

     Return to mechanic
New fuel tank, petcock, add an inline fuel filter, clean carbs - $300

     Return to mechanic
Adjust carb slidy thing or something - Free

Between each trip to the mechanic I am able to put 15-50 miles on the bike each time.

I suppose it was ~$700 if you include the gloves and all weather cover I bought for it.

Also I used the same gas cap on the new fuel tank.

[rexpepper651]

when this happens when riding try opening the fuel filler cap if you hear a wooosh noise when you open it. you need to clean the little ball vent in the cap.http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=41061.0

[Badot]

Odd that I don't see common problems listed here to check...

First, are you familiar with the operation of the vacuum petcock? When you seemingly run out of gas, do you switch it to prime before you try to start again? Also, have you tried running the bike exclusively in prime to see if the problem persists? If this fixes it, it's a problem with the vacuum operation of the petcock.

After that, when the bike stops, try opening the gas tank -- if there's a whooshing noise, try running for a while with the cap cracked open. If this works, it's an issue with your tank vent.

After that, check your gas lines -- if they're too long and get too close to the engine, you will boil the gas in the lines.

All three of these issues will cause symptoms similar to what was described.

[illenium]

Sometimes it will run for 2 miles and sometimes it will run for 30 miles.  Then it just kinda bogs out, chokes up and dies.  I've had the fuel lines, petcock, fuel tank, spark plugs, voltage regulator all replaced.

if you already have a new tank and presuming the mechanic cleaned the carb you
most definitely have a vacuum issue at the tank somewhere (gas cap or petcock)

[The Buddha]

Tank may be not venting ... Do you have a tank bag ?

You mechanics are wasting your $$$. No one should be replacing anything electrical without understanding WTF they are doing. Voltage regulator ? WTH, was your battery dying ? What voltage was at the posts when it ran ? This bike will run about 15 min on a fully charged battery if the alternator was making no charge. More if you disconnect the headlight and taillight.

Cool.
Buddha.

[adidasguy]

Run with the gas cap open.
Also run with petcock in PRI position.

Mechanics may have connected petcock up wrong. And if no tank venting, the above 2 will eliminate the issue.
Also be sure you have a full tank. What looks like a lot of gas can really be under a gallon. 

[fyberoptic]

Hey troyboy, I had a similar problem with my GS when I picked it up. It would ride fine until the engine, and everything around it would get.

After days if troubleshooting this is what I found.

So I pulled off the cover of the signal generator to take a peek at it, and while looking at it I noticed that the gap between the rotor and one of the pickups on the signal generator was a lot larger than the other. So I loosened the two screws that hold the lower pickup on the SG and moved it closer to the rotor. Put everything back together and went for a 25 mile ride the other day with absolutely no problems.

I think the problem was caused due to the signal generator heating up, and expanding just enough so that one of the spark plugs would stop firing, and would cause the engine to die.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[troyboy4life]

Tank may be not venting ... Do you have a tank bag ?

You mechanics are wasting your $$$. No one should be replacing anything electrical without understanding WTF they are doing. Voltage regulator ? WTH, was your battery dying ? What voltage was at the posts when it ran ? This bike will run about 15 min on a fully charged battery if the alternator was making no charge. More if you disconnect the headlight and taillight.

Cool.
Buddha.

They replaced the voltage regulator because they said that the battery was being overcharged and was boiling the water from the battery.