Mo' Problems - Engine no longer kicks over

[Evil_Muppets]

Hey All,

My 1990 GS500 has been purring along quite nicely since the last lot of issues were fixed a few months ago. Recently however it has become harder and harder to start. This made sense, since being in Australia, the weather has been miserably cold and the GS is notorious for cold weather starts. A couple of weeks ago however, I got it started (after about 30 minutes of coaxing on prime with various choke settings) and rode it down the hill to go to the local fuel station, where the engine promptly stopped working as I rode around a corner. Nothing I could do would get it to kick over again, so I pushed it home and garaged it until I had some time to do some wrenching and see what might be the problem.

This week I had some time, so I started to get her naked and have a look at what the issue might be.

• Battery is new and holding charge. I've got a mains charge as well and made sure it was topped up before trying to kick the bike over again
• Fuel is new. I thought there might be gunk in the tank, but I've fully drained the tank and all the fuel is particulate free. No signs of rust in the tank nor blockages around the cap vent
• Breather hose for carb/petcock route is clear and has no blockages
• Carbs are both getting equal amounts of fuel
• Spark plugs look like the mixture might be a bit rich, but both match the proper colouring on the plug charts
• Right spark plug cable might have a break in it. When I removed the plug, part of the plug cap came out of the cable too, there was a loose (ceramic?) piece sitting between the plug and the plug cap that is now falling out freely. Probably going to replace the cable next
• When I drained the fuel hoses on the tank mounted petcock, the last part of the drain had some black filmy fluid in it - potentially oil. I may have cracked a gasket, or the head. Have not gotten that far yet. Not sure how to diagnose a head issue, and there isn't really any significant oil loss occuring
• About to pull the carbs off and clean them for good measure. Its about time for them to be cleaned any way.

So far, I've come up trumps and I'm not sure what I should look at now. I'm hoping it's not a cracked head or gasket, but I'm really in unfamiliar turf with that. The most I've done on the bike has excluded the main parts of the engine so far, but i'm willing to give it a go if someone has a resource I can look at.

Any ideas?

Cheers,

Muppets

[fakejimmymorgan]

grab the haynes online book.  Id replace the spark plug cables as they're relatively cheap.  Have you checked that you actually have spark?

[Evil_Muppets]

Is checking the spark plug just a matter of removing the plug from the engine and leaving it connected to the cable, then kicking the bike over? I did that and got a spark definitely on the left, pretty sure nothing on the right. Maybe the cable has died. Any ideas about where you can get replacements? Or is it just a matter of splicing a generic one back in?

Still seems pretty odd that it would spontaneously die.

[fakejimmymorgan]

No spark could lead to lumpy running at best or flooding on that side which would cause it to stall.  I'd see about getting a new one from a suzuki dealer.  Its a pain in the bum to take the tank off to replace it but once its off its quite simple.  May want to check the coil on that side with a meter too. 

With most things on these bikes isn't really rocket science.  The simplest explanation is often the right one.

Jimmy

[Big Rich]

If there is a damaged cable, replace it for sure. I'm too cheap to go to a dealer for a new one, so I'd look on ebay first.... but that's just me.

When were your valves checked last?

[EdChen]

If there is a damaged cable, replace it for sure. I'm too cheap to go to a dealer for a new one, so I'd look on ebay first.... but that's just me.

When were your valves checked last?

I didn't see any mention of valves, and it was the first thing I thought of too. I'd definitely agree to check that first.

[Evil_Muppets]

Hey guys,

Valves were checked about 3 months ago. The bike was non-functional and beyond my poor wrenching ability so I took it to a mechanic to be fixed. As part of the work they checked the valves, so I'm not convinced that they're the issue - but I suppose they could be. To be honest, the bike was not well maintained before I bought it so there could be larger issues at play. Tank is already off (i took it off to get at the carbs and to drain it out and check for rust), so I already have access to the cable.

Theres a local shop with a couple of GS's he's parting out so I'm going to see if I can get one of the cables for cheap from him. First step I guess.

I'll try that, and then failing this fixing it, I'll check the valves again.

Cheers for all the help guys. Much appreciated.

Cheers,

Muppets

[Suzuki Stevo]

Hold up Willis....how did you get a kick starter?

[Janx101]

Kick starter? .... (checking/reading) .... kicking the bike over.... ahhh!

Term of reference I reckon! .... turning the engine over..., hitting.the starter..... neither of which actually involve inversion or sharp impact! .... terms of reference...

[Evil_Muppets]

Yep kicking over =  turning over. No kick starter involved. Although, in the weather I get, it would almost be preferable some days.

Also, I replaced the ignition cable and the cap for the spark plug. Starts perfectly now. It must have been limping along with spark from one side only, it sounds MUCH better than before. Hopefully this gets me a few more miles on the road!

Thanks for all your help guys.

Muppets