Hello every one!
My name is Curtis and I am new to the whole street bike scene. I just recently bought a 1998 GS500E and I've been having some strange issues with it. To start off, my fuel line routing is completely different than all the other bikes that I have seen on here. I have one fuel line that goes straight to my carburetors with an inline gravity fed fuel filter. I do not have this petcock that I have seen on other bikes. I don't even have the switch to change the fuel from on, prime, etc. It's just one line that goes straight to the carburetors.
Now on the the issue that I have been having. At first I was only able to get the bike up to about 7k RPM's. I figured out that one of my spark plugs wasn't firing so I replaced the plugs and now I am able to get the bike to use its full range of RPM's. After riding the bike for about 20 minutes or so, it starts to bog down and eventually stall out. I've noticed that there is an excessive amount of gasoline leaking from the air filter drain hose. From what I've been reading, the general idea as to why it would be doing that is my floats are stuck open. I have yet to take the carburetors apart and look at them. Some times when I start the bike it idles very high, around 6k, and then drops down to the normal 1200 but when I go to give it some gas the RPM's go up to about 3-4k and then the bike stalls out as if it isn't getting gas or some thing.
The other issue is that my battery won't hold a charge. I've replaced the battery twice thinking it might have been a bad batch of batteries from Wal Mart. Can any one tell me the proper battery model that I should be using? And if I have the right battery, can any one tell me why it won't hold a charge? What is the GS5's version of an alternator? I have to jump the bike using my car to get it started but once it is on, every thing is fine but even after riding the bike for a while, once I turn it off it has problems starting again as if the battery doesn't have enough juice to crank the motor over.
Any advice on these problems would be appreciated as I've been reading the forums for about a month now (that's how long I've had the bike) and I have yet to find a successful solution to these problems.
Thanks in advance from a noobie,
Curtis
Either your battery is bad and won't hold a charge, or it is not being charged enough while the bike is running. Get hold of a multimeter and check the battery voltage with 1. engine off, 2. engine idling 3. revving at about 5000 rpm. Get back to us with the results!
Read this thread to learn another reason why your batteries might be having problems:
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=47604.0
If you're turning the parking light ON, the taillight will glow, though you might not notice it in the daytime. BE SURE to turn the key to the LOCK position, NOT to the PARK position.
Good luck resolving these problems; let us know what problems you find, and what you did to repair them. Your input could help others in the future...
I've never noticed the park feature on my igniton. I've never locked the bike so that might be a problem. I've never noticed any one my lights being on though because I mainly work on the bike at night when I get off of work.
Any ideas on why I would be getting a decent amount of gas in my air box? The most common cause for that would be that the floats on my carbs are stuck open right?
You really should get the service manual for the images and everything but were are what you should be looking at with the generator.
INSPECTION
CHARGING OUTPUT CHECK
• Remove the seat.
• Start the engine and keep it running at 5 000 r/min with lighting
switch turned ON and dimmer switch turned H I position.
• Using the pocket tester, measure the DC voltage between the
battery terminals, E8 and e .
If the tester reads under 13.5V or over 15.5V, check the AC
generator no-load performance and regulator/rectifier.
NOTE:
When making this test, be sure that the battery is fully-charged
condition.
STD charging output: 13.5 - 15.5V (DC) at 5000 r/min
09900-25002 : Pocket tester
AC GENERATOR NO-LOAD PERFORMANCE
• Remove the seat and left frame cover.
• Disconnect the AC generator lead wires.
• Start the engine and keep it running at 5 000 r/min.
• Using the pocket tester, measure the AC voltage between the
three lead wires.
If the tester reads under 75V, the AC generator is faulty.
STD no-load performance: More than 75V (AC) at 5 000 r/min
(When engine is cold.)
09900-25002 : Pocket tester
AC GENERATOR CONTINUITY CHECK
• Using the pocket tester, check the continuity between the
three lead wires.
Check that there is no continuity between the lead wires and
ground.
09900-25002 : Pocket tester
The regulator/rectifer i can't post cause it is a table
Thanks for the advice on the battery. From what you guys are telling me I think I have that part figured out.
Do any of you guys have any idea why I would be getting gas in my airbox though?
I just downloaded the Haynes manual on my phone so I'll be able to look at that while I tear down the bike today.
Fuel in the airbox is most likely from your carbs flooding- from that odd petcock that is installed.
Check your oil: if there was enough gas to come out the airbox, good chance it flooded the engine as well.
Ill try and do an oil change. There's no gas in the airbox right now and I just tore down the carbs and the float needles look brand new. The bike started just fine but when I tried to give it any gas it would instantly stall out. Any ideas?
There's a couple different things that can do that- one cylinder not firing, main jet too big/missing, cold engine/malfunctioning choke, etc.
If your float needles are new and it's still leaking gas, check that they stop fuel when you push up on them with your fingers. If they leak then, there could be some dirt blocking the needles. Or check your floats to see if they are sucking gas (and no longer floating). Also if the float height is way off it will allow gas in regardless.
So i tore the carbs apart and every thing looked good. Gave them a good cleaning. Every thing seemed good but I'm still under the impression that the float height is off because I cranked her over and let her run for a few seconds and after she sat for a minute I noticed gas coming from the drain hose again. I'm going to have a mechanic friend double check my work for me to make sure everything is good.
You need to get a manul and give the charging and starting system a good going over.If you jump started your bike from a running car,it probably killed the voltage regulator.The cars alternator puts out way to much amperage for the GS electrical system to handle.The leaking fuel is probably caused by the floats being out of adjustment.If any fuel has pooled in the air box,there is fuel in the oil.Gas mixes in oil,and doesn't separate like water and oil.This will thin out the oil to much.A valve adjustment and carb sync will help get the idle under control along with better performance.
http://www.bbburma.net/FloatHeight.htm
http://wiki.gstwins.com/index.php?n=Maintenance.CheckValves Make doubly sure you order 29.5mm shims.The 20mm will get spit out and damage the cam and cam buckets.
http://www.powerchutes.com/manometer.asp
I found a friend who knows a bike mechanic and he is going to help me fix it this weekend for a xase of beer. :-)
Good deal.
So I'm pretty sure that my float height is off. I've come to that conclusion based on what the bike is doing and what I've been reading on the forums. I appreciate all the advice from every body. Thank you guys. I'm glad I got the bike that I did because if I hadn't, I wouldn't have found these forums where all of these amazingly cool people hang out at.
- Curtis
*jumps in* HI GUYS!
ok yes, flooding carbs = float hights off 99% of the time, PO probably replaced and didn't set them right, check by putting a clear tube on the nipple under the float bowls and bending (without kinks) up past the gasket for the float bowls, float hight should be right at the gasket give or take 1 MM
also, GET A PETCOCK AND HOSES!
as your setup is currently, you have no reserve fuel. Without reserve your stuck basically if you ever run out of main gas. Not only that but the petcock is also there to prevent fuel from constantly running into the carbs if the float hight is off. Grab a used GS500F petcock or one of the other approved replacement petcocks off ebay or some OE parts store (bike bandit). Once all that is taken care of you will need either new stock OE fuel lines or custom fuel lines however you want to do it. Make sure the fuel lines are approved for alcohol since most of the crap you buy at the pump is up to 10% Ethanol. Once thats all done and your float hight is set you should be in good shape as far as that goes.
now...
Charging,
1. Jumping from a car is NOT BAD. 12-14V is FINE, unless something else is wrong with your bike nothing will be over charged over amped or anything of that nature. Electricity is like water, it only flows as much as you turn on the faucet. Everything has a set current draw and once it hits that it stops flowing, Cars have volt meters on there charge systems that prevent overcharging and over amping, with 1 battery or 2 as long as the car is in good working order you will not damage anything from jumping your bike.
2. When it comes to charging issues your problem might be goats... This is the delimitation of the magnets from the wall of the stator housing. It could also be bad rectifiers. Check voltage at the battery like described above. If its bad trace it to its cause, theres ways to test the outputs on all of the windings of the stator. You can also manually check for goats by pulling the right side (from behind/seated position) engine cover while your doing a oil change.
After tearing every thing apart I found out that I do have a petcock and there is another smaller line from the tank going to a little black box that sits underneath the battery. Not too sure what that black box is. Any ideas? I'll be checking the float height in the morning because I'm at work today and when I get home I'll just be heading to bed.