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My baby just wont go!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anonymous
  • Start date Start date
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Anonymous

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I've been trying to bring to life a 77 GS550.

I tried the MMO tips posted a week or so back. Baught a new battery and charged... she lit up like christmas. Changed the oil, filter. Pulled plugs dropped some MMO down into the cylinders. Let is sit over night. Pulled off the tank and dumped the old gas. Added new gas.

Now when I hit ye ol starter, she makes all sorts of noise like she REALLY wants to start but just cant. I checked the plugs and they were wet, once, twice and even three times. But I was getting spark.

So now I'm letting it sit again, so I can give it another try. This time I'm going to pull the air filters off and give them a cleaning first... they are pretty dry and I'm sure full of garbage.

Any other tips on what I should do? I'm about ready to push it up the hill and pop the clutch to choke some life back into it and burn off all the MMO.
 
Re: My baby just wont go!

Since youre getting fuel into the cylinders and its pretty difficult to keep from getting air, I suspect an ignition problem. The 77 has points ignition.
Have you checked point gaps and point condition, replaced condensors and static timed the engine? If the timing is off, you can be getting all kinds of spark at the plugs, but it still isnt going to start or run.

Earl


GS77 said:
I've been trying to bring to life a 77 GS550.

I tried the MMO tips posted a week or so back. Baught a new battery and charged... she lit up like christmas. Changed the oil, filter. Pulled plugs dropped some MMO down into the cylinders. Let is sit over night. Pulled off the tank and dumped the old gas. Added new gas.

Now when I hit ye ol starter, she makes all sorts of noise like she REALLY wants to start but just cant. I checked the plugs and they were wet, once, twice and even three times. But I was getting spark.

So now I'm letting it sit again, so I can give it another try. This time I'm going to pull the air filters off and give them a cleaning first... they are pretty dry and I'm sure full of garbage.

Any other tips on what I should do? I'm about ready to push it up the hill and pop the clutch to choke some life back into it and burn off all the MMO.
Click to expand...
 
I agree with Earl: perhaps you should check the ignition timing first.
If the ignition timing is correct, you should be able to get the engine running: give it full choke, and don't touch the throttle!
If the bike has been sitting for a longer period of time, you might need four or five attemps, depending on the temperature. A GS can be very could blooded, especially the ones with slide carbs.

Good luck!
 
It's probably just MMO fouling the plugs. Leave the plugs out and crank the motor a little to see if you can blow any of it out of the cylinders. You might want to lay a rag across the head to catch it if any does blow out. Maybe even try a little starting fluid to get it to fire. You should remove the plugs from the wires so you don't have any chance of fire.
 
As matter a fact the plugs are wet everytime. And they smell like the MMO. I'm gonna go your route first and then go deeper into the ignition if that fails.
 
GS77 said:
As matter a fact the plugs are wet everytime. And they smell like the MMO. I'm gonna go your route first and then go deeper into the ignition if that fails.
Click to expand...
clean the plugs with starter fluid . If they fouled badly with the marvel the might not come back to life but usually do. like posted before remove all polugs and turn the bike over till you get all the mystery oil out of the cylinder. reinstall the plugs after you spray them clean with starter fluid and try to start the bike if it doesnt fire spray a little starter fluid into the carbs. if it still doesn't start its probably ign trouble.
 
hands in the air, screaming at the sky.... why why why?????

OK, so I , to the best of my ability got the rest of the MMO out of the cylinders. Bought new plugs, put new plugs in..... oh please just give me a sign.

Nothing

Nada

Zip

So I push it up the hill.... I'm poppin the clutch (it worked on cold november days when my baby was working) Down I coast... putter putter, zip.

i tried this 5-6 times, each time letting it coast longer and building up more speed. And still nothing.

Does the starter affect the result of rolling starts?

Does this sound like an electrical problem or a engine problem?


So as an admitted novice with the desire to learn, is this something I can make happen myself or should I turn it over to the pros?

Please advise... I WILL listen!!!!!!!
 
Are you sure your getting spark to the plugs? Pull them out and plug them in, lay them on the block (to ground them) and turn the bike over. You should see the spark arc from the plugs to the block. If no spark, then you got electrical troubles. If you got spark, then it's probably what earlfor said above about timing issues.
 
Should i pull them ALL out at the same time .... or check each one seperatly?
 
It doesnt matter. If theyre going to fire, the will fire either way. :-)
Its very late now and I will get back to you on this tomorrow when I get in.

Earl


GS77 said:
Should i pull them ALL out at the same time .... or check each one seperatly?
Click to expand...
 
When cranking over the bike I find that it helps to hook up jumper cables to the battary from my car. So when I hit the start button the bike cranks fast. This has helped me get my bike running after it has sat for a wile
 
I agree with Bekius. Since I had a starter problem I tried to start the bike by pushing it several times down the street. It didn't even give a kick.
With my starter fixed and jumper cables connected to the car i got it running in a matter of minutes.
 
What about hooking it up to my little battery charger?

The Battery is brand new and I just charged it. So is hooking it up to the jumper to give it that extra oomph?
 
Timing is easy to check and a likely culprit, BUT are you still sure the cylinders are getting gas? Remember that wet stuff on the plugs turned out to be MMO. That's worth another check too.
 
If the plugs are fouled badly by oil, you can clean them by blocking the plug upright in a vise and using a propane torch to burn off everything on it.



Not likely you will do any damage to the plug, but remember to let them cool down before re-use, and wear eye protection when doing this as tiny ash particles can come off and get blown back at you.

Use a wire brush after the flame to remove all ash. Use it lightly.
 
Since you have a new battery and you have charged it, its a pretty safe bet your problem isnt low battery voltage. Consequently, more voltage isnt going to do a thing to solve the problem. You never answered my first questions. I asked/said, " Have you checked point gaps and point condition, replaced condensors and static timed the engine? If the timing is off, you can be getting all kinds of spark at the plugs, but it still isnt going to start or run."
Also, you say you dumped the old gas and refilled the tank with fresh gas. Did you check the bottom of the tank for sludge before putting in fresh gas. Did you drain all the old gas from the float bowls before putting fresh gas into the tank? Did you clean out the float bowls?

Earl




GS77 said:
What about hooking it up to my little battery charger?

The Battery is brand new and I just charged it. So is hooking it up to the jumper to give it that extra oomph?
Click to expand...
 
Earl... yer killing me!!!!

I have not checked points or condensors or timing.... That was next... I'm doing this as I read it in the manual.

I also did not probably clean the gas out as well as I thought I had. II did not go any deeeper than the tank. So I guess i have more to do for the fuel system cleaning.
 
:-) :-) :-) :-) I would pull the tank, and empty it. Check the tank for mush in the bottom, check the container I drained the gas into for sediment.
Remove the float bowl bottoms and make sure they are clean,
Set the static timing. Check your battery at the battery terminals and then
switch the ignition on and check the input voltage to the coils to insure there are satisfactory harness connections and no voltage drop. Put the + test lead on the coil positive terminal and the negative test lead to ground with the ignition switched on. Input voltage reading should be very close to battery voltage. If it isnt, you will need to clean up your connectors.
Forget jumping with bigger batteries. Thats no solution or fix.

Earl



GS77 said:
Earl... yer killing me!!!!

I have not checked points or condensors or timing.... That was next... I'm doing this as I read it in the manual.

I also did not probably clean the gas out as well as I thought I had. II did not go any deeeper than the tank. So I guess i have more to do for the fuel system cleaning.
Click to expand...
 
Make sure the gas tank is clean, the petcock also and then the float bowls
Pull both jets in each carb and look thru it to see the shiny, concentric hole (Look thru it at a light source) If you can't see a perfect, shiny hole, drop it in some cleaner (I use spray carb cleaner in a film canister so it can be capped and agitated)

Those jets need to be perfect - DO NOT poke anything thru the holes to clean them out - brass scratches easily and then it's time to order new ones - scratched ones will drive you crazy with bad carberation :twisted:
 
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