Help Please

[P0dewa]

I have a 1982 suzuki gs550L i have done alot of stuff to this bike i have changed the spark plugs and oil and oilfilter and i also rebuilt my carbs i am have a problem with gas getting to the engine i am getting spark and the engine is turning and the starter is also i am baffled at what the problem could be any help or ideas would help me a ton?

[waterman]

First off, want to say welcome to the GSR forum. I also own a 82 550L, decent little bike.

Lets take your gas problem one step at a time. At the fuel valve (petcock) on tank you should see 3 positions, Res for reserve, On for normal operation and Pri for prime. There should be two hoses that connect to petcock, a large fuel line and a smaller vacuum line. Suzuki utilizes a vacuum petcock which will allow fuel to flow when engine is running. In your case, it is possible that the carb bowls are empty from rebuilding. In this case, set your petcock to Pri so fuel will fill bowls.

As for starting, a good, fully charged battery is a must. Especially for a bike that has sat awhile. If you battery is suspect, run jumper cables from a non running car battery. Normal pos to pos and neg to neg post will work fine.

Most GS's will need choke to start. Position choke to half or more and then crank engine without giving any throttle. Turning throttle while cranking defeats the choke circuits in carbs and will prevent starting.

One other concern, please make sure airboxes and mufflers are installed prior to starting, these engines are very picky about airflow. Plus it makes it easier to diagnose what is wrong with bike. Good luck and tell us how it goes.

[P0dewa]

i even replaced the fuel petcock and i know that fuel is getting to the carbs because the float bowl are full of fuel i have even tryed to jump start it like you said i am just not getting fuel to the engine i just cant figure it out.

[rcoville]

I'm no expert by any means, but the first thought that popped into my head was the intake valves. Do you check them?

[P0dewa]

No but thats a good idea i will check them. Thank you

[waterman]

If you pour a little, half a teaspoon or less or gas into sparkplug hole, will the motor fire or not. Please don't get carried away with gas, don't want to hydralock motor. This will at least tell you whether it is a fuel problem you are chasing.

There are many reasons why motor may not start. How well were carbs cleaned and rebuilt, when was last time valve clearance was checked, are the spark plug wires correctly routed? Many questions, any one can prevent motor from running.

[P0dewa]

Waterman, i have tryed that also and she wants to start when i do that. My friend that is helping me thinks that we should try a compression check to see if the the intake valves are cracked.

[bmac]

Starting issues

Welcome to the site for great information and good people. Has the bike been running before you did the carbs? If so, were there any issues with starting before the rebuild. I would suggest doing a valve adjustment if you don't know the history of the bike. Were the pilot jets removed, cleaned and unplugged. This with valve clearance are issues with hard starting. (Chuckle) This is a little trick to try, I learned this on the forum many years ago and have used this a couple of times. Blow into the vent tubes on the carbs, a small burst into the vent tubes and try to start it with choke and no throttle. Also, you do have the air box on and fastened, right? Also, Basscliff will be here to give you a big welcome and more direction. Bob

[waterman]

Waterman, i have tryed that also and she wants to start when i do that. My friend that is helping me thinks that we should try a compression check to see if the the intake valves are cracked.

I hope by cracked you mean not closing fully. Most likely it will be an exhaust valve that gets burnt and doesn't close fully. Either way, a compression test may give you an idea of what motor health is. Just make sure throttle is wide open to give most accurate results. Likewise, they generally are ran with warm engine but in your case, not really possible.

[P0dewa]

Bmac i really appriciate the help and ideas. the bike was running before the carbs got rebuilt not good but atleast could get it started and the guy that did the rebuild on my carbs did replace all the jets and stuff. yah i am just frustrated at this point with the bike.

[spyug]

How good is your battery? It may look good and might even be new but you need to know it charges properly, will hold a charge and doesn't discharge too quickly. Even brand new batteries can look to be fine but are actually defective under load.

If the battery is older it may not hold a full charge and or it may run down very quickly when cranking the bike. If the battery lacks juice it may turn the starter and still not fire. Seeing that you have spark also is no guarantee it will fire as it may not be sufficiently 'healthy" of a spark. Seems odd but it does happen. If the battery falls to under 12.4v when turning the bike over it usually will not fire in my experience.

Start with fully charging the battery. It should be 12.9v or so at rest. More is better. With a hard starting bike like this I'd recommend adding an automotive or boat battery in series as sometime you need to crank for a while to actually achieve fire in the hole. A larger battery will have more capacity for cranking. Fresh plugs too as they also can be a part of the problem.

An important test iof the battery is to see how quickly and how low the voltage drops as you try to start. Have someone crank the bike as you hold a multimeter to the battery. If voltage drops suddenly and dramatically ( a couple of volts or more in under a minute or so of steady cranking) then I'd say you have a battery issue. A good battery should not discharge more than 1 volt or so in several minutes of cranking.

On my resurrected Kat project ( rebuiltcarbs, freshened head and freed up stuck pistons, fresh plugs) it would not fire for love or money. Valves set, freshly rebuilt carbs, fresh battery, auxilliary battery and all. Cranked like a sumbitch and nice healthy spark. Juice to the carbs but not fire no how. "Bout to drive me nuts ( read all about it in the archives). After numerous frustrating days one of the members suggested a novel fix.

With the airbox or filters off cover the mouth of the carb with cling film ( Saran Wrap or the like). Use rubber bands for secure fit. Poke a small hole in the center. Choke on full and crank away. In my case it fired right up and ran fine from then on. I'm not sure of the exact cause of the problem and solution but it did work for me. So carbs can also be part of the problem.

Having resurrected half a dozen bikes in the last few years I've seen this hard or no starting syndrome a time or two now. Its extremely frustrating to check that everything seems to be there i.e. spark and juice but you have to be certain especially that the spark is strong and that again means a good, powerful battery.

Check over your electrics and see if that might have a part to play.

Good luck with it and let us know when you get it to run. It will run eventually.

Cheers,
Spyug.

[waterman]

Bmac i really appriciate the help and ideas. the bike was running before the carbs got rebuilt not good but atleast could get it started and the guy that did the rebuild on my carbs did replace all the jets and stuff. yah i am just frustrated at this point with the bike.

I worry that the guy whom rebuilt your carbs may have inadvertently worsened your situation. Most of the jets in the carb kits used to rebuild carbs are inferior in quality to the original parts. Likewise, they may not be properly sized for your specific application. I have had great success simply cleaning original carb parts and reinstalling them with new o rings. In my limited experience with carbs, the jets don't seem to wear out.

If it is possible, I would try to obtain original jets and try them. If not, at least verify that the jets in your carbs are the same size as stock. Otherwise, you may need to fine tune your carbs to work with motor. While you have carbs apart, check float levels.

I think you will find that most of us do our own work, since we either can't find someone competent or reasonable in cost. Over time, we learn what works best, and hopefully can pass it to others so they have an easier time in getting motorcycles running right.