Running fine, then sudden loss of power

[rpickle]

Hello folks. Had run the 850 for over a week after installing new gaskets down to the case, (which, by the way fixed my oil leaks), and she was running fine. Anyway, I was on the freeway cruising at about 75 when she started to buck and loose power. It was all she could do to maintain 60-65mph. Luckily, there was a roadside rest just ahead. I pulled in and visually checked things out. Nothing unusual. Oil level was fine. Let her sit 15 minutes or so then kicked it over. Still running baddd. I was at least 35 miles from home, so thought I would nurse her home. Made it back. I smelled like raw gas/exhaust. The next day I started it, running but no power, won't idle.

Could I have jumped a tooth on the cams? I have't pulled the valve cover off yet. Is that a reasonable shot though? Doesn't seem to be just one cylinder acting up. Whole motor lacks nut.

Appreciate any help.

Rick

[bwringer]

Sounds like two cylinders aren't firing, which would make me take a reeeeeaaal hard look at the wiring leading to the coils.

If you still have points ignition, you'll also want to investigate all that weird primitive stuff under there. And then replace it with a Dyna electronic ignition ASAP...

The suddeness and "out of nowhere" nature of the event point to something like an loose or broken wire suddenly cutting off half your ignition. The bike will limp along as you describe on two cylinders, and partial lack of spark would also lead to the gas smell -- it's still sucking in fuel and air, but there's nothing to make it burn.

I'd also change the oil, since all that raw gas wasn't good for the pistons and cylinder.

[rpickle]

Thanks bwringer. It is a points system. I've got a spark tester, so will give that a go. Would be nice if that were it. Planned on doing the oil change once I figured out what was wrong the her.

Appreciate the help.


Rick

[Anonymous]

My bike was doing similar things. Turned out to be some rust or something clogging up one or two of the carbs. It actually cleared itself up and has been running fine since. I plan on taking the petcock out and cleaning the filter as suggested by the board members here. Good luck!

[rpickle]

Checked points, coil connections, junk in fuel filter, nothing. Pulled all 4 plugs and they were still wet. In the meantime, I was charging the near dead battery. I fired it up afterwards and it seemed to run better. Smoked a bit at first, but I think it was burning off extra fuel. Could the low battery have caused this?

Thanks.

Rick

[focus frenzy]

Checked points, coil connections, junk in fuel filter, nothing. Pulled all 4 plugs and they were still wet. In the meantime, I was charging the near dead battery. I fired it up afterwards and it seemed to run better. Smoked a bit at first, but I think it was burning off extra fuel. Could the low battery have caused this?

Thanks.

Rick

if the bike is not charging and the voltage got low enought, yes, that would do it.

[SqDancerLynn1]

Make sure the charging system is working properly. If you have the original coils I would sugest replacing them. You can usually get a set on ebay from a late model Bandit or such for $25. I still have the points on my 850. I have installed 3 ohm coils in place of the OEM 5 ohm ccoils. I have added a 2 ohm balist resistor to the 12v line to = 5 ohns. Has been working fine for the last 10K miles. When I feel like installing the Dyna ign that I bought 1 1/2 years ago I will just remove the balist resistor

[rpickle]

Well then, I'll have to dig into why it isn't charging. Thanks for the feedback guys. SqDancerLynn1, so why the 3 ohm coils if you are installing a 2 ohm ballast resistor inline with the coil? Are they better coils?

Thanks

Rick

[SqDancerLynn1]

No The points ign system uses 5 ohm coils Elect ign uses 3 ohm coils
SO 3 ohm coils + 2 ohm balast = 5 ohms. I bought a dyna ign that I am going to install probably next year when I change motors & convert my GS850 into a GS1000 . When I install it I will remove the balast

[Anonymous]

If you have the original coils I would sugest replacing them. You can usually get a set on ebay from a late model Bandit or such for $25.

It seems pretty much any GSXR or Bandit coils will work. I installed a set off a 93 GSXR600 on my 1100 and they fit perfectly onto the existing coil mounting tabs (nice work, Suzuki! ) and work no problem. The only thing I had to do was install blade connectors onto the wiring harness to match the GSXR coils. The original coils had the wires permanently attached when I got in there, so I cut them loose and crimped on connectors. Note that newer GSXRs (2000+, I think) have the coil-on-plug set up and you cannot use that with the GS ignition system.

Keep an eye on E-bay for GSXR coils and you can get a set cheap - I paid $20USD with shipping and you can do better if you are patient. I saw sets go for <$10 after I got mine...


Mark

[rpickle]

Thanks mark m. I bought a new battery today because I really don't know the background of the battery that is in it. It could have a bad cell. With the new battery installed, I will be able to go thru the checks laid out in the stator papers.

Appreciate the advice.

Rick

[rpickle]

Howdy. Sorry it has been so long between posts. I took the bike out today after installing the new Interstate battery. Bike idled fine, but when I got out I knew right away it still was not right. Missing, bogging then it would try to "catch". I stopped at the Shell station and filled her up. On the ride home, no better. Went thru the whole TS chart from the Stator papers. Narrowed down to the reg/rect as having one line bad. Would this be causing it to run crappy? The new battery should have overcome any lack of electricity in the short-term, right? Oh, I thought I'd pull the reg/rect off of the '80 gs1000g I just picked up and it had 2 lines that tested bad. Both were the static tests, with the reg/rect pulled from the bikes. Sheesh.... I ordered the beefed up reg/rec from Electrex, but the dang thing is backordered 30 days! What a *@%^$*@%^$*@%^$*@%^$y riding summer this has been so far....

Well, what can I do? Thanks for any help/insight.

Rick

[SqDancerLynn1]

Pick up a used reg from a 78-82 Honda & wire it in Problem fixed

[Dink]

Dont stuff around with a used Rec/Reg get a new aftermarket one, replacing it fixed an unstable idle problem I had. The problem had mystifyed mechanics, including Suzuki Tech hotline ( I work for a Suzuki Car Dealer)
Dink

[rpickle]

All right..... I'm confused.... I work on multi million dollar flight simulators, have a bachelors degree in electronics, but I still need to be spoon fed! My Clymers manual says that, when testing the stator, anything less than 75 vac means the stator is crap. In the stator papers, I have 2 voltages to go by, 60 vac or 90 vac. There is quite the discrepancy here. Mine read approx. 70+ vac on each phase. Is this enough or not? On one account yes, but on 2 others, no! Help, please.....

Thanks

Rick