bike won't start ,driving me crazy

[coolgoldtiger]

i have a 83 gs850gl . the carbs were cleaned up and everything put together . the bike will chug when cranked with the choke on but won't run or idle. i was wondering if the plugs are getting the spark that they need. what/ how should i test that.and is there anything else i should check out. any help would be great.

[lee1rbc]

one way to check for spark is pull a plug and then re-connect it to the plug wire. Let it rest next to the engine and crank the motor over and look for spark.

Also if You cleaned the carbs the bowls might not be full of fuel yet and its still not getting gas. Check the plug to see if there wet from fuel.

[chef1366]

Use the prime function on the petcock.

[coolgoldtiger]

i checked the plugs and they are dry but black with sut. i put new ones in before i cleaned the carbs.i ran it after i put the new carbs and intake boots on it. the bike would run with a fast idle with the choke on. but after it warmed up , it wouldn't run at all. . i figured it must be becuase it was running without the airbox. so when i got the new airbox boots and filter . i put it back on and now it won't even run with the choke on. it putts like it wants to start but won't start. could it be a gas problom. i bought a new petcock becuase the p.o. ran it on prime all the time.i have it on prime now, to try to start it.

[twistedwankel]

i checked the plugs and they are dry but black with sut. i put new ones in before i cleaned the carbs.i ran it after i put the new carbs and intake boots on it. the bike would run with a fast idle with the choke on. but after it warmed up , it wouldn't run at all. . i figured it must be becuase it was running without the airbox. so when i got the new airbox boots and filter . i put it back on and now it won't even run with the choke on. it putts like it wants to start but won't start. could it be a gas problom. i bought a new petcock becuase the p.o. ran it on prime all the time.i have it on prime now, to try to start it.

The easy way to see how much gas in in the carb bowls is to remove the drain plug (in run position) and catch the gas in a spray can cap. Make sure you hold the plug against a good ground when cranking and checking for spark. Preferably in a darkened room as the spark is very hard to see. I take all 4 plugs out and check them all for spark as the engine spins much faster with no compression and is easy on the battery. While you have them out check the compression on each cylinder WOT. That will tell you if you have the valves seating properly. Did you get the carbs synchronized after cleaning? Even one dead cylinder will make for a very bad running bike. Sometimes putting the old plugs back in helps. I've gotten bad plugs from NGK in the past. Your dry black plugs would indicate an over rich condition so maybe you're set too rich now after cleaning. I assume you took the carbs apart to do that? Check for initial setting carb adjustment threads on site.

[coolgoldtiger]

my lady still won't start.

well i checked the floats by draining the gas out of the bowls. everyone is letting gas flow. i checked each spark plug for spark and found 2 things that were interesting. the one thing was 1 and 4 were dirty and sutty. 2 and 3 were clean. all had spark and both coil packs had juice going in to them. i couldn't check how much each one had. but all plugs were sparking. the one thing was while i was cranking each one at a time. when i took out number 2 and then 3 .the engine would actually run on 3 clyrs.and then it ran on just 1 and 4.but when i put all four back in .it would only chug and not catch. i don't have a compression tester yet. so i don't know if all the valves are ok. but i don't understand why i would run with only 2 or 3 plugs but not all of them. anybody got any ideas. and when you check for compes. do you take all the plugs out before cranking. or one at a time with all the others in .thanks again

[chef1366]

If you can get the engine to run warm it up before doing a compression test. Take all the spark plugs out, connect the compression tool to one of the cylinders, open the throttle all the way and hit the starter button. You HAVE to have the throttle open all the way for the test to show good numbers.

It sounds like you may have a weak spark on 1&4 coil. Do you have a multimeter? Check the voltage on that coil.

[simon kuether]

I've found a quick way to find if it's fuel or spark is to squirt Aerostart into your air box.If it'll fire your problem is fuel,if not it's spark.It won't tell you what the problem is,but it'll eliminate half of them.Don't keep using this crap,just use it as a diagnostic tool.Cheers,Simon.