Engine dies suddenly

[Anonymous]

Hi!
My current problem on a 550 E '82 is that the engine sometimes dies, not slowly but suddenly, like if you turn the key left. Quite harmful while driving in the middle of heavy traffic. I mostly happens when I have been on the road for an hour, make a stop and starts again. Then aftger 10-15 minutes it stops. Starts kindly again if I wait for two, three minutes. I changed alternator and regulator/rectifier two years ago (Electrex), and all has worked out fine since then. The plastic around the connectors to the regulator/rectifier are a little burnt because of heating. Could it be an electric problem?? I am so happy to get some advice about where to start searching. Thanks! :roll:

[Pillage]

One possibility is that the gas tank is not venting properly and you are experiancing vapor lock. Check the vent hose off of the gas tank filler cap to see if it is clear; or the next time it happens open the filler cap and listen for a woosh of air as you open it.

[earlfor]

Re: Engine dies suddenly

The "clue" is that the plastic around the connectors to the regulator/rectifier are burnt. When connectors, grounds, wires, etc have corrosion, the electrical flow produces more heat due to increased resistance. If corrosion continues, eventually all electrical power can be converted to heat and nothing will work. I would inspect and clean every electrical terminal, plug, and ground I could find on the bike. Particularly the ignition wiring, regulator/rectifier wiring, and rectifier ground wire, and fuse box connections.

Earl

Hi!
My current problem on a 550 E '82 is that the engine sometimes dies, not slowly but suddenly, like if you turn the key left. Quite harmful while driving in the middle of heavy traffic. I mostly happens when I have been on the road for an hour, make a stop and starts again. Then aftger 10-15 minutes it stops. Starts kindly again if I wait for two, three minutes. I changed alternator and regulator/rectifier two years ago (Electrex), and all has worked out fine since then. The plastic around the connectors to the regulator/rectifier are a little burnt because of heating. Could it be an electric problem?? I am so happy to get some advice about where to start searching. Thanks! :roll:

[Anonymous]

Hows your battery. Low batt voltage will cause rect/reg to let alot of current to be produced which cause the excess heating of the wires. This
is a good reason to never jump start your bike unless its an emergency.

[1100ED]

Well or sure anuthing that just drops dead like that is electrica.. Ill second Earls suggestion to go over all conections--Front to back. You could save yourself some large repair bills

[bybowtie]

blistering or brittleness on electrical wires means excessive heat..Excessive heat means resistance. Resistance in turn leads to low voltage. Low voltage leads to possible spark and or charging issues..
Several things can cause this and I believe Earl hit it right... If you let it go on to much longer youll likely be calling Electrex for a replacement....
Also I would check check and recheck all grounds and areas where wires may come in contact with metal.. Although bare wires would likely result in a dead short (also blown fuses) its not always the case depending on load,sometimes it will just "cook" the wire thus leading to the afore mentioned case....
And on a final note do you have any kind of alternate cooling method for the R/R?? A simple cooling fan will do wonders..
Good luck let us know what you find It can help others

[Pillage]

If it starts right up after a couple of minutes then I'm not following why you guys think it's an electrical problem and not fuel related?

[bybowtie]

its the suddenness of the it.. If it were a casual dying then it could possibly be fuel related.. when a combustion engine runs out of fuel it will slowly sputter or "get weak" with little or no throttle response. When you lose adequate spark then you lose it all and It dies...

Do me a favor and check your spark plug boots as well. I had a honda that did a similar thing and it turned out to be a cracked spaprk plug boot(they were plastic not the rubber as in these) Sometimes they can work their way back up the plug and lose contact..
Simpilar is always better :P

[1100ED]

If it starts right up after a couple of minutes then I'm not following why you guys think it's an electrical problem and not fuel related?

We have had the Kaw1300 die on us because of the tank vent being squeezed between the tank and the frame. It runs then starts to starve--then it stalls-- restarts and stall in a second. Let it sit for a few minutes then the cycle starts over again; but no instant drop out. That is just my own experience. Happened on a model T my brother in law was restoring--The gas cap was vented but it was clogged.

[skip]

Tell the truth scotty, you bought that model T new from the dealer.

[1100ED]

Tell the truth scotty, you bought that model T new from the dealer.

when i was 25 years old Skip

[Anonymous]

I'm with pillage seeing as I had this problem last weekend. My bike quit dead on me twice due to a faulty petcock. After switching to prime everything was okay. The burned wiring is an issue though, ignoring it will leave you on the side of the road eventually.

Cheers, Steve

[Anonymous]

Thanks!!!

Hi!
All your tips are really useful - from gas tank venting to electric corrosion - and I'll try them next weekend, keeping brain and hands occupied. And tell you about what happens - good running or big catastrophe

[Anonymous]

Olle,

Along with cleaning the terminals and connections, be sure to check that your fuses are not shaking about in their connectors, it seems that this has been a problem as of late. I used plastic ties to keep mine from shaking about.

Roman.