Please help, My engine is not turning freely.

[denzilite]

Hie,
After fully charging my battery ,i try and crank the motor but it seems to be dragging like the battery is flat.So i can not fire her up.PLEASE HELP....


Edited:- No need to shout.

[banner001]

so all you have done is take the battery out, charge it, put it back and now its not working.

i take it you have checked the battery voltage to make sure its over 12.6V?

have you touched the starter motor, any of the cables going there, or the main earth cable?

[denzilite]

hie,thanks for the reply.
the thing is i just bought the bike and it was running but not in perfect condition.It had a problem with the carbs as it was flooding.So i took it to a mechanic and he did an overhaul, since then it has never fired up again.But before this the motor was firing up but would soon cut off after taking it around the block.The thing is i'm new to these four cylinder bikes and i'm not really sure where the mechanic went wrong.PLIZ HELP..

[banner001]

ok so your problem is NOT related to the battery...some people...

you need to go through this methodically so you can tell us the definite source of the problem...unless you have bought an utterly knackered bike it will probably only be one thing.

1. remove your fuel tank and airbox, take off all the HT leads, remove all the spark plugs, put a spark plug in the HT lead, place the threaded bit against the frame/engine block (dont touch the bike at this point) and press the starter. if that HT lead/spark plug is ok you will get a spark, it should be blue and slightly bright. Do this for all 4 and tell me if you have 4 sparks.

2. with your spark plugs out press the starter, you will be able to hear is the engine is rotating, or use a torch to observe the top of the piston, you might be able to see it moving. Tell me if your engine is turning over.

3. open up your airbox and remove the air filter, clean it and put it back. let me know the condition of it before/after.

you need 4 things for your engine to fire, ignition (point 1), compression (slightly point 2), air (point 3) and fuel...if all the above are fine then its a carb issue...there is a small chance that your compression is low as well, but if your carbs are fine then it has to be compression, if you can get hold of a compression guage, and your engine is turning over, you can test compression after point 2.

let us know how you get on with these 3-4 points and we can then help you if you need your carburettion sorting.

[CaNsA]

PLIZ HELP

PLEASE HELP.....

You are getting help.

[banner001]

no more help from me until he does these 4 things, if he cant do them, send the bike to a garage instead.

[denzilite]

Hie,
Sorry for taking so long ,i got tied up for the past days but managed to get time to follow on what you had outlined.I bought new spark plugs and I tested all 4 plugs and they all seem to be firing when earthed against the frame.When the plugs are removed the engine turns quite well .But when i put them back in the motor seems to struggle.But then again i noticed something ,when i was cranking the motor suddenly changed speed and cranked very fast .After a few more cranks it changed the speed to dragging again.I checked the wiring connections and they seemed to be some grease in between the connections.I tried cleaning them one by one but still no change.The curb was backfiring on the 1st and 4th cylinders.Unfortunatley i could not get hold of a compression tester and i would have taken it to a garage but there is none in my city (Bulawayo).I opened the air box and replaced the air filter, the old one had collected a lot of dirt.There is also some backfire coming from the exhaust.
This has become so frustrating indeed.

[banner001]

ok, do you have access to a multimeter, or a volt meter?

if so, set the meter so that it will show at least 15V DC, connect the cables to the battery and tell me the voltage.

with cables connected crank the engine and note the voltage that the battery pulls under load.

if the battery is over 12.4V then it is charged ok, i will test my battery tonight to see what the voltage drops to when i press the starter, but i would guess it drops to ~11V.

If these are ok then its not your battery, you have checked your spark plugs so your ignition is ok...it sounds like your starter motor is on the way out, or you have a problem with one of the connections going to the starter motor. also, check your battery-to-earth lead (connects to the top of the engine transmission casing), the lead from the starter relay to the starter motor, as well as the leads from the battery to the starter motor relay (located with the 30A main fuse on the LHS of the bike, near to the battery)...but i would guess its the starter motor, not too hard to get over here, but im not so sure about zimbabwe...?

the grease in the connectors is fine, it helps to keep out moisture, as long as there is a good connection there it doesnt matter if there is a lot of grease.

it is possible to repair starter motors, i tried...and failed, so i wont recommend you doing it...others have done it fine, but not me.

another thing to test is, find your starter relay, you will see 2 big wires bolted into the relay, one goes to the starter motor, the other goes to the battery. turn ignition on, find an insulated screwdriver and use it to bridge those two large bolts, the bike should turn over. if it sounds the same as when you hit the starter button, then your starter relay is fine and i wound be pretty sure that its a starter motor that is in the process of dying.

again, you need to tackle things one at a time, sort out the starter motor, then you know its only 2 likely things, compression and bad mixture.

incidentally have you tried to bump start the bike? when my starter motor died in august i had to bump start the bike to get to work and back, you can do it in 1st gear, just make sure to really drop and release the clutch and as you drop the clutch really push the bike forwards, with practice i always got it to fire on my 2nd or 3rd attempt. PS watch out with your calf muscles, the foot pegs can give you some nasty bruises. if you fail to start it on your own get someone to help push the bike with you when bump-starting. if you dont know how to bump the bike...

1. key in ignition, turned to ON.
2. turn off all lights/anything draining the battery.
3. roll the bike forwards slightly and engage 1st gear, bike will now only roll with the clutch pulled in.
4. sit on the bike (so you wont fall over), pull in the clutch and push against the ground until bike rolling as fast as you can go.
5. get some weight over the rear wheel (i.e. sit down), drop the clutch and keep trying to push the bike forwards, you should hopefully feel/hear the bike trying to fire up the engine.
6. repeat steps 4-5 until the bike fires up, when it does pull the clutch in and give it some throttle to keep it spinning...it takes a bit of practice, but its only a 400cc engine so it doesnt need too much force, i find that dropping the clutch fast and giving it the final push is the most crucial bit.

[denzilite]

will get a volt meter and measure e voltage.I also tried bumping it but e back wheel locks and e gear seems to be too heavy.

[banner001]

will get a volt meter and measure e voltage.I also tried bumping it but e back wheel locks and e gear seems to be too heavy.

the back wheel will lock, thats why you need to have some weight over the rear tyre when bump starting.

basically, if it will bump start then the only thing wrong is the starter motor, if you think you are bump starting right, and the bike still wont fire up, then as well as a starter motor failure, you might well have low compression and/or a bad pilot mixture.

[denzilite]

a bad pilot mixture ??? I'll definately replace my starter.

[denzilite]

a bad pilot mixture ??? I'll definately replace my starter.Pliz enlighten me on the pilot mixing procedure.

[denzilite]

a bad pilot mixture ??? I'll definately replace my starter.Pliz enlighten me on the pilot mixing procedure.

[banner001]

first step will be to clean and reset your carbs, i have a guide posted in the Fuel section, then its a case of tuning your carbs to your bike's needs.