Need suggestions on what to look for.

After getting back from riding 7000 miles up into British Columbia and back to St. Louis, I let my 2005 FJR sit in the garage for a couple of weeks. Today, I was going to ride to work but it would not start. It cranks over, but will not start. This is the first time any problem has come up with it. (Im working on my old 96 Buell all the time). Anyway, beside the sidestand switch, how about suggestions on what to look for. I have taken the side stand switch apart and jumped the two terminals inside, but it did not help the situation.

John

Spark, fuel, do the gauges sweep when you turn the key on...did you wash the bike when you got home and put her up wet? Seems odd that sitting for two weeks would kill it. I know it's a long shot and you've already checked it right??, but...how about the kill switch? Coulda got bumped will unloading the beauty.

--G

This has been covered before and usualy WOT and crank will get it going. Also check the search function for more detailed info.

It has fuel. I can hear the fuel pump run when I first turn the key. The guages sweep. Not washed and still has a million bugs on it . Kill button is in correct position.

escapefjrtist said:

Spark, fuel, do the gauges sweep when you turn the key on...did you wash the bike when you got home and put her up wet? Seems odd that sitting for two weeks would kill it. I know it's a long shot and you've already checked it right??, but...how about the kill switch? Coulda got bumped will unloading the beauty.
--G

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V2win said:

I have taken the side stand switch apart and jumped the two terminals inside, but it did not help the situation. John

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Did that once myself , didn't work even though the switch was bad. After further research I decided jumper the right side of the wiring pin

Fuzzy Balls! to wfo approach.

:jester:

I don't know about differences in the switches from '03 to '05, but mine WILL crank in neutral with the stand down. In gear, it won't crank. Also, cut-off switch off will not crank. So crank and no fire is not a switch issue.

Spark or fuel.

Mine has a hot-start problem (obviously not the same as yours, should be pretty cold after 2 weeks), but it will hardly turn over when hot, unless throttle is opened significantly.

Apparently opening the throttle forces fuel more flow even during cranking.

V2win said:

After getting back from riding 7000 miles up into British Columbia and back to St. Louis, I let my 2005 FJR sit in the garage for a couple of weeks. Today, I was going to ride to work but it would not start. It cranks over, but will not start. This is the first time any problem has come up with it. (Im working on my old 96 Buell all the time). Anyway, beside the sidestand switch, how about suggestions on what to look for. I have taken the side stand switch apart and jumped the two terminals inside, but it did not help the situation. John

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After cranking for awhile, can you smell anything like unburned gas coming from the exhaust?

Without breaking out the manual, I'd suggest checking every single fuse. If it cranks, the main is OK, but maybe something important has it's own circuit and the problem is hiding there. There's plenty of things in a fuel injection system that can cause the motor to not fire.

Non-FJR-specific suggestions--> Could also be air in the system between the fuel pump and the injectors, blockage in the fuel line, empty gas tank, clogged fuel filter, vacuum lines, insufficient battery voltage, (starter running the voltage so low that the ECU/EFI isn't getting enough to function properly) ignition interrupt from a security system, if you have one, (my car did this to me once, it was an aftermarket system piggybacked onto a separate system installed by Nissan, that was a hair-puller)...

John, you have a what is turning out to be a classic 'no start' situation for the FJR. If you have a charger use it before trying another cranking session. Even though your engine may be spinning ok, there may not be enough voltage left while cranking to fire the plugs.

Depending on your ambition you can do this in either sequence. In most cases holding the throttle wide open, and then cranking in 2-3 second bursts will get it to start.

If it doesn't start you can pull the plugs and check to see if they are dry or wet. If they are wet, dry them and try the start sequence again. If they are dry (check your gas tank ) you need to see why no fuel is being delivered.

+1 on what Ionbeam said. Sure, there have been bad side stand switches, bad clutch switches, kill switches in the off position and some partially turned, (instead of fully turned), ignition key issues. Still, you didn't do anything or crash. Most likly it's just low batt voltage.

Jump it with the car/truck. No, you won't hurt anything, both are 12 volt, the larger car battery simply has more Cold Cranking Amps, (CCAs) and will tolerate longer draws than the little FJR battery. Do the WOT and short cranking bursts. Odds are good it will start. Do pay attention to your headlight coming on, as this will draw the voltage down significantly during cranking and not help. Do pay attention to your starter getting hot. If you're cranking long, it will get very hot and that's a bad thing. Stop and let it cool off some before trying again.

Optional method - If you have a nice long hill, go compression start it in 2nd gear. Do remember to turn the key on and the kill switch in the right position. Funny how easy it is to forget this when doing a compression start since it's not your normal sequence of events. DAHIK!

If you use your car/truck for a jump, don't have it running...that could fry things in your two wheeler.

I spliced the side stand switch lead tonight after getting home from work. I also had the bike on the battery tender all day. I cranked with a WOT and without. Its getting gas because I can smell it. I have to work tommorow so I will do some more checking Monday. Next plan is to remove the plugs and take a look on whats going on with the spark. You guys may be onto something with the low battery voltage. It does not take very much to run it down while trying to crank it over. I hate electrical problems!!!

It did "burp" a couple of times and I thought I was getting somewhere but the battery gave way soon afterwards so Monday I will be back at it with a vengence. I hate thinking of having to load it up in a trailer to haul it in for some dealer to work on it.

Thanks for the suggestions.

John

Its getting gas because I can smell it...Next plan is to remove the plugs...You guys may be onto something with the low battery voltage. It does not take very much to run it down while trying to crank it over.

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If you are smelling gas there is roughly a 100% chance your plugs are wet, wet plugs will make ignition nearly impossible as you are finding out. Do pull the plugs and dry them. Since your motorcycle was running fine when you last rode it I'm willing to go out on a limb and say you do not have a spark problem. Wet plugs + weak battery = no run.

Rad has a good explanation for why this happens after a long run, dormant activity then no start.

Whats Rad's explanation?

ionbeam said:

Its getting gas because I can smell it...Next plan is to remove the plugs...You guys may be onto something with the low battery voltage. It does not take very much to run it down while trying to crank it over.

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If you are smelling gas there is roughly a 100% chance your plugs are wet, wet plugs will make ignition nearly impossible as you are finding out. Do pull the plugs and dry them. Since your motorcycle was running fine when you last rode it I'm willing to go out on a limb and say you do not have a spark problem. Wet plugs + weak battery = no run.

Rad has a good explanation for why this happens after a long run, dormant activity then no start.

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If you are going through the process to pull the plugs and check them, why don't you put new one's in? Just knowing the plugs are new and properly gapped may give you peace of mind.

Good Luck, C1

V2win said:

I spliced the side stand switch lead tonight after getting home from work. I also had the bike on the battery tender all day. I cranked with a WOT and without. Its getting gas because I can smell it. I have to work tommorow so I will do some more checking Monday. Next plan is to remove the plugs and take a look on whats going on with the spark. You guys may be onto something with the low battery voltage. It does not take very much to run it down while trying to crank it over. I hate electrical problems!!!It did "burp" a couple of times and I thought I was getting somewhere but the battery gave way soon afterwards so Monday I will be back at it with a vengence. I hate thinking of having to load it up in a trailer to haul it in for some dealer to work on it.

Thanks for the suggestions.

John

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How Old Is The Battery?

PRAISE THE LORD AND PASS THE BISCUITS!!!

I finally got it started this evening. I took a look at the plugs and they looked ok, but since I had them out, I replaced them. I also checked for spark and had plenty.

Replacing the plugs did not help however. Next, I checked the fuses. All were good there too. I had been trying to start it many times today, and had to keep charging the battery back up in order to get good cranking speed. I was about to give up when I heard it try to start. I recharged the battery again and tried once more, telling myself, if it did not start, I was done for today. It started, a bit flooded, but soon ran fine. I shut it down after a while, and restarted it. All seems good now. I plan on replacing the battery anyway, since its been through so many cycles of discharge.

Around noon when I went to a local dealer for the plugs, he had a new Kaw Concours on the floor. Ofcourse I had to sit on it and look it over good. Looks like a very nice bike. Personaly I dont like that little storage box on top of the gas tank cover. Other than that, its looks fine. The riding position seemed a bit more relaxed than the FJR.

Now I will need to get a new side stand switch, since I had to rip the original off the bike when both of those POS screws rounded out as soon as any force was applied to them. Why they did not use socket headed screws, I dont know.

Thanks to all,

John