FJR Won't Start

[cateye77]

Dera FJR Junkies,

Please Help!

Friend's FJR won't fire, turns over good, battery strong.

The battery died so he tried to jump start off another motorcyle. That didn't work so he bought a new battery. Turns over but won't fire. Yes, the kill switch is in the right position.

Any thoughts......?

Cateye77

 

[Bustanut joker]

Hold the throttle WFO and crank er. Don't crank till you smoke the starter. Thats the usual solution.

:jester:

 

[skyway]

Dera FJR Junkies,Please Help!

Friend's FJR won't fire, turns over good, battery strong.

The battery died so he tried to jump start off another motorcyle. That didn't work so he bought a new battery. Turns over but won't fire. Yes, the kill switch is in the right position.

Any thoughts......?

Cateye77

Hold the throttle wide open while cranking, it'll splutter a little and then fire. Hopefully its not flooded by now?

 

[FJRocket]

And, uh, check the kill switch and the side stand for proper position....

Oh, and turn the key a smidge past normal. Or run it around to "park" a couple times. Could be a dirty contact in there too. Still need to treat as flooded as wisely recommended above.

 

[cateye77]

Thanks I'll try that.

Are there any fuses that would cause this.

 

[racer157]

I suggest you first try to determine what is missing. Since it is highly unlikely you broke a cam chain and now have no compression I suggest you raise up your gas tank and remove a spark plug or use another spark plug to see if you are missing spark.Remove one of the spark plug caps and insert a spare plug or remove a plug from the engine. lay the plug against the metal frame and turn over the engine with the starter. If spark is seen then you need to check for fuel getting to the injector rack buy removing the two hoses on the left side of the injector rack and then turn over the engine again, but only for a second. If you don't have fuel present check the electrical connection going to the tank. Maybe this will help narrow this down for you.

 

[IronMaiden]

Tobie and I both have the same problems...bikes won't start, sitting in the COLD garage all winter. He tried the throttle wide open thing and nothing. Put his bike on the trailer and took it to Desert Valley Powersports (formerly Sunnyside)last week. Bad gas had his injectors all gummed up. They said something about have to clean gunk off of the throttle bodies too. My bike is down there now, we'll see what they say about it. (his is '03 & mine is '06)

L

 

[SkooterG]

Tobie and I both have the same problems...bikes won't start, sitting in the COLD garage all winter. He tried the throttle wide open thing and nothing. Put his bike on the trailer and took it to Desert Valley Powersports (formerly Sunnyside)last week. Bad gas had his injectors all gummed up. They said something about have to clean gunk off of the throttle bodies too. My bike is down there now, we'll see what they say about it. (his is '03 & mine is '06)
L

Bummer.

Did you two use any kind of fuel stabilizer?

 

[Bustanut joker]

Tobie and I both have the same problems...bikes won't start, sitting in the COLD garage all winter. He tried the throttle wide open thing and nothing. Put his bike on the trailer and took it to Desert Valley Powersports (formerly Sunnyside)last week. Bad gas had his injectors all gummed up. They said something about have to clean gunk off of the throttle bodies too. My bike is down there now, we'll see what they say about it. (his is '03 & mine is '06)
L

Bummer.

Did you two use any kind of fuel stabilizer?

Uh oh, Here we go again :lol:

 

[Bluestreek]

This has happened to many FJR including mine.

For some reason or another the motor just gets flooded.

I got mine started by cranking the motor and slowly opening the throttle until I found a spot where it sounded like it wanted to start. I didn't crank for more than 8 seconds. I had to do this for four or five times. Charging the battery in between. When it finally started the motor ran bad for a few minutes. It cleared up and has run great ever since. It seems like it happens when the bike hasn't run in a while.

If this doesn't work try changing spark plugs. Others have done this and the bike fired right up.

 

[FJRottie]

It seems like it happens when the bike hasn't run in a while.

I have never had this and I store mine for 4-5 months every winter (3rd year this year).

Sounds very odd, you guys doing something different?

Battery Tender, use good fuel, and use Stabil or something in the fuel for storage...no problems.

 

[MKO]

Is there gas in it?

 

[Beal]

Just ride it more often.

Yes.... daily if at all possible!!!!

 

[IronMaiden]

Did you two use any kind of fuel stabilizer?

NOPE...dummies R US

 

[dbvolfan]

Same thing happend to me yesterday...put a new battery in it last week, fired her up to test her and then shut her down. The next day I washed her lightly with a bucket of warm water just to get all the salt off of her and it was 10 degrees outside. Two days later she would crank and kinda sputter but wouldnt start.

After a few more attempts I could smell gas so I went inside, gave it a rest for an hour and then retried it but this time I opened up the throttle...sure enough she came to life burning some oil (looked more black than blue though) for a brief moment and then ran like a champ.

Havent had the problem before or since...I figure something got wet and froze, but I dont know for sure.

 

[radman]

Once again. Start it cold, run briefly, shut it down. Guaranteed to be a no start next time around. Don't use a fuel additive for storage, guaranteed to mess up the injectors-and don't think that because you get it running again, all is well. It will run with one or two orifices plugged, and once plugged, they don't open up again without a thorough cleaning. I took good care of Franks, they tested down about 10% in flow after a couple years of duty. The only sure method of storage is too heavily dose the fuel with a stabilizer, preferably with a non-oxygenated gas (no ethanol), run the engine for a good long while to ensure the mix is well distributed, then on your spring start up, empty the tank and fill with fresh fuel, once again with a cleaner added. Thats my plan, if not removing the fuel rail altogether and draining it completely, I suggest it be yours. And DON'T expect a motor shut down cold, in colder weather, to easily light off again-the fuel enrichment on cold starts and cold running is substantial in this engine, and is the root cause of, I'm certain, 99% of the no start complaints one hears associated with this platform. Add a less than fully charged battery, you get the other 1%, but I have started them with a down battery and flooded with a WFO throttle every time. So far.

 

[IronMaiden]

Here is the work order info from my '06 that wouldn't start

"Removed & cleaned injectors and throttle body-found throttle cable adjusted too tight & was holding throttle slightly open. Found throttle shaft sticking from gummed up fuel. Cleand, reinstalled & m/c runs"

While it was there I had it's 25K mile service done and the new Penske shock installed...

Back in action & happy as a clam at high tide...first ride of the spring...ahhhh!

L

 

[mdisher]

Once again. Start it cold, run briefly, shut it down. Guaranteed to be a no start next time around. Don't use a fuel additive for storage, guaranteed to mess up the injectors-and don't think that because you get it running again, all is well. It will run with one or two orifices plugged, and once plugged, they don't open up again without a thorough cleaning. I took good care of Franks, they tested down about 10% in flow after a couple years of duty. The only sure method of storage is too heavily dose the fuel with a stabilizer, preferably with a non-oxygenated gas (no ethanol), run the engine for a good long while to ensure the mix is well distributed, then on your spring start up, empty the tank and fill with fresh fuel, once again with a cleaner added. Thats my plan, if not removing the fuel rail altogether and draining it completely, I suggest it be yours. And DON'T expect a motor shut down cold, in colder weather, to easily light off again-the fuel enrichment on cold starts and cold running is substantial in this engine, and is the root cause of, I'm certain, 99% of the no start complaints one hears associated with this platform. Add a less than fully charged battery, you get the other 1%, but I have started them with a down battery and flooded with a WFO throttle every time. So far.

Man I hate to dig up a thread this old but I just fooked myself with this cold start thing.

I started up the bike to move it out of the barn on Sunday. Didn't let it warm up, literally rode it about 20 feet, then shut it down. It's kind of up hill so I just roll it back in the barn once the cleaning was done.

This morning I nearly killed the battery crankin that thing. Ended up putting it on a charger and taking the cage to work.

After work I nearly killed it again but did get it running with a whole lot of cranking and WFO.

Does anyone know if the Gen II throttle recall that I never did might help this? If so then it would be worth doing.

 

[S76]

Once again. Start it cold, run briefly, shut it down. Guaranteed to be a no start next time around. Don't use a fuel additive for storage, guaranteed to mess up the injectors-and don't think that because you get it running again, all is well. It will run with one or two orifices plugged, and once plugged, they don't open up again without a thorough cleaning. I took good care of Franks, they tested down about 10% in flow after a couple years of duty. The only sure method of storage is too heavily dose the fuel with a stabilizer, preferably with a non-oxygenated gas (no ethanol), run the engine for a good long while to ensure the mix is well distributed, then on your spring start up, empty the tank and fill with fresh fuel, once again with a cleaner added. Thats my plan, if not removing the fuel rail altogether and draining it completely, I suggest it be yours. And DON'T expect a motor shut down cold, in colder weather, to easily light off again-the fuel enrichment on cold starts and cold running is substantial in this engine, and is the root cause of, I'm certain, 99% of the no start complaints one hears associated with this platform. Add a less than fully charged battery, you get the other 1%, but I have started them with a down battery and flooded with a WFO throttle every time. So far.

Man I hate to dig up a thread this old but I just fooked myself with this cold start thing.

I started up the bike to move it out of the barn on Sunday. Didn't let it warm up, literally rode it about 20 feet, then shut it down. It's kind of up hill so I just roll it back in the barn once the cleaning was done.

This morning I nearly killed the battery crankin that thing. Ended up putting it on a charger and taking the cage to work.

After work I nearly killed it again but did get it running with a whole lot of cranking and WFO.

Does anyone know if the Gen II throttle recall that I never did might help this? If so then it would be worth doing.

Like Rad said, If you start the bike and do not let it run long enough for the fast idle speed to slow down and return to normal the bike will flood after you shut it down. Happens almost every time.

On a different note, if you wash your bike you should start it and let it run long enough for the fans to cycle a couple of times, or even better ride it a few miles. This will allow the water that gets trapped in the top of the head by the coolant pipes to evaporate and reduce the coolant pipe corrosion from sitting in a puddle of water until your next ride.

What Gen II throttle recall?