01 VERY hard start issue

[slowpoke]

little background, brother in law bought his 01 vmax last year and it had ran like dog piss ever since I first test rode it. ( after he bought it of course) well early winter he took it in to have the carbs gone through and the guy found that the jets were in backwards? well anyway he rode it up until the first freeze and parked it in the garage. hasn't started since. cranks fine so I pulled the plugs and cleaned them. ( no wear on them that I could tell and gap was right.) slapped them back in and it fired right up nice and smooth for about 5 seconds. hasn't started since. I did notice the choke was pulling completely off on its own which I think I know how to fix but im more worried about the no start issue. while cranking it will puff black smoke out the right side and eventually backfire. im assuming since the plugs are clean. other than possibly getting fouled it should start back up after it sits and the plugs dry out but it doesn't. anyone have an idea where I need to start looking? I know for a fact its getting spark.

 

[slowpoke]

oh and boots on carbs are all seated properly with no cracks.

 

[jfeagins]

You "know for a fact it's getting spark". But is it getting GOOD spark? If the bike is having issues with a weak/old black box, sometimes you will see a weak spark on all cylinders, but not enough to light the fuses. I think you may need to check voltages, both before AND during cranking the bike over to ensure a good 12V with the starter engaged.

After that....I got nothing.....

 

[Miles Long]

little background, brother in law bought his 01 vmax last year and it had ran like dog piss ever since I first test rode it. ( after he bought it of course) well early winter he took it in to have the carbs gone through and the guy found that the jets were in backwards? well anyway, he rode it up until the first freeze and parked it in the garage. hasn't started since. cranks fine so I pulled the plugs and cleaned them. ( no wear on them that I could tell and gap was right.) slapped them back in and it fired right up nice and smooth for about 5 seconds. hasn't started since. I did notice the choke was pulling completely off on its own which I think I know how to fix but im more worried about the no start issue. while cranking it will puff black smoke out the right side and eventually backfire. im assuming since the plugs are clean. other than possibly getting fouled it should start back up after it sits and the plugs dry out but it doesn't. anyone have an idea where I need to start looking? I know for a fact its getting spark.

After the carbs were serviced, and your bro-in-law rode it to the "first freeze"- how well was it running during this period? Did it start well? idle well? no hesitation when accelerating?
If it was running good, this might be a clue as to what to look for, to begin with.
Cheers!

 

[slowpoke]

Is there a walk though on doing that? im mechanically inclined just haven't done much work on bikes ( my 05 hasn't had any issues that warrant any troubleshooting like this) im very ignorant when it comes to where the motorcycle specific things are mounted and what not. where to check the voltages would be a big help too

 

[slowpoke]

it ran like a stock vmax should run. idled smooth, started easy. I didn't ride it but the owner isn't the best with manual chokes and what not. he had no issues getting it to fire up and was stoked about how much better it ran after the carbs were gone through. I did notice the choke was pulling off on its own but that's a simple fix which I plan to mess with later today. none the less it should still fire up if i physically hold the choke in place and its not doing that. after I got it fired up and it ran for 5 seconds then died... it ran like a sewing machine. only reason it died was I hadn't noticed the choke pulled off but I haven't messed with it much after that due to the weather and just getting some ideas on where to start with that issue. it didn't fire up again but since it did run so smooth during that short time im thinking this has to be a simple fix. hope this makes sense

 

[Traumahawk]

With the choke issue..."pulling off on its own"...are you using the choke to start it? Usually a choke will stay where you put it until you move it up.

Unless your running rich, these bikes really dont like to start with out the choke. Check voltage at the battery under the seat. My battery got weak, and once it got to below 11, it would crank....but not start, and what is the battery voltage WHILE it is cranking?

The only time that my choke would move on its own, was the choke rod ran to "I believe the #4 carb on the right side", and it had become unhooked.

 

[one2dmax]

My bet is a bad battery. Enough voltage to turn the bike over but not enough to turn on the TCI. One sure sign of this is a backfire just as you let off the start button when the engine is still just winding down.

Try jump starting it.

 

[ninjaneer]

if your happy with the quality of spark, then start supecting the fuel or its delivery. if the fuel service and quality are adequate, I would start wondering about the air. maybe the carbs are gunked up?

as far as what you described, it sounds like what hapened to me after waking mine up after a three month slumber...I forgot to choke it awake. perhaps your choke isnt holding like traumahawk suggests

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

 

[slowpoke]

theres not enough tension to hold itself in its place. everything to do with the choke is hooked up (nothing came disconnected) so just going to shim it with a thin washer to increase the tension some. yes im using the choke but now that I know its pulling off I have to physically hold it in place ( half choke, full choke, ect) to me doing that SHOULD enable to bike to fire up which its not. so im just looking at ideas to go with for after I take care of the choke pulling off issue. I hadn't checked battery voltage with a meter while cranking but I do know the battery is fully charged and holding a charge as it should. ill start with checking the cranking voltage and see where that takes me.

 

[Miles Long]

it ran like a stock vmax should run. idled smooth, started easy. I didn't ride it but the owner isn't the best with manual chokes and what not. he had no issues getting it to fire up and was stoked about how much better it ran after the carbs were gone through. I did notice the choke was pulling off on its own but that's a simple fix which I plan to mess with later today. none the less it should still fire up if i physically hold the choke in place and its not doing that. after I got it fired up and it ran for 5 seconds then died... it ran like a sewing machine. only reason it died was I hadn't noticed the choke pulled off but I haven't messed with it much after that due to the weather and just getting some ideas on where to start with that issue. it didn't fire up again

but since it did run so smooth during that short time I'm thinking this has to be a simple fix. hope this makes sense

Yup, makes perfect sense to me. If it doesn't start on a jump (battery issues, as Sean suggests) look for carb problems, specifically clogged jets.

 

[slowpoke]

Is it safe to use the 50 amp jump start function some battery chargers have on a bike?

 

[slowpoke]

Ok fixed the choke so it wouldn't pull off, still wouldn't fire up. Pulled plugs again, all scooted up. Cleaned them again and the hooker fired right up and choke didn't pull off. So I guess were making progress

 

[slowpoke]

Sooted up sorry

 

[Miles Long]

Time to run some Seafoam thru it. With luck, this will clean the carbs enough that you will not have to disassemble them, perhaps not even have to take out the accessible jets.
But the Carb gurus will no doubt chime in, with their opinions.
Cheers!
another thought- you probably know this, but gasoline with ethanol is bad news for these carburated bikes, if they are left idle for extended periods of time. Most folks fill with ethanol-free before laying up, with a generous portion of Seafoam added to the tank.

 

[slowpoke]

took it for a short ride. ran it through the gears aggressively and did some normal cruising as well. took it back to the house and parked it. couple hours later half choke and she fired right up. let it run for a bit then shut it down and pulled the plugs and all looked well.

btw wasn't worried about ethanol as we don't run e10 in anything down here. turns out that one of the nylon washers on the choke got buggered up and was allowing the choke to back off and my brother in law didn't realize it. effectively flooding it every time he tried to start it. happened to me once before I noticed what was happening. now that the choke is fine and the plugs aren't all sooted up. shes running like shes supposed to. was a nice little learning experience for me seeing this happen considering on autos, I don't have issues starting them without a choke but apparently bikes are a bit more tempermental heh. btw thanks for the heads up on what to look for on the choke sean.

 

[95spfldmax]

aaahhhhh.......another satisfied customer......glad to hear it's running well now and was something simple....