Post-Winter Starting

Hey all! My 98 VFR800 will not turn over! It has been sitting, covered all winter. The battery died at the end of last year, so I picked up a new one today. I put the key in, and all light, gauges and displays came on. I went to turn it on and it was trying like hell, did everything but actually turn over. Now I am in a place where out winters are below freezing alot of the time and the bike was in the garage with no heat. Could it just be a cold starter? What are some quick ways to heat it up so I can run it some today?

 

Sidestand switch. Power switch. Sticking switch. Corroded battery cable. Discharged battery. Clutch switch

 

Try heating the garage, or warming the engine and battery with a hair dryer. Check your charge on your battery. Do not jump your bike with a car as it's too high of a charge coming off the car and could potentially fry electronics.

 

I tried iso heet stuff to clean fuel and absorb water, no luck. One thing I did notice was that when I turn ignition on, there is no fuel pump whirling sound. I assume it is either a bad fuel pump, or it isn't getting power for some reason


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From what Lint mentioned, is the power switch / kill switch in the ON position?

Can you clarify your statement "did everything but actually turn over." Is the starter turning?

I don't know anything about the relays myself so I would first look at all of the fuses because that is something a chimp like me knows how to analyze.

 

What is your voltage like? Key on and Key off??

 

Knight - kill switch is ON; it was cranking, but did everything but actually catch and turn on. When I give it gas while trying to start, I can hear it sparking but not being mixed with fuel, so it's vapor or an air shooting sound. Haven't checked fuses or relays yet.

I just got a new battery and regulator is fine. I haven't gotten to checking voltage at fuel pump yet.



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Whelp that is the next step. No sense in wearing out the starter, cranking it for days, if the fuel pump isn't priming.

 

Candy - yep, gonna go home and check fuses, relays and then voltage at pump. If all that checks out, connections are good, I'm assuming fuel pump is dead. It isn't priming now.

Last season I was getting some back firing too and so I changed spark plugs and didn't help. I did read that is an early sign of dying fuel pump.


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Nine times out of ten, the fuel pump is fine and you have one of the fuel cut sensors being triggered for one reason or another.

i.e. bank angle sensor, clutch switch, neutral switch, kill switch, ignition key switch, main fuse, brake switch? etc

These can be triggered for many reasons, one that got me was the big blue connector, which has the grounds for all these sensors running through it and if the ground is interrupted the fuel pump relay will open. The grounds on my big blue connector corroded and burnt up so I also had a fuel cut, no start issue. This happened to me again with the main fuse and again with the ignition key switch connection.

 

Any chance some rodents made their way in and chewed through a wire?

 

wHEN You do finally get it started, check the charging voltage across the battery terminals at about 5000 rpms. :numbness:

 

My battery isn't the problem and it was dead before the winter started....


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So maybe the old battery wasn't being charged by the system........ is why you need to check it.

BTW, cold temps don't affect a starter motor.

 

How did you resolve this problem?