Starter motor prob...

Hi,

My GSX600F (1992) has been stood for 4 months and when I came to start it,
it turned over, but too slowly to fire and after 10 seconds of trying I gave
up.

So I put a car battery charger on it (on the 'fast' setting) and topped up
the battery with water. After about an hour I tried to start it with the
battery charger still attached - The starter wouldnt even turn. So I gave up
and put the Optimate on it. After 4 hours it gave the 'fully charged' light.
The headlights are nice and bright and the horn is horny.

But no joy, when I turn the key to fire the starter it doesnt even try to
turn. There is a relay-type click and the dash light go very dim (99% off).
The dash light's stay dim for about 5 seconds, then return quite suddenly
(they dont get gradually brighter as would happen if the battery was flat)

So what on earth has happened? Is the starter jammed? Have I blown something
with the car charger?

Further things that may help pinpoint the prob: After trying the starter, if
I try the lights, they dont work either. But if I switch them off and on
again they work fine.

Any help gratefully recieved

Steve

 

Stevie said...

<snip>

Have you tried turning the engine over with the spark plugs out, either
with or without the help of the starter motor? I know it's a bit
drastic, but there's a slight possibility that it's not the starter
motor but maybe the engine has got something stopping it turning over,
like hydraulic lock or a seizure as it's been standing.

 

The battery's fucked. It may have the volts but it ain't got the amps.
In other words, it can't take the load required to turn the starter.

--
Veggie Dave
UKRMHRC#2 BOTAFOF#08
IQ 18 FILMS http://www.iq18films.com
Extreme Racing http://www.veggie-dave.co.uk
Toxic Shock Syndrome Gets More Girls Than Me

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Stevie

Check the battery connections, particularly the earth. Take them off,
lightly clean them with some sandpaper and reconnect them.

Check that a mouse hasn't eaten the wiring[1].


[1] *Waves* to Pip

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - To stay young requires unceasing cultivation of
the ability to unlearn old falsehoods.

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
SBS#39 OMF#6 Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"
Suzuki TS250 "The Africa Single" Yamaha GTS1000

 

Stevie wrote

Young over wintering Horned Meadow Snails innit. Have you got one of
them starter assemblies that have an open-to-the-air commutator? If you
have and they have got in there then you are bolloxed, no amount of
cleaning will put it right.

They have a taste for copper apparently and if a bike is laid up for a
while they will be bound to crawl over it sooner or later and if they
get a whiff then and if they are the late generation young small ones
they can get in and nest. You come along before they de-nest in the
spring and spin the starter and everything gets coated in ground snail
and turns into this sort of natural glue that goes like poxy resin when
it cools down. Not very good poxy resin as it goes and nothing worth
science spending any more money on checking out whether it is worth
exploiting or not but a pretty neat trick for a dead mangled snail. And
if you think not consider how it has fucked your bike up good and proper
ain't it? Lavender keeps them away apparently. Think about that the
next time you buy a starter motor.

 

I thought HMS glue was excellent for binding plywood? The entire fleet
of WW2 MTBs was held together with it. Tended to come apart under
prolonged gunfire, though.
--
Dave
GS850x2 XS650 SE6a
I demand nothing of you except that you amuse me.

Folding@Home Team UKRM
http://vspx27.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/main.py?qtype=teampage&teamnum=47957

 

S'probably capillary attraction for the moisture in a bolted connection.
Once in there it quietly assists in the corrosion process.
Fwiw, I've never had a dodgy power connection if it's been coated with
Vaseline, Copaslip, Never-Seez, or something similar.
--
Dave
GS850x2 XS650 SE6a
I demand nothing of you except that you amuse me.

Folding@Home Team UKRM
http://vspx27.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/main.py?qtype=teampage&teamnum=47957

 

Grimly Curmudgeon wrote

It has been likened to dissolving I believe. Although in fact, it goes
crystalline and brittle either quickly with heat or slowly in a salt
water environment. A big issue either way if you are in a plywood boat
getting shot at a lot I would have thought. Especially in a time of
war. Just as well they didn't have plywood made from snails it in Sir
Francis Drakes day innit. Dissolving ships could have been very
embarrassing in front of the Spanish.

 

It *did* turn over fine to start with, it just didn't have enough juice to
fire. Then after 10 seconds of turning the battery died completely. Then it
was put on charge and even though the Optimate said 'charged' and the
headlights were bright, the starter didn't even attempt to move...
Steve

 

Ta Champ/Veggie,

I will investigate the connections. Once charged the battery happily ran the
headlights on full beam for 20 minutes (and then I switched them off). I
realise the starter takes a lot more current, but I'd be surprised if there
wasnt enough to turn it over (Even before I charged it, it would turn the
engine over!).

However, this morning the Optimate has got the red 'battery is furked' light
on... so maybe it is the battery?

I'l get some jump leads on it and see what happens then...

Ta for the help so far
Steve

 

My B6 did this, replaced the battery and all was well again.

 

Depend on it.

 

Muck scribbled:

My AT has done it twice.

 

Finally got some jump leads on it - yes it was the battery. The bright
headlights were a total red herring. Well done everybody!

Ta for the help,
Steve

 

Owning two Fiats, I suggest checking for a corroded ground somewhere in
the starting system.