HELP please. Bike doestnt star after heavy rain

ashkan

ashkan

Banned
Hey all. So i rode to work yesterday and the bike was left in the rain and it poured pretty hard in GTA. When i went to start her up(its been in the rain before and never had any problems), she started up but after 20 seconds stalled. Tried again a few times and nothin. It turns over and every now and then kinda wants to start but nothing. had to get a flatbed and bring her home. Today i siphoned the gas and put fresh gas in. took out the air box, checked the coils and spark plugs and im getting spark on all 4. used drywire to dry the elecrticals, put the tank pack on and still nothing. The battery is good as i recharged or just used the charger directly hooked up to the wall Its worth mentioning that she tried for a bit to turn on but no dice. When i hit the starter, it turn over but thats it. It keeps turnnig over but not on. Id appreciate any help since all the mechanics are closed and im stuck for the long weekend with no bike.
 
If the battery is even slightly low the bike may crank but not start. I would boost it from a car and see if that will start it. Otherwise, not knowing what you ride I don't know what else to say. Water in the gas lines below the tank? Can you drain the whole system?
 
Sorry i shoudve mentioned lol its an 06 zx6r. Yes i tried boosting it with the car a bunch of times and no luck. Also, i drained the tank and used some Heet with fresh gas and still no dice. She keeps turning over but not starting.
 
Does your bike have immobilized installed? Those things get pretty stubborn after getting wet.
 
What's the voltage on the battery?
 
If it's had time to dry off and it still won't turn over then I'd wager it's not due to the rain, just a coincidence. Have you tried holding your throttle wide open while pushing the starter? Not sure about your bike but on mine that's the procedure for starting a flooded engine.
 
AF4iK said:
If it's had time to dry off and it still won't turn over then I'd wager it's not due to the rain, just a coincidence. Have you tried holding your throttle wide open while pushing the starter? Not sure about your bike but on mine that's the procedure for starting a flooded engine.
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It sat over night with the tank off and airbox open to let the air get in faster and no luck. ANsd yes i tried keeping the throttle wide open and still nothing. Im pretty sure its the rain though. It never had any problems starting up. Not even any symptoms. and after being in that insane rain for a couple of hours, it started acting up.
 
My old vfr did that, turned the engine a little and stopped. Ended up being the starter. Took it apart, cleaned it with an entire can of contact cleaner, and tada :)
 
I see in a different thread that Frekeyguy figured it out and got it going. What was the problem?
 
Brian P said:
I see in a different thread that Frekeyguy figured it out and got it going. What was the problem?
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Where do I start......All of this could have been prevented with regular maintaince and stuffing the electrical connectors with di-electrical grease.

First....

The bike was being weird, with intermittent to weak spark...and no fuel at all. Threw in a known good tip over sensor + over night charge on a battery tender for good measure before testing and figuring other things out....

Weak spark - coils weren't making a solid connecting between the coil / wire harness - seems like the seals were swollen (perhaps due to the aerosol spray that was used). Bike had ~29k. with original plugs. So threw in a new set of plugs while I was in there. Cylinder #1/4 had a lot of solvent in cylinders as well for some reason.


--> Kill switch also has been cleaned out, just for good measure.

then....

Primary Injectors were not firing -- Figured out was the wiring harness connector that had corrosion. Fixed then....with contact cleaner...

then....

Idle Circuit injectors not firing - wire harness plug issue - fixed more.... corroded connector

then....


Cylinder #1/2 - Running 50-60% colder - resolved issue by cleaning connector between the harness and coil. And Coil and plug. (did this for all 4 just in case) then stuffed ALL connectors with di-electrical grease after cleaning with contact cleaner. So it could be a wire harness connector/plug issue or the issue by the coil. But w/e it was...doing all of that got everything going.


--> All took a good amount of time + with head scratching + the usual swearing. I am glad I had access to another 05/06 636 that I could swap parts from to help get the OP on the road again. (or) this would've taken forever.

--> Bike still has issues thought.....OP complains about issues such as not perfect idle - bike needs a valve check/adjust then a throttle body sync. 29K and no valve job would cause it. A new air filter won't hurt either.

--> now battery won't hold charge after a day, perhaps due to the age of the battery (or) draw down on the charge when the OP was trying to figure things out. OP has been advised to get the battery load tested (simple and free test) prior to spending more $$ and replacing other components on the bike that might not need replacing.



BrianP - question - do you find bikes with HID's have a shorter battery life? and put a lot more draw on the charging system? vs. stock bulbs?
 
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Wow, what a mess. Sounds like the bike has been routinely left outside and/or washed with a high-pressure washer for that many electrical connectors to have issues.

HIDs should not affect the battery assuming the system is properly designed and installed. The one bike that I have which has that, has a hard-wired relay that turns it on. Solid-state relays can leak current. A good system is completely isolated from power when the bike is switched off. They do make use of a high-frequency AC-like signal - but a good system should isolate this from the DC feed, and the AC from the alternator itself and the RF from the ignition system are both of much greater magnitude. Bottom line, as with many other things, good system = no effect, crappy system or a poor install = who knows. A good, modern HID draws less current than a normal headlight during normal running (35 watts versus 55) but they do have a higher in-rush current during starting. The main power to them should be wired straight to the battery with its own fused circuit so that the in-rush current doesn't go through the bike's wiring harness. If not ... who knows what will happen.
 
Brian P said:
Wow, what a mess. Sounds like the bike has been routinely left outside and/or washed with a high-pressure washer for that many electrical connectors to have issues.

HIDs should not affect the battery assuming the system is properly designed and installed. The one bike that I have which has that, has a hard-wired relay that turns it on. Solid-state relays can leak current. A good system is completely isolated from power when the bike is switched off. They do make use of a high-frequency AC-like signal - but a good system should isolate this from the DC feed, and the AC from the alternator itself and the RF from the ignition system are both of much greater magnitude. Bottom line, as with many other things, good system = no effect, crappy system or a poor install = who knows. A good, modern HID draws less current than a normal headlight during normal running (35 watts versus 55) but they do have a higher in-rush current during starting. The main power to them should be wired straight to the battery with its own fused circuit so that the in-rush current doesn't go through the bike's wiring harness. If not ... who knows what will happen.
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I should pick your brain on these HID's. This one seems to be wired directly via. stock harness.

Di-Electrical grease in all terminals would have prevented all of this headach of the OP. Its the little things that helps in the long run sometimes.
 
check your plugs for water leaking into the leads and caps and shorting them out
some dielectric grease cures this
i had the same problem with my concours
 
I dont pressure wash the bike. Yes the plugs needed to be changed but the bike is never left outside as i have a garage. This all happened when we had that crazy rain and yes for that duration, the bike was outside and water must've somehow found a way in since it poured for 4 hours straight and i couldn't get to the bike to cover it since i wasnt on location. The valves need to be adjusted but the reason i brought up the idle issue was because before this rain, i didnt have any idle problems and didnt know that rain and valve adjustments are related(?) The damage was done by water.
 
ashkan said:
I dont pressure wash the bike. Yes the plugs needed to be changed but the bike is never left outside as i have a garage. This all happened when we had that crazy rain and yes for that duration, the bike was outside and water must've somehow found a way in since it poured for 4 hours straight and i couldn't get to the bike to cover it since i wasnt on location. The valves need to be adjusted but the reason i brought up the idle issue was because before this rain, i didnt have any idle problems and didnt know that rain and valve adjustments are related(?) The damage was done by water.
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maybe it was the straw that broke the camels back? Might not have done the damage, but help speed it up in the direction it was going.
More to bikes then just changing oil and lubing chains. Lesson learned.
 
nfq said:
maybe it was the straw that broke the camels back? Might not have done the damage, but help speed it up in the direction it was going.
More to bikes then just changing oil and lubing chains. Lesson learned.
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Not arguing that. Not even saying i did everything by the book maintenance wise. Although the regular maintenance i do on time (oil, lube...). Just saying its not like it was assumed as if i beat my bike to a pole overtime i go home lol Thats all.
 
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