wouldn't start

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herbacious · #1 Post by **herbacious** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 11:58 am

she wouldn't start this morning

starter motor sounded healthy enough and was turning over but the engine never caught..

i didn't want to abuse anything, normally starts on the button

was fine last week, been sat since friday

she is exceptionally dirty though, looks like i've been offroading!

any ideas?

Aladinsaneuk · #2 Post by **Aladinsaneuk** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 12:47 pm

Mine did this a couple of weeks ago

I topped up the battery and then had a gas fire running in my garage for an hour to take chill out - it was bloody cold. Did that and started straight away

herbacious · #3 Post by **herbacious** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 1:14 pm

i will check the battery again though my instinct is that its not the battery at fault - its been on charge all weekend and its not actually that cold here in comparison to recent temperatures

service light is on though - just came on last week - so maybe change of plugs etc might see her alright?

D-Rider · #4 Post by **D-Rider** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 8:41 pm

The usual thing if it turns over but won't fire is that you may have flooded it.

Did you try the usual emergency-only "Oh I've flooded It" Start routine?

If so then it's time to check that fuel is getting in there and that you've got sparks (usual methods for these things).

If the emergency-only "Oh I've flooded It" Start routine has somehow passed you by, it's done like this: Hold the throttle wide open and crank the engine until it starts. Obviously don't keep your finger on the starter button too long - certainly no longer than about 10 seconds (figure plucked from top of head).
Only perform this method on those occasions you think you might have flooded it.

herbacious · #5 Post by **herbacious** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 9:54 pm

hmm dont think I have flooded it - what could I have done to do that?

will remember that for future reference tho :)

anzacinexile · #6 Post by **anzacinexile** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 10:04 pm

VERY easy to do. Has happened to me a couple of times and its not like the carb days where repeated cranking will flood the cylinders. In my case the engine fired immediately (as usual) and then farted and stopped. After that, nuthin'.

As D said, winding the throttle WIDE open whilst cranking fired her up after about 5 seconds, once accompanied by an almighty backfire while still in the garage . Once started, went back indoors to change me underpants and all was well again with the world