Hi all

Working on my son's 600F again. The problem is restarting the bike after he has switched to reserve. He has been stuck on the side of the road for nearly 30 minutes with the battery near death!

I have checked that the petcock and pump are flowing fine. No problem with the gas cap vent.

To diagnose I jumped the fuel pump relay connection to run the pump with the key on but engine not running. I ran the pump on main to lower the fuel level, then switched to reserve when it sputtered out of fuel. A good flow was observed on both main & reserve. I then ran the bike to drain the carbs of fuel. I tried to start several times to ensure they were dry. I checked the fuel pump when trying to restart, it pulses when cranking.

Then I reconnect the fuel pump relay, reconnect the hoses, put fuel in the tank and tried to start it. The pump pulsed away while I cranked. The fuel filter filled with fuel right away. However I must have cranked for at least a minute before it fired.

Is this a common problem after running out of fuel? It's pretty hard on the battery and starter!

It seems the carbs are not purging the air out quickly.

Any feedback is appreciated.

Thanks

 

I ran out of gas once, and yes, it was hard to get it started afterwards.

 

Yes. I've ran out and had to switch to reserve 3 times. All 3 times it took a little bit more to get her goin again. I think the last time I waited 5 min. put the choke on and started right up.

 

I have had this when I have been working on the carbs. Like your son, I ended up with a flat bettery the first time it happend. I solved it by bleeding the pump. I connected it directly to the battery tofill the pump,and to the carbs. I can only guess it's air in the pump. There might be something in running a fused cable with a switch to the pump. Might come in handy if it's a regular problem.

 

you have to remember that you are talking about a bike that is not fuel injected but carbureted. carbs will take longer to restart after running out of gas because you have to refill the float bowls before it will deliver enough fuel to start back up and this takes time. Next time this happens, just wait about 5-10 min after switching to reserve and then try to start.

 

Yes I am considering a switch to bypass the relay so he can run the pump with just the ignition on, should save the battery & starter.

Thanks for all the feedback

 

which direction on the petcock is reserve.

 

Down........

I did have the fuel hose off and ran it on main until it stopped running, then switched it to reserve and the fuel started to flow again.

Yes, it would matter that the rider knew which was which LOL

 

I would not run the pump with a bypassed relay for too long. Others have posted on here when they did that and the result was a burned out pump. It was not designed to be run constantly.
My bike also had the same problem after running the carbs dry. Takes a while with the choke on to restart.

 

idk which way the arrow is on mine, but i spin it all the way to the right and it stays that way. i ran out of gas on sunday, but i didnt have a hard time restarting.