Bike will only start up with gas cap off.
#1
03-20-2011, 01:57 PM
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Bike will only start up with gas cap off.
So I've been having tons of issues with my 98 900RR not wanting to start up after it sits over night.
I figured the carbs were dirty so I pulled them and cleaned them up really good, checked all the fuel lines etc. There isn't a fuel filter on this bike so I added an inline just to be safe. I'll start my bike in the morning it will fire up, then bog out and just die after a few min. Normally right after it warmed up. It will start up a few more times after that, then it won't start at all.
After I cleaned everything out (excluding the tank, just put new gas in it) it would still do this. So I read about opening the gas cap when starting it and sure enough it worked like a charm. The bike fired right up, I took it for a spin, ran it for about 40 min and no issues at all. Went home, waited till morning, tired to start, bike started the bogged out. Open gas cap again and boom, started right up.
I checked the hoses to make sure the breather hose was clean and not being kinked, it looks fine. I took my petcock valve apart and cleaned it, its seems to be working fine, drove the tank down to reserve and switched the valve over, worked good.
So I'm assuming the tank isn't releasing pressure somehow and this is causing it to not want to start, or maybe feed gas to the carbs. I don't think its vapor lock, but something similar.
I just did my carb adjustments, plugs, air filter, all that jazz about 4 months ago and when the bike finally runs, it runs good and strong. Only has 38k miles on it so I know I can get another 30k out of it if I can just fix this odd issues i'm having.
Any suggestions on this would be greatly appreciated, I'm stumped and the only fix I found was someone saying to drill a small hole in the gas cap. Which I won't do for obvious safety reasons.
Thanks everyone,
Amatsu
I figured the carbs were dirty so I pulled them and cleaned them up really good, checked all the fuel lines etc. There isn't a fuel filter on this bike so I added an inline just to be safe. I'll start my bike in the morning it will fire up, then bog out and just die after a few min. Normally right after it warmed up. It will start up a few more times after that, then it won't start at all.
After I cleaned everything out (excluding the tank, just put new gas in it) it would still do this. So I read about opening the gas cap when starting it and sure enough it worked like a charm. The bike fired right up, I took it for a spin, ran it for about 40 min and no issues at all. Went home, waited till morning, tired to start, bike started the bogged out. Open gas cap again and boom, started right up.
I checked the hoses to make sure the breather hose was clean and not being kinked, it looks fine. I took my petcock valve apart and cleaned it, its seems to be working fine, drove the tank down to reserve and switched the valve over, worked good.
So I'm assuming the tank isn't releasing pressure somehow and this is causing it to not want to start, or maybe feed gas to the carbs. I don't think its vapor lock, but something similar.
I just did my carb adjustments, plugs, air filter, all that jazz about 4 months ago and when the bike finally runs, it runs good and strong. Only has 38k miles on it so I know I can get another 30k out of it if I can just fix this odd issues i'm having.
Any suggestions on this would be greatly appreciated, I'm stumped and the only fix I found was someone saying to drill a small hole in the gas cap. Which I won't do for obvious safety reasons.
Thanks everyone,
Amatsu
#2
03-23-2011, 04:51 PM
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This is gonna suck, but it worked for me..... pull the tank off, drain it and go have it cleaned. Mine sat fro 4 yrs before I bought it, I did the carbs and everything else but it would still bog down every now and then when I got on it. We looked at the tank when it was empty and Holy ****..... it was full of dirt and crap. I had the tank steam cleaned and never had another problem after that...... good luck
Steven
Steven
@nutt
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03-24-2011, 08:01 PM
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#7
03-28-2011, 02:44 PM
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Hey guys,
thanks for the great advice. I got super sick and was out of work for the last 5 days but I'm starting to feel better and am going to tackle this project later this week.
Question about steam cleaning tho. I had thought about power washing out the tank with a lower pressure but was told not to due to the fact it might rust. Wouldn't steam cleaning cause rust as well if? I'm only used to my carpet steam cleaner which uses water of course.
And as for buying a new bike, hell no! I get so many people that tell me that my 98 looks amazing and brand new. Almost every time I take it out someone comes and talks to me about it or says how nice it is. All my buddies with their new 1000 RR's and what not never have anyone come up to them and say how nice it is. Why? because everyone and their momma has new bikes. 1000RR's are a dime a dozen around here, everyone has one. I've yet to see more than 1 900RR on the streets in the last 7 years that I've owned this bike. It's a classic and its bad ***.
Oh and I forgot to add, I REALLY like having trunk space on my bike. I can fit 2 orders of chinese food in there, plus my bike lock, tools, insurance, and chopsticks all at the same time. Show me a new bike that can do that? My wifes 600F4i you can fit the insurance in there and thats about it.
thanks for the great advice. I got super sick and was out of work for the last 5 days but I'm starting to feel better and am going to tackle this project later this week.
Question about steam cleaning tho. I had thought about power washing out the tank with a lower pressure but was told not to due to the fact it might rust. Wouldn't steam cleaning cause rust as well if? I'm only used to my carpet steam cleaner which uses water of course.
And as for buying a new bike, hell no! I get so many people that tell me that my 98 looks amazing and brand new. Almost every time I take it out someone comes and talks to me about it or says how nice it is. All my buddies with their new 1000 RR's and what not never have anyone come up to them and say how nice it is. Why? because everyone and their momma has new bikes. 1000RR's are a dime a dozen around here, everyone has one. I've yet to see more than 1 900RR on the streets in the last 7 years that I've owned this bike. It's a classic and its bad ***.
Oh and I forgot to add, I REALLY like having trunk space on my bike. I can fit 2 orders of chinese food in there, plus my bike lock, tools, insurance, and chopsticks all at the same time. Show me a new bike that can do that? My wifes 600F4i you can fit the insurance in there and thats about it.
Last edited by Amatsu Mikaboshi; 03-28-2011 at 02:49 PM.
#8
03-28-2011, 02:45 PM
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Oooh good thought.. I do know the rubber under my bike is getting old and dry.. I plan on replacing all of it here soon. But i never thought the petcock valve vent could be the issue, good call!
#9
04-02-2011, 04:29 PM
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Sorry for quick reply, hands smell like gas.
ok, got tank off, breather hose good, no issue.. petcock valve works good.. took it out, blew air into hole where petcock valve goes, gas comes out of little hose attached to tank next to breather hose.
questions.
what is this line for, the little one that shoots gas if i put air into petcock valve hole.
and. what is the canister that it attaches too? manual has no info on either that I can see.
So the two lines that come from the tank, one goes into this evap canaister. I added a pic of the diagram from the airbox. The issue is that i have the two lines in (drain and open air) but on the back of the canister,the bigger outlet has nothing is connected to it. (see pic 2) could this be an issue with starting, according to the diagram this should have a line going back into the tank. The bigger line on the tank just goes down and vents, should that be connected to this canister?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/52059409@N07/5582906903/ - diagram
http://www.flickr.com/photos/52059409@N07/5583493982/ - canister
ok, got tank off, breather hose good, no issue.. petcock valve works good.. took it out, blew air into hole where petcock valve goes, gas comes out of little hose attached to tank next to breather hose.
questions.
what is this line for, the little one that shoots gas if i put air into petcock valve hole.
and. what is the canister that it attaches too? manual has no info on either that I can see.
So the two lines that come from the tank, one goes into this evap canaister. I added a pic of the diagram from the airbox. The issue is that i have the two lines in (drain and open air) but on the back of the canister,the bigger outlet has nothing is connected to it. (see pic 2) could this be an issue with starting, according to the diagram this should have a line going back into the tank. The bigger line on the tank just goes down and vents, should that be connected to this canister?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/52059409@N07/5582906903/ - diagram
http://www.flickr.com/photos/52059409@N07/5583493982/ - canister
Last edited by Amatsu Mikaboshi; 04-02-2011 at 05:37 PM.
#10
04-04-2011, 10:52 AM
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Well that didn't fix the issues with starting.. It did the same thing this morning.
I've replaced all the lines for gas and air that I could get too. Figured maybe one was pinched and still no luck. I'm really at a loss now on what to do. I rode it yesterday for about 100+miles and it didn't have any problems. Then this morning, started up fine, kept choke on until it started to lower in RPM's. Backed my bike into the street, gave it gas, bogged out and died. Almost as if it were flooding the carbs.
I've replaced all the lines for gas and air that I could get too. Figured maybe one was pinched and still no luck. I'm really at a loss now on what to do. I rode it yesterday for about 100+miles and it didn't have any problems. Then this morning, started up fine, kept choke on until it started to lower in RPM's. Backed my bike into the street, gave it gas, bogged out and died. Almost as if it were flooding the carbs.