Starting issue.

[Johnteeman]

Hi There,

Seem to have a starting problem, engines not turning over as it should and not starting. it was about minus 8 but the bike has started before at that temperature no problem. Thought it was a battery problem and winter, it tends to find weak batteries. Had two batteries tested today and both of them are sound to the extent the bloke in the shop said there was no point buying a new one. Could be a starter motor issue but the one on the bike is a Valco from Motorworks and has only been on for a few months.
What I don't understand though is when I crank the engine, the clock resets to zero, (00.00). Never seen this before so I'm wondering if it is a servo or something like that.
Bike is a 2003 gs with 60,000ish miles.
Anybody any ideas or come across this before?

Johnteeman.

 

[Pete.]

The clock re-setting means the voltage in the loom is dropping very low when you're cranking. Check the connections on the battery negative lead, especially where it fixes to the engine.

 

[theoneandonly]

starter motor getting old ?

 

[Johnteeman]

I going to check all the wiring tonight, especially the king link.
Starter motor is a recon from Motorworks so should be okay, but you never know. I have a cheap Chinese starter motor to use as a test device so that should solve the starter motor issue one way or the other.

Thanks for your input.

 

[Brendan W]

Another vote for negative lead. You could check the voltage drop from the engine casing to the battery negative when cranking. It should be very small.
Alternatively, bypass the earth lead temporarily with a jump lead and see if it makes a difference, assuming you have a unicorn jump lead that will make good contact at the battery and also find an accessible engine earth point.

 

[Johnteeman]

Where does the battery earth lead connect to the engine or gearbox. I've changed the gearbox but don't remember an earth lead there. Mind you, I have slept since then!

 

[Brendan W]

Afaik it's under the battery box on top of the motor.
Haven't looked on my 1100 yet.

 

[sparkplug]

I used to experience this in cold weather with my 1150 when I first got it.

People at the time suggested that while the battery itself was fine, it didn't have enough CCA (cold cranking amps) to cope in cold weather. This sort of rang true as the battery was fine again when the weather got warmer.

I changed it for an Odyssey battery and have never had the issue since. Motobatt was the other name that came up as an alternative but I've never put one on the bike so can't speak from experience on them.

Of course it makes sense to check the other things first before throwing £120 ish at a new battery - but your symptoms sound very familiar!

 

[Timolgra]

I had trouble starting one of my 1150 adventures.
Tried Odyssey and Motobatts, doubled up on my pos and neg cables...in the end stuck an Exide battery on it and never looked back.

 

[MotoRevive]

I would use jump leads from your car to see if that helps. If it cranks fast and hard then you know where to look.

Batteries hate the cold. Cranking over a big boxer with a small battery isn't easy. Old starters can seriously suck the amps out of a battery and give little output for it's hunger.

Clean the terminals and leads on your battery and the terminals on the starter motor. Especially the earth.

 

[Brendan W]

Be careful jumping from a car battery that it's not still connected to a running car.
A big alternator could be more than the bike can handle.

 

[MotoRevive]

Be careful jumping from a car battery that it's not still connected to a running car.
A big alternator could be more than the bike can handle.

Very unlikey on a GS. It's a fused circuit anyway.

 

[Quattroformaggio]

How's it now the temperature has risen ?

I had two mornings last week after night shifts where there was just a click, and lights dimming, when I pressed the starter button.
This on a bike left outside for thirteen hours and a ball of ice.
Luckily, this bike was dual start, so I kickstarted it ok.
On each of the two occasions, the starter motor was fine when I got hone, and fine before setting off for work the following afternoons.

I reckon my starter motor, or mechanism, had frozen overnight while left out...makes me think yours had.

 

[SteveHop]

Just take the starter motor out and clean the armarure , check the brushes are ok. Check all the connections are good on reassembly.

 

[The Other PaulG]

The clock re-setting means the voltage in the loom is dropping very low when you're cranking. Check the connections on the battery negative lead, especially where it fixes to the engine.

Agreed, I had an 1100 that did that on every start-up in the last few months before I changed the battery.

BTW I am in the Motobatt camp - I've used them on a number of airheads and oilheads and always found them very powerful when starting.