1 Valve adjust, now no start Sun May 15, 2016 2:45 am
tonybob
active member
Hi all -
I ran into an interesting problem this week. Had a dealer check and adjust the valves on my 1985 K100RS this Wednesday. Picked up the bike around 7:30 pm and rode home with no problems.
Next morning she would not start – after sitting just 10 hours! Cranks, can hear the fuel pump spin, and after sitting fuel is dripping from the exhaust header. This morning I checked spark on each lead and there is a weak spark from each plug wire.
This is the bike I spent most of November and December troubleshooting for a no start issue. Finally found the throttle switch was bad and disconnected it (and it still is today). Since then she’s been running great, no starting issues and actually throttle response does seem better. There were no cold (or hot) start issues before I took her to the dealer for the valve check.
Could be coincidence, but seems like there is a connection here somewhere. I’m going to install a new set of plug wires that I ordered last winter but never installed. Also going to check the coil connections. I did replace the coils with a used pair last winter when doing the troubleshooting, so I have a replacement set I’ll probably try as well.
I downloaded the troubleshooting guide from the Portal last winter and will dive into that if needed. I can’t imagine that simply checking and adjusting valve clearance would cause the no start issue. Could be the dealer’s mech bumped something with the coil wiring, but this seems remote as well.
One other thing. I did re-fuel just before I dropped the bike off. The gas station is about 1-2 miles from the dealer. And, my house is about 3 miles from the dealer. Will also check the gas to see if it might be bad, but I've use the same station in the past. Could be bad gas? They don't sell diesel, so I could not have pumped that by mistake. The fuel filter was replaced last fall at the start of the initial no-start troubleshooting.
Thanks,
Tony Marts
I ran into an interesting problem this week. Had a dealer check and adjust the valves on my 1985 K100RS this Wednesday. Picked up the bike around 7:30 pm and rode home with no problems.
Next morning she would not start – after sitting just 10 hours! Cranks, can hear the fuel pump spin, and after sitting fuel is dripping from the exhaust header. This morning I checked spark on each lead and there is a weak spark from each plug wire.
This is the bike I spent most of November and December troubleshooting for a no start issue. Finally found the throttle switch was bad and disconnected it (and it still is today). Since then she’s been running great, no starting issues and actually throttle response does seem better. There were no cold (or hot) start issues before I took her to the dealer for the valve check.
Could be coincidence, but seems like there is a connection here somewhere. I’m going to install a new set of plug wires that I ordered last winter but never installed. Also going to check the coil connections. I did replace the coils with a used pair last winter when doing the troubleshooting, so I have a replacement set I’ll probably try as well.
I downloaded the troubleshooting guide from the Portal last winter and will dive into that if needed. I can’t imagine that simply checking and adjusting valve clearance would cause the no start issue. Could be the dealer’s mech bumped something with the coil wiring, but this seems remote as well.
One other thing. I did re-fuel just before I dropped the bike off. The gas station is about 1-2 miles from the dealer. And, my house is about 3 miles from the dealer. Will also check the gas to see if it might be bad, but I've use the same station in the past. Could be bad gas? They don't sell diesel, so I could not have pumped that by mistake. The fuel filter was replaced last fall at the start of the initial no-start troubleshooting.
Thanks,
Tony Marts