Engine Problem

Ok, got one for ya’ll. 98 KZ1000P, Aprx 40,000 mile. Haven’t had a chance to tear it apart yet, I’m just looking for some place to start if ya’ll can help pre-diagnose.

A few days ago, I was getting this horrible sound from the engine when starting from a stop. The bike would lurch and finally cruise. I stopped and tried to start it right away and was getting the slow “wrr, wrr, wrr� you get with a dead battery. Strange, but it started. I parked it and tried it a few hours later and it worked fine.

Yesterday, the bike was acting/sounding kind of funny. I dismissed it because sound was like the rattle I get from the tank when it’s too empty. It took a few more seconds to start than usual like before but I figured it would go away like last time until I could look at it this weekend.

This morning the only thing I got when I hit the starter is “wrrr, wrrr, wrrr�. I know I didn’t leave the bike on, but I figured that maybe my kid did and my wife caught it and turned it off and let the battery drain a bit. I push start and make my way to work with no problem.

Lunch time arrives and I mount up to go see my mother in the hospital. The bike won’t start so I push again. I am greeted by a roar to life and a horrible noise followed by a dead bike. I push again and keep it running. The noise sounds like air escaping from somewhere and it will not continue to run unless I continue to goose the throttle above 1000rpms (Should be an interesting ride home). Visual inspection from the outside looks normal (other that the usual oil leak) and I gave the plugs a wiggle, they seem to be firmly in place. The bike acelerates like normal but just wants to die at low speed/rmp.

Any help would be appreciated.

Chris

Post edited by: GI, at: 2005/11/22 17:29

Air escaping at a steady rate or a pulsing type (maybe a squeek)?

You may have more than one problem, time to just start checking everything I think.

I may be wrong BUT It sounds like the starter clutch is spinning with/without engaging the starter..

steell wrote:

Air escaping at a steady rate or a pulsing type (maybe a squeek)?

You may have more than one problem, time to just start checking everything I think.

It's a pulsing type which increases conversely with the increase of rpms.

DaVinster wrote:

I may be wrong BUT it sounds like the starter clutch is spinning with/without engaging the starter

Can you elaborate a bit more on that? I don’t know as much as I’d like about the internal workings of motorcycle engines, although I think I’m going to be forced to real soon if this is as bad as I fear it will be.

I didn’t get a chance to tear into it last night, I got home late and I needed to get into bed early for a PT test this morning. This kind of stuff always happens when I fill the tank…I hate sloshing gas everywhere.

Thanks for the start though. I’m going to try to cut out early today to get going. I’ll keep an eye out for more posts and let you know how things go this evening.

Chris

Do a complete tune up, including valve lash adjustment and compression check (do the compression check first). Always make sure the basics are done before attempting to diagnose problems. I have seen people tear a motor down to rebuild it, when all it needed was a valve adjustment or the timing set (or one of many other small things).

I’m not sure why, but as soon as I put the bike on the battery charger and left it for a couple of minutes the bike fired right up. I kept goosing the throttle to keep it running and it allowed me to find the "Air Escaping" sound. Oddly enough, it was air escaping. I think that when I push started the bike in the afternoon, the bike backfired and blew one of the vacuum plugs on the carbs. I couldn’t see it until I got even with it and heard the sound. I plugged it up and the bike ran as well as it did before.

My big concern now is; Why did the battery die? What would cause the juice to be drained for seemingly no reason at all? The bike now fires up without the charger hooked up and I will monitor whether or not the battery stays charged. I’d hate to think that it’s bad since it only a year or so old. Thanks for all the help and I’ll keep ya’ll informed.

Chris


Yeah, that's my KZ...

kzrider.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=25022

1998 KZ1000P...updates coming soon.

Hey GI,

1st, Thank you for your service to our country.

All very good advice above, "air excaping" sound's turned out to be "air sucking in" huh ?
good, you got it fixed !

As far as your possiable electrical problems, I've had that; "starter just spins" problem myself. Removed the starter, checked the brushes, cleaned the dust from all the copper, works fine now. cost=zero.
Here is a link to an electrical charging system flow chart, it will tell you if your charging system is working properly.

www.electrosport.com/electrosport_fault_finding.html

And this one
is for a starter repair kit, cost=about $30.00

www.dbelectrical.com


Semper Fi,
Spider

Post edited by: ~DW~, at: 2005/11/23 21:32

If the starter runs slow when it's hot, then you need new brushes. Polishing the comutator can't hurt either.

steell wrote:

You may have more than one problem, time to just start checking everything I think.

Yeah, I had more than one problem.

Do you know the feeling you get after something goes wrong and you realize that you could’ve probably prevented it if you done a better job with something? Yeah, I got that feeling yesterday.

The bike was firing up like a champ after its charge and I rode it all week. I didn’t check anything else; I just figured I’d look when I do my chain adjustment this weekend. Yesterday, as I was preparing to merge into the highway, I clicked my turn signal on and watched it blink once and go out. “That’s odd�, I though and I tried again. Just then, the Kaw just died. I coasted to the side of the highway and pushed the bike across the access road. I happened to be in front of a Caterpillar Heavy company and they were nice enough to give me a new fuse. I replaced it and got to work. The same thing happed at lunch and that’s when I noticed that one of the wires in front of the bars was sliced, presumably from being loose and getting caught in the forks. My coworker let me use some electrical tape to tape it up and I went home (Where it blew another fuse halfway there. Total 4 fuses! I actually had to go with a lower grade fuse on the ride home because I ran out of the right ones)

I finally got home and ran through the bike. In addition to the sliced wire, I had the high beam wire burned through, I imagine from the sliced wire sitting right on top of it. And the turn signal wires were frayed beyond belief. I stopped there, pissed off and hungry and went inside to eat and relax. The bike is now deadlined in the garage and I think it’s going to have to stay there until I get a chance to thoroughly re-wire the bike. The last job I did was just to get the bike together so I could ride it. That’s what I get for impatience I guess.

I’ll let ya’ll know what happens over the next few weeks.

Chris

Yeah, that's my KZ...

kzrider.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=25022

1998 KZ1000P...updates coming soon