twybrow
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| posted on 31/8/08 at 11:09 AM |
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Bike engine wont start
Let me set the scene.... I am putting a Triumph Daytona (T595) lump in my car. I've been sorting the coolant/hoses out over the last week or so.
I had an issue with the fan not kicking in (blown fuse), then leaking hose, then a blown off coolant hose. Finally seem to sort all of those, but got
a major airlock in the thermostat. I have a thermocouple in the coolant hose from the cyclinder head, and it rocketed from 80 to 112C in a matter of
seconds, as the thermostat was not working (due to an air lock I believe). Anyway, I turned it off, let it cool a bit, then I bled the system and
topped it all back up, ensuring no air locks etc. I ran the engine again, and everything seemed good - then it coughed and died. It may have been
getting low on fuel, so I topped the tank up a bit, but now I can't restart the engine. I am worried something terminal might have happened in
the very short period when it got hot.
The fuel pump primes, and the ECU relay is definately working. I have changed from the Daytona clocks, to an aftermarket set of clocks (KOSO) but
everything there has been working for some time. The engine warning light has been on for a little while now (I guess it needs resetting before too
long). It was reliable to start, but now it just turns over, with no sign of catching.
So, where should I begin to look to solve my lack of starting issue? Would a high coolant temperature cause the ECU to shut down all together? What
else would stop a running engine mid flow, and prevent it from starting again? Any hints/tips/suggestion greatly recieved, as I am unsure as to what
to look for.... Many thanks,
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coozer
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| posted on 31/8/08 at 11:18 AM |
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should have built a CEC!
1972 V8 Jago
1980 Z750
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twybrow
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| posted on 31/8/08 at 11:25 AM |
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Yeah, 'cos car engines never break down or develop faults...?!
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coozer
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| posted on 31/8/08 at 11:27 AM |
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Sorry, just being as childish as some others, hope you get it sorted.
1972 V8 Jago
1980 Z750
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BenB
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| posted on 31/8/08 at 11:29 AM |
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Won't start? Does that mean won't turn over or won't catch?
If it'll turn over but not catch then you need to work on the principal that you need fuel, compression and sparks to work.
Try whipping a plug out, re-attach it to the HT lead and hold it (with insulated pliers!!) against the engine block. Turn over the engine- do you see
sparks?? If not blame something in the ignition circuit like the ECU. If you've got sparks then it's fuel or compression. Compression is
unlikely to have been effected by a quite temperature spike.
It could be something effecting the fuelling like a blockage in the pipe out of the fuel pump- easy to ascertain (whip the pipe off, stick it in a
milk bottle and switch it on!!!). Or squirt whip off the air filter and squirt some easy start into the inlet- if its a fuel problem it'll
start.
Thinking outside the box- sounds strange to go from 80 to 112c so quickly.... Almost too quickly?? Bad earth on the engine block or something silly
like that???
Good luck 
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twybrow
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| posted on 31/8/08 at 11:44 AM |
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Coozer - thanks for the sillyness. I am a big fan of sillyness and giggles. Mostly however, when it is not my problem being laughed at!
I think the sudden ramp in temperature was in part due to the amount of air/steam floating around my coolant hoses! The thermostat didn't open,
so the water got very hot very quickly. My mistake for bleeding in the wrong order...
The plugs are coil on plug, so I think I might whip 'em out one by one and have a look. The engine is now running a modified airbox, and a cat
in the zorst, so I'm sure the fueling is way off (only two of the three downpipes gets really hot when running, and it definately lumpy). It
might have fouled up the plugs (there was definately a bit of black smoke in the 30 seconds before it conked out).
I have not got any easy start, but at this rate, I can see a run to Halfords for new plugs and easy start might be in order...
Earth points are all sound - the engine is earthed via the cradle, directly to the -ve battery terminal. No wires (up until now certainly) have ever
felt hot etc when cranking (although I have just changed the battery to a new one).
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BenB
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| posted on 31/8/08 at 12:36 PM |
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If it's carbs then considering the cost of a set of plugs I reckon a colortune (£20) is a good plan- sets up the idle close enough to prevent
plug fouling...
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twybrow
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| posted on 31/8/08 at 12:41 PM |
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It's Fuel Injection.
I think I might buy one of those U380/U480 fault code readers. It might be handy to find out the source of the engine warning light.
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bigrich
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| posted on 31/8/08 at 02:09 PM |
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check the plugs, bike motors don't particularly like lots of repeat cold starts and can foul plugs quite easily, can't imagine its
anything serious.
.JPG)
A pint for the gent and a white wine/fruit based drink for the lady. Those are the rules
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twybrow
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| posted on 31/8/08 at 03:48 PM |
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Problem solved! I checked the coil resistance on all three coils, and found no. 1 was very high resistance. I cleaned the terminals and the resistance
dropped back to what the Haynes said it should be. Then checked the fuel pump (taken from the bike, and adapted to put into my tank on the car) - the
supply pipe had popped off the outlet, on the inside of the pump assembly. A big of jiggery pokery, and I got it back on.
She fired up after a few trys, and sounds so much better (now running on all three cylinders by the sounds of it). I have ordered a U380 ECU code
reader to see if I can figure out the fault codes, but at least she starts again! Many thanks for all who offered their wisdom...
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