FJ1200 turns over, but won't start

[Scooterbob]

Got to about 82F here today. I ride every day, year round. 

[Travis398]

Got to about 82F here today. I ride every day, year round. 

we're making ice

[SlowOldGuy]

What Frank said. 

Before you go any farther, put a set of jumper cables on the battery or attach a charger to see if the starter will turn over.

Like Frank, I've had batteries fail where the lights would still work, but the starter wouldn't engage.  I've also had failures where absolutely nothing would work.

Even if the battery is fairly new, check it anyway.

DavidR.

[RichBaker]

i would not rule out catastrophic battery failure also..... i have had batteries that would run the lights but fail under starting load.

batteries can crap out anytime and anywhere


KOokaloo!

1st thing I thought of, as well..... try jumping it from a car, or other bike yet?

[pdxfj]

Got to about 82F here today. I ride every day, year round. 

You suck.. It's 21 here now (-6c) and getting colder.. I think the high today was 29 (-1.5c).. 

I have the feeling this is a small taste of what our winter is going to be.

[RichBaker]

Tucson's been having a cold spell.... got down to 39F last night, wouldn't go over 62.  Supposed to hit 42 for a low tonight..... too damn cold!   

[Cameron123]

A week ago, when I initially tried to start it (after getting the green light on the Battery Tender) the starter spun great, turning the engine over, but without starting.  After a while, I decided not to kill the battery and hooked it up to the car and continued to try to start it, but to no avail.  Once I realized the issue was with the choke cable, I manually moved the choke and the bike started right up off the bike battery only.  When I replaced the cable, and got the green light on the Battery Tender again, THAT's when the starter wouldn't.  I don't think the issue is with the battery.

I'm basically in agreement with others that there's likely a bad ground and hope to have a chance to check it out during the weekend.  I'll let you know the results.  Thanks for the ideas, as it helps to keep my mind in gear.

Happy Turkey Day everyone!

Cameron

[weymouth399]

Please tell us the car was not running, tooooooo many amps.  (Bad things can happen)
Pull the starter and bench check it. (real easy to do)
Pull left cover off and put a socket on the bolt and try to spin motor.
Batteries can fail in alot of different ways so plus 1 on checking that.

Hope this helps
Bob


If you are worried about the choke cable, you can go to your local parts store and get a HELP brand cable  thats will work. Thats whats on our racecars and works great.

[andyb]

Sit down with a voltage tester and start checking!  Bad ground, bad connection on the hot side between the battery/solenoid/starter, etc.  Really isn't a hard circuit to troubleshoot if the solenoid is clicking.  If the solenoid isn't letting power through, double check the various killswitches (sidestand, handlebars, etc).

[jamesearthdrum]

May sound silly, but it isn't in gear with the side stand down is it? 

james

[Cameron123]

The bike was definitely NOT in gear and I don't even know if there's a kickstand on the bike, but I'll take a look.  Always want to try the easy stuff first.

Thanks.

Cameron

[Cameron123]

Took the switch out of the equation by going directly from the battery to the starter relay and nothing happened.  Thus, I thought it was a bad relay and went to remove it from the bike.  I didn't understand at first, how the relay worked since when I removed the wires, the bolts actually moved back and forth within the relay.  But just toying with it, I got a basic knowledge of how it operated.  With the sidecar attached, it appears much of the service manual wiring diagram is of no use, so it was a matter of hunt-and-peck to locate the problem. 

Turns out the connections on the starter relay were badly corroded.  Some emery cloth did a nice job and added a thin layer of grease to prevent future corrosion.  Hooked up the wires and the starter turned over immediately.  Problem solved.  Now I can take the Christmas plants sold as fund raisers, to work rather than risking their cold-weather death on the two-wheeled, early morning ride.

Thanks for all your help.

[andyb]

 

[carsick]

Simple ol green growth strikes again. Congrats on not changing the starter, battery, switch and alternator before finding that resistance. Good job!
Doug

[Cameron123]

First ride on the fixed bike was a cold one.  This morning's commute was in the upper teens with windchills listed as low single digits.  Having heated gear and lots of layers really helped.  I was worried more about the bike and sidecar than myself, given the reduced temperatures.  Needed the sidecar to deliver the holiday flowers and cookie dough that I didn't have space for on the two-wheeler.

The speedo went on the fritz, but again, it's not original equipment and uses a small O-ring style belt to run it.  Above 35 mph, the belt starts to slip...most likely because the grease in the pulley remains too thick at these temps.  Once I get back down to a stop, the speedo works again.  That's just like my PC800.  Guess it's just something common in the colder riding weather.

Cameron
'89 FJ1200 with SideBike Comanche sidecar
'97 Honda PC800 "Chariot of Fire" - currently OOS for radiator and oil leaks
'02 Suzuki GS500 "Just for Fun"