Need some HELP! With a 00' 1500 Nomad (carb).

[Texas_Nomad]

I have a 2000 1500 Nomad carbureted (VN1500G). Yesterday on my way home from work it died in middle of the feeder road while I was coming off the clutch in first, I was in stop and go traffic. At first I thought I killed it, but it would not restart. I tried and tried until I basically killed the battery. The bike was warm, I had already been on the road for over half an hour. It has spark, I'm pretty sure it getting gas, not 100%, and I know its getting air. I did a full tune up less than a month ago, oil & filter, cleaned out he air filter, new plugs (wires are less than 2 years old). This isn't the first time it has died on me, on 2 other occasions i have had it die on me while waiting on a red light, actually at the same red light, after riding about 50 miles or so. Both times I hit the starter and it fired right back up. The bike is just shy of 60k miles, I'm not sure if my fuel pump failed or if maybe the bike slipped time? Can anyone help me with this, has anyone had a similar problem before? Thank you.

[redjay]

I presume if it has a carburettor it has a fuel filter somewhere ?
Has this been changed recently ?

[Bud2rat]

It's really hard to say. Could be the ignition switch or one of the safety switches. Mine did a similar thing and it ended up being the diode located in the ignition switch. Good Luck.

[Texas_Nomad]

Not sure about the fuel filter, I will pull it apart and check it out when I get home today.

How did you go about finding that diode? Did you track it down with a meter or take it to a shop?

[nomad ryder]

That's almost certainly an electrical problem, a short somewhere. Start at the battery (ensure it is charged, and if more than three years old, replace it) and visually inspect every wire and connection you can see. Look for a wire with its insulation rubbed off, move things and jiggle things, working out towards the ends. Be sure the kill switch is not faulty, and check the sidestand switch and the clutch switch, too. Try to restart it. If it starts, run it in the dark and look for tiny sparkings. I would bet its a short caused by vibration or corrosion.

[twellens]

+1 on starting with electrical first. Based on your description of what happened, it seems to go out too suddenly to start by looking at fuel problems first. (But not impossible either)

I'm not a fan of worrying about a timing slip either. Last year after messing with my carb, I got it all back together and on first hit of the starter I got a big backfire. After that it cranked but wouldn't start. I went to bed thinking I slipped the timing somehow. Went to the shop the next day, and the mechanic said it's really unlikely and he's never seen it happen. Sure enough after taking it apart again, it was just that the carb pulled away from the intake "hose". I stuck it back on and it's run great ever since.

Once you've got crank, then it's gotta be either spark or gas that's missing, right? Pull a plug and check to see if the spark plugs actually are sparking during crank, then maybe try spraying a little gas or starting fluid into the carb and see if she fires. That should tell us where to focus.

Good luck, bro. Keep us up to date.

[audiogooroo]

Ignition switch. Sometimes the connection at the diode frays and separates. I'd bet that if you rework those connections, it will fire right up.

[Texas_Nomad]

I can get it to turn over all day, or till the battery dies, it just won't fire I know for a fact that at least one plug is getting fire, that's all I had a chance to check on the side of the road. I haven't had a chance to check all of them, but I will start there.

If the ignition switch was the problem, would it still let the engine turn over?

[Bud2rat]

If it is the diode in the ignition switch, it will allow the bike to turn over but not fire. The diode acts as a anti-thief device. When mine quit, I took it to a shop and he had it for 2 weeks, checking the kill switch, the kickstand switch and the clutch switch. All checked out OK. The shop didn't know about the diode in the switch. I did some research on the internet and discovered the diode from this video:

[Texas_Nomad]

I will definitely check that out tonight. Thanks, I will let y'all know what I find.

[OldSchool]

Originally Posted by Bud2rat

If it is the diode in the ignition switch, it will allow the bike to turn over but not fire. The diode acts as a anti-thief device. When mine quit, I took it to a shop and he had it for 2 weeks, checking the kill switch, the kickstand switch and the clutch switch. All checked out OK. The shop didn't know about the diode in the switch. I did some research on the internet and discovered the diode from this video:

This is great info. Thanks for posting it..

[Texas_Nomad]

I was out messing with my bike this morning, can't seem to find that diode, can y'all tell me what wire/wires I need to trace to find the diode, preferably starting from the dash cluster?

Also I am fairly certain I'm not getting fuel, so I have taken the gas tank off and checked the fuel filter, it seems good but I'm going to replace it anyways. What would be the best way to check the fuel pump? Hook the gas up and take the line that goes to the carb off and turn it over,and see if it pumps out fuel? Is there a better way?

If the fuel pump is working, I guess the next step with be the carb itself.

[Bud2rat]

If your bike has the stock ignition switch then the diode is located inside the switch. If I remember correctly, the diode is attached to the gray wire. The gray wire runs from the switch back to the Igniter Box. The purpose of the diode is to reduce voltage from 12V to between 6-9V. My switch was replaced with an aftermarket HD style mounted on tank bezel by the previous owner just like the one in the video. Hope this helps out.

[redjay]

Hook the gas up and take the line that goes to the carb off and turn it over,and see if it pumps out fuel? Is there a better way?

Why not try this ?