Hard to start cold

[zoom45]

My old 1500 carbed bike is for some reason hard to start when it's cold. It runs fine once cranked but it seems to take longer than it use to. The only recent thing I have done that could possibly be related is I added the cam chain extenders and a new fuel filter plus I debaffled again. I also ran a can of seafoam through the last few tanks of gas. Is there anyway the carb could leak down what fuel it has ready to crank? Does it have a bowl with a float? I haven't noticed a leak. The filter I put on is a factory Kawasaki. I also put new plugs in recently. I don't want to take a chance with the Eureka Springs trip coming up soon. :-/
Zoom45

[ringadingh]

Does it have a good battery in it, Just because it cranks not bad doesn't mean it good. The coils need a strong spark to fire the plugs. If you hook up booster cables to your old battery and then start the bike, see if it fires right away, If it makes it start quick thats probably your problem, You can also check to see if your chokes are working properly, If not used often they have been known to sieze in the carb body.

[macmac]

Well the lack of baffels isn't helping... A carbed bike is a older bike, and so if you have 20,000 + miles on the plugs they might need replacing.

With time crud still happens in carbs and it might be the so called choke, which is a fuel en-richment valve really could be partly clogged. It doesn't take much in solid particals to restrict flow in small drilled passages. Might be a bit of float boel gasket flaked off and fell in the bowl, or just crud that gets there from fuel evaporation..

I have no idea what year 99? 2000? Nearly a decades worth of crudlings in there maybe?

Is it really cold, or do you mean always forst cold start?

Is the battery really up there, or it just cranks the engine well?

[phenrichs]

+1 on that mac mac. I was going to ask when how old the plugs are.

[blowndodge]

I thought he said he put new plugs in recently???

[macmac]

I can't remember anyones name if I am looking at them, and much less rember what anyone said in another post.. I have CRS bad...

Why I wouldn't know my own wife unless she constantly reminded me. She says she is my wife anyway, but i can't really recall gettin hitch to her.

I figure she must be since I soak my tomahawks often and she don't leave

I was thinking on this too, while out doing other stuff, and the plug wire ends might be going bad.. I am not sure if these can be unscrewed from the wires sets or not, but in any case if they can they should be checked with a Ohms meter, and if they can't come off the whole bloomin wire should be checked with a Ohm meter.

Checking the spark up close and personal wouldn't hurt either, cold and then hot.... Might be a coil breaking down, rarer but it happens.

Are we talking a decade or close to it bike?

[zoom45]

It's a 2000 1500 with carb. It has 60,000 miles, new plugs, ran a can of seafoam through it recently and hasn't shown any sign of a problem until after I did the cam tensioner extenders and added a fuel filter. It has been pretty cold lately (30's) and now I'm thinking it may be the battery. I'll check it tonight. What voltage should it have when starting? Should it drop from 12 to about 9 while trying to start? The battery is 2 or 3 years old. Maybe it's weak.

[macmac]

Has this been the case since the cam extenders went in? Like it didn't do this and then bamo it does and it does it hot too? I hope not.

Pull the plug wires cold, and with a volt meter take a reading right off the charger if you run one.

I'ld like to see the readings you get too.

Next with the plug wires off the plugs set it as if you wanted to start, and crank the engine 10 seconds (Don't pull the choke) and take a reading cracking which I hope is not less than 10.5 volts. Turn everything off

Don't hook the charger right back up, wait 45 minutes to 1 hours first and take another reading.

In the mean time you can put the plugs wire back on, and clean the bike or go do something else. I want to see if the battery can recover from the 10 seconds or not, and if it does correctly it should read no less than 12.4 volts in that next hour.

[zoom45]

Before I read your post I removed the seat checked voltage at the battery. It was 12.2. I hooked the leads to the battery terminals, chiked it and tried to crank. It read lowest 10.05 then it cranked but it seemed to turn over a while before it cranked. Once it cranks, it will crank back up quickly unless I let it sit overnight. It's almost like it doesn't have gas ready to fire. Doesn't do it hot only after it sits for a long time. Maybe it's been doing it and I didn't notice the extended cranking time until after I did the tensioners. (paranoid there's a problem I guess). LOL
Zoom

[ringadingh]

Has the bike sat for a while during the winter? Although in Mississippi i doubt it. You may have a bit of crud in the carbs, Have you gone for a good ride after adding the Seafoam? It may have a pluuged orifice somewhere in the carbs that the Seafoam may or may not fix.

[zoom45]

First week of March I rode to Daytona and back. That's when I used the seafoam. I would add some to each tank till it was gone. Ran fine on that trip. It runs good now just has extended cranking time. Bike hardly ever sits very long .

Zoom

[macmac]

We are mixing terms... Cranking is when the start button is pushed and the engine is turning over, but hasn't yet started, which is the condition to test for voltage drop in the battery to test the battery.

This is testing the battery to take the load of nearly everything on the bike turned on, at the same time the starter moter is sucking in really big AMPS.

So I have no idea how to understand this.

"It read lowest 10.05 then it cranked but it seemed to turn over a while before it cranked. "

The 10 seconds is a replication of what a tool called LOAD TESTER does. I have changed the time which is supposed to be a full 30 seconds draw on a car to just 10 seconds. I did this because the bike battery is not 1,000 cold cranking amps, and to allow the starter motor to remain much cooler.

I don't believe everyone wants to run out and buy a tool tha is somewhat expensive, when they have a tool already called a starter motor. Hook up a meter and you can do what the carbon load tester does on the bench.

It lools like this; "Once it cranks, it will crank back up quickly unless I let it sit overnight."

means this; Once it starts, it will crank back up AND START quickly unless I let it sit overnight.

Is this battery kept on a auto charger ALL the Time you are not riding and or parked at work?

How old is this battery? Forgive me if you said so some place before I don't recall reading that.

The figure 12.2 indicates to me the battery was not on a charger at the time of this test. A battery right off a charger will read incorrectly. This is called false surface volts. More or less off the charger the battery will read the last state of charge from the charger. That could well be 13.3 dcv.

If left off the charger about 10 to 24 hous the reading will settle to real surface volts. I assume 12.2 here is that.

This does not consider the batterys ability to take and carry a out going heavy load, like apx 365 amps of starter draw. And it does not consider the battery's ability to take and hold a charge.

What is telling is that if a battery can pass the 10 second test it proves the battery can deliver the amps and so if it can, then it stands to reason it can also take and hold a charge.

The proof it can do both is if it will take a hard load and then left idle for a time, and if the battery were really in great shape that time could be 45 minutes, make a total recovery to apx 12.6 / 12.8 dcv.

Please take the tests again. Another easier test on the system I would be interested in is done by simply turning on the key, with the Kill Button on the engine run possition.

With the meter hooked up the volts will begin to drop, because loghts, the coils and other items are drawing a load. The reading may drop quickly at first and then settle, meaning slow down in the drop rate.

What ever that appears to be and timed in seconds and or minutes with seconds may help.

If by chance you get less than 10.5 volts in say 4 minutes that battery just might be history. But before i condem anything I need data. This last test is not a very hard test for a marginal battery to pass. But the load test sure is.

[dogdoc]

Those numbers are LOW for a good battery. i bet your battery is toast, especially if its old or no battery tender on it all the time.

[pagemastr]

zoom: First thing I thought of when you mentioned the fuel filter was to check it is on correctly, if it is directional as most of them are.

Not knowing what filter you are using, but it is something easy to check as it can do some strange things, especially with boats

With it running fine once cranked it doesn't seem like it but just a thought!

[zoom45]

I double checked it. It was on just like the one that came off. It's a OEM Kawasaki filter. I'm going to ride it to work tomorrow and see how it does after I worked on it tonight.