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General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> 1996 Savage wont start anymore, it did last week
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Message started by djpennin on 03/24/11 at 18:14:46

Title: 1996 Savage wont start anymore, it did last week
Post by djpennin on 03/24/11 at 18:14:46

So i went to go ride this evening and the bike wont start.

I pulled the plug and it was dry. It had some carbon deposit on it, but it was dry. I cleaned it off a bit and started the bike with the plug pulled and almost touching the motor. The spark jumped about an inch! So the plug and spark is good.

I smelled gas, but not too much. The bike did sit for a little bit, but i just rode it last week and it worked fine. I suppose i could clean the carb but i'm thinking it's fine.

the only other issue is, the area where the exhaust is, there is some black soot. I must have an exhaust leak. but i havent washed the bike in months, so the black soot seemed normal for a slow leak.

So...

I have spark
I have gas
what else do i need to make the bike work?

I was thinking of pulling the head off and re-doing the seals. but i dont think that's necessary.

any help or ideas would be great?

thanks all!

Title: Re: 1996 Savage wont start anymore, it did last we
Post by verslagen1 on 03/24/11 at 19:22:07

Hmmm...
ya got gas http://www.getsmileyface.com/sm/obscene/eck28.gif
and ya got spark http://smileyicons.net/s/1067.gif
Do ya got air? http://smileyicons.net/s/99.gif

check your air filter. should be clean and dry.

Title: Re: 1996 Savage wont start anymore, it did last we
Post by djpennin on 03/24/11 at 19:40:45

I actually took the cone filter off when tryinh to start it and no luck. Any other ideas?

Title: Re: 1996 Savage wont start anymore, it did last we
Post by verslagen1 on 03/24/11 at 20:11:02

Check your oil level :-?
You smell gas, where is it? make sure it ain't there.

Sometimes the float valve sticks. take a plastic handle and rap the float bowl.

how many miles?

Title: Re: 1996 Savage wont start anymore, it did last we
Post by djpennin on 03/25/11 at 06:33:25

Oil was at lower level but ok, i added some.

I cranked it and tapped bowl with no luck.

Bike has about 20,000 miles on it

I may just pull the carb and clean again

Title: Re: 1996 Savage wont start anymore, it did last we
Post by verslagen1 on 03/25/11 at 07:31:28

If you've never checked your cam chain, put this on your soon todo list, very soon...
http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?board=tech;action=display;num=1191167029

ever tried starting fluid?

Title: Re: 1996 Savage wont start anymore, it did last we
Post by Chopped on 03/25/11 at 07:36:36

take the carb off... clean it... and make sure you check the fuel screen. I had mine gumm up and it took me forever to figure out what it was.

Title: Re: 1996 Savage wont start anymore, it did last we
Post by djpennin on 04/04/11 at 07:17:52

it's started and running!

I took the carb off and cleaned it, and then tried to fire it up with no go.

I pulled the spark plug and also cleaned it. It was only about a year old but pretty black. I tried to start and it almost did.

I pulled the plug again and cleaned it and then it started.

I've determined that my girlfirend who rides the bike really dogs the motor. She is always in the wrong gear and only rides the bike around down < 30miles per hour. I think she just gums up the plug and motor.

My solution is for me to ride it 2x a month to work to burn all that crud off, and i've also told her to let the bike rev more before she shifts.

thanks all!

Title: Re: 1996 Savage wont start anymore, it did last we
Post by Routy on 04/04/11 at 07:38:40

But does it seem like you really don't know why it wouldn't start ?

A dirty carb is seldom if ever a reason for not starting,.....unless it is flooding.

Remember that a spark plug that fires while setting on top of the engine, may not fire while under compression. And that can be caused by 2 reasons,......
one is that the plug is dirty/defective.
The other can be lack of battery voltage to get good ignition fire.

From my experience,....and from info here from the super techs, I have determined this bike needs good battery voltage to start easily.
Just because it cranks over, doesn't mean its getting good enough spark to fire the plug.
So, my advice would be....anytime these bikes won't start for no apparent reason, go for the battery charger first ! :)

Title: Re: 1996 Savage wont start anymore, it did last we
Post by djpennin on 04/04/11 at 07:46:33

During this whole process my battery was pretty well charged.

I also had it on jumper cables to my 2002 Harley Sportster which has a new battery only 6months old. And the sportster was running while i was trying to start the bike.

I am leaning toward a defective / dirty plug. It may be time to just get a new one.

thanks

Title: Re: 1996 Savage wont start anymore, it did last we
Post by OE on 04/04/11 at 09:02:00

When I pulled my 86 out last year I drained the tank and the float bowl and put in fresh gas. Cranked it and it fired right off, ran for about 5 seconds and died. Checked the plug like you did, cleaned it and tried again, no go. Pulled the carburetor, soaked and cleaned it and tried again and even jumped it off a car and nothing. Couldn't be the plug I thought but I bought one and installed it anyway. Fired right off and has started perfectly ever since. Who would have thunk it?

My ex father-in-law was a mechanic in the old days, 40's 50's & 60's, and a pretty good one too, I suspect. His advice was, "about 90 percent of carburetor problems are in the ignition." Ignition problems aren't as prevelent as they were back then but still some good advice I think.

Now if I could just get rid of this darn stuttering at less than a quarter throttle I'd be happy.