noob with 97 gsxr 600 and question

[honduhx]

First of all I dont know to much about bikes yet and I just recentely picked up a 97 gsxr 600. Over the weekend my bike would be driving and just shut off no matter what the rpm or the speed. And it had to be jumped about every mile then it would shut down again. After i get home i replaced the battery and I went out there today and it wouldnt even start up. It cranks but doesnt start up. Would a bad side stand switch cause this problem or what could some of the other things be.
Thanks

[Drake]

was it running smooth when it was running? Any misfires etc? When it "shut off" did your whole electrical system shut off (as in lights indicators etc) or just your engine? If your electrical system went off as well, I'd check your contacts on your run/off switch. Sounds like it is likely an electrical problem though. But I don't know the more modern bikes that well. Do you have spark to your plugs? Need to debug a bit. Just work your way from the battery to the plugs. If you have spark, then it's likely not your main electrical system. Then after that you can work on your fuel delivery system. Are you EFI or Carbed? Just gotta work it on down the line.

Good Luck.

[honduhx]

Its carb and when it was running then it did run smooth. Before it started messing up so bad that it wouldnt start anymore then when i would ride the temp would start to go down from around 180 and just keep going down slowly and it wasnt due to the fan. I just put a new battery in it and the lights and turn signals and everything works on it. Sometime this week ill prob put new plugs in and get a hold of the previous owner and see how long ago he had the carbs worked on. Its a stock bike and has a little less then 10k miles on it if that helps anything.
thanks

[Drake]

Sounds like it is likely electrical, but not certain. If it was running well, you usually don't suddenly develop carb problems. I would suggest checking out your plugs and also check one at a time, that each plug is getting spark when you're turning the engine over to start. If not, check your points and your gaps. Hopefully it's nothing further than that.

[honduhx]

Well today i decided to mess around with the bike. I went out and checked the fuel pump i turned on bike and didnt hear it running hope its just the relay. Also i pulled the gas tank, air box then checked the plugs and with a test light cyclinders 3 and 4 isnt getting any spark from the plugs but cyclinder 1 and 2 is good. The carb is clean and i believe it was jetted not to long ago so i think im going to have to test my fuel pump and the relay. Would i just use an ohm meter for that and if so what would the procedures be. Also does anyone know what could make both 3 and 4 cyclinder not spark.
thanks

[Drake]

I'm not sure what to say about your fuel pump. Frankly, I was surprised that a carbed bike had one. Did you drain your bowls on your carbs first? If you have enough pressure in the fuel line (or full bowls), maybe there's nothing triggering your fuel pump to come on....

As for your plugs.... First find out if you have bad plugs. Pull plugs on 3 and 4 and see what their condition is. Pop on a pair of pregapped NGK plugs as a test. Now see if you get spark to 3 and 4. If not, you now need to check your points. Make sure they are gapped correctly at the right position of the crankshaft. Leave the cover off so you can watch for spark on your points. If your points spark but you aren't getting spark to your plugs, you have some wiring to look at.

Someone please correct me if these more modern bikes are put together any different (as far as points etc.) so I don't steer him wrong.

If you want to test that you are getting power to your fuel pump, a voltmeter will do just fine. Your clymer manual should have a wiring diagram that you can use to trace the line that ultimately supplies power to your fuel pump. Just use the voltmeter step by step along that route to make sure the power is going through each component it is required to.

[futball22]

Your bike shouldnt have a fuel pump. Mine doesnt and its only a year newer, but still carbureted. But with what you are saying does make sence and I would test all of that. If I were you I would also want to check the timing, you would think that if the bike would turnover and you were getting spark in 2 cylinders that you might have some smoke come out or hear your bike at least try to start. Also, check your fuel filters, you should have one in your fuel line just as its going into your carbs, and theres a bigger one in your tank.

[honduhx]

I was just going by the hanes manual by the fuel pump cause it was talking about the gsxr600v and it said that it was inside the fuel tank but then again it was also talking about other bikes in the same paragraph.
I changed my plugs the old ones didnt look that bad. I got NGK R cr9e plugs.

The mis firing where i tested it was above the spark plugs i guess the spark plug wires the plug that goes into them is where i tested and didnt get no power from cyclinder 3 and 4
lol sorry if you are confused again i dont know to much about bikes just trying to learn and put some car sense into them

[The Chad]

what type of ignition do you have, are you losing spark fuel or compression. If you have a fuel pump, (97 corona gsxr hase one) could be the relay overheating, but then it should sputter before dieing. It could be the ignition module getting warm and cutting out, that happens on cars all the time. If some nomind set the valves to tight, the bike could heat up and then all the valves would stay open slightly and thus die, mind you it would be a slowly increasing loss of power. I think it's going to be ignition related, please post back on what you come up with.

[Drake]

Originally Posted by honduhx

The mis firing where i tested it was above the spark plugs i guess the spark plug wires the plug that goes into them is where i tested and didnt get no power from cyclinder 3 and 4

I assume this means you got no flashing of that pretty timing light when connected to the wires for pugs 3 and 4.

If that was the case, you need to check your points because they are what allows the flow of electricity to your wires that go to your plugs on 3 and 4.

It could be the points are bad or are badly gapped. Could be the wires have issues (unlikely), hopefully it's just your points and not something more substantial.

When it shuts off on you, is it the engine just dying (sputtering to death) or is it like a lightswitch, instantly off?

[The Chad]

I've never played wth the ignition on a 97 gixxer 6 or 750. Were they actually still useing points? I find that hard to belive, as far as I knew, they use a cdi system. Inlighten me please. They haven't been useing points in a car for years, 1977 0r so even in trucks was about the first years of electronic ignition.

[honduhx]

heres some updates on what i have found out. I took out the fuel pump and tested it to a battery and it came on (not sure if it was how it was suppose to sound but i know it came on) so i put it back on the bike and it wouldnt crank over the pump did come on though. I jumped the fuel pump relay and it did the same but i didnt test drive it. But i went out and put the choke all the way on and it started up and drove but as soon as i turn the choke off then it dies.
It seems like it dont really sputter that much but it does a little before it dies if im at a stop it sputters though.

i replaced the plugs. As far as the carb it was cleaned and jetted a few months ago and it still looks good so i dont see if something was to tight why its just now acting up but any suggestions would help.

thanks for the help and updates

[ryhed]

Originally Posted by futball22

Your bike shouldnt have a fuel pump. Mine doesnt and its only a year newer, but still carbureted.

His gsxr does have a fuel pump and so does yours, it's bolted to the gas tank, that's how the fuel gets to the carbs. They stopped using gravity feed long ago when motors would fill up with gasoline.

Now to the problem you are having. It may come back to the coil pack that runs two cylinders or it may be the wires itself. Have you made sure the bike was tuned (dyno) by a professional after the jet kit was installed.

Jet kits are easy to put in, not so easy to tune.

[honduhx]

got everything going again how its suppose to be expect for the idle. What should my bike idle at with choke on and off thanks.
(there is an adjustement for the idle if that doesnt make it idle at the right rpms what is suggested)
thanks

[Drake]

Don't do any idle adjustments until you warmed up your engine. Get that bike started and then take it for a spin. A good 10/15 mins of back road riding, or about 5-10 mins of highway riding should be plenty. Then, bring it home, pop it in neutral and let it settle down into its idle (sometimes after a ride at speed, the engine can hold a higher idle for a short while). Make sure your throttle is pushed forward to the stops, so you're truely at your idle setting. Now take a reading on that. If you've got your carbs all set nicely, then you can just adjust your idle screw up and down as need be to get you into the realm of 1200 rpm for idling.

[honduhx]

If i adjusted the idle before it got to warm what could happen cause now by bike wont start at all and ive turned the idle both ways and it just cranks and cranks. Fuel pump comes in, spark plugs are in good, carbs should be good, relay for fuel pump is good. Is it common for the ecu's to go out cause im pretty sure my problem is in the ignition somewhere. If the ecu was bad would the fuel pump still come on. Any input on what the prob could be would help thanks.

[The Chad]

I asked once, and I would really like to know the answer if someone could help me out. I thought the 97 gsxr's had all electronic ignition, not points?

[honduhx]

I really dont know what u mean by the igniton and the points but its electric and the fuel pump relay is new actually there are 2 relays for it. I hope it isnt my ecu but i guess whatever it takes to get it back on the road.

[The Chad]

if your bike is carbed, you don't have an ecu. An ecu is the computer used to control the fuel injection.