have ?'s about starting troubles...

[aZOOMIN]

my husband has had a 1990 suzuki katana 600 for about three weeks now.
this past week we noticed a gas leek, after investigation, we found that gas was within the crankcase. we contributed this to be caused from a sticking float in the carb, cuz we had gas spewing outta the airbox as well, NOW, heres is the new arrising problem and hopefully someone has the answer. our starter is fine, had it checked, cleaned plugs, yet when we try to start it, starter makes noise but doesnt seem to want to turn over.
we are tired of pushin this thang to get it started and wanted to know if someone had any similar troubles...could it be (hopefully not) a sheered key in the crank? if so, wouldnt it run like caacaa and out of time? or at least have some sort of pinging noise signifying something broke. because theres no sign of a sheered key whatsoever except for it not starting.
i have read every single post in the forums...all 81 pages of a thousand posts and i had seen also something about the cylinoid that the starter wire connects to, if these may be corroded, could someone possibly give me an idea as to where this would be on our type of bike,(if it has one, lol)...thanks a bunch --aZOOMIN--(DAWN AND BOBBY)

[aZOOMIN]

what we have done so far...
cleaned plugs...
drained fluids...
had starter checked...
made sure cylinoid contacts were clean...
took crankcase cover off-all wheels,gears and so on are turning...
checked kickstand to make sure it was engaging all the way up...

now..

when we try to start the bike, it just makes a zing noise, wheels turn, but its like its not lined up somewhere, all visible gears and such are makin contact, could it also be the clutch plate?

the individual that had the bike b4 us, had layed it down and he put a crack in the crankcase cover itself, for which we repaired and no leeks as of yet, however, could that have damaged or pushed on the clutch plate knockin it outta wack? plz someone, need input, lol...summers almost over here and we wanna ride, wanna ride, wanna ride, lol,,,thanks bunches, aZOOMIN

[ChicsterMG]

I'm no mechanic, but it does not sound good.

I understand the bike will run when push started, correct? However, it will not move properly when in gear?
Or is it only when you are trying to use the starter that you get the "zing" noise?
If it's the latter, it may be the starter is not engaging the crank correctly. Of course there could be problem with the clutch assembly if the bike was laid down. You never know what may have happened internally when the bike hits the ground.
The previous owner may not have told you everthing about the crash.
It sounds like you may have to start pulling the thing apart.

Someone with much more knowledge will be along soon. Hopefully, they will give you better help.

[Clint]

It's not uncommon for a starter that has a tired rectifier or other worn parts to spin but not protrude enough to engage the flywheel. I'd start there.

Welcome, Dawn!

[aZOOMIN]

thanks so muches guys, my next post was gonna be...helllllooo anybody here, giggles, well, you were correct when u said the zing noise is only when we try to start the bike with the starter, we had taken off the starter, taken it to a garage and they tested it, it turns the flywheel fine, theres enuff oommffp in it for that, we are just afraid that maybe since the lay down, that it may have pushed that mysterious disc lookin thing thats in front of the flywheel in so close, or messed something up inside that there mysterious lil thang itself, not sure what the heck the trouble is, she is covered up nestled in her lil bed until next friday, she has a trip to the doctors...

my hubby tried to start it in gear, but it will do nothing at that point, once he puts it in neutral, hits the starter button, then that is when we hear the zzzzzinggggg,,, i have found more out about these particular bikes in the last 48 hours, than i have learned about anything b4 in my life, lmbo....thanks so muches for the info guys and getting back to me, this place is AWESOME thanks again aZOOMIN'71

[Clint]

It is odd that it won't spin the starter while in gear if the sidestand is up. Otherwise that's normal. I'd get a second opinion on the starter.

Addendum: There's a "starter clutch" whose function is a mystery to me. That could also be failing. The starter motor itself is pretty run-o-the-mill.

[aZOOMIN]

yeah we had someone look at it, and it all seems fine, like i said, we had the crankcase cover off and tried the starter, and its turning the flywheel and such, thats what is soooooo scarie, like something beyond the flywheel isnt being engaged,,too scarie to think about...we sure hope that its something simple, the cat that owned it well, lets just say he didnt take good care of his baby,,,lol...ty again for all your help zoomzoom

[Clint]

So it turns the flywheel? I'd say it's that starter clutch, then. I still don't know what a starter clutch does. Cares don't have them. Anyone?

[aZOOMIN]

so is the starter clutch the disc lookin thing or the whole apparatus behind the crankcase cover, theres a gear/cog which the starter spins, then that gear spins the flywheel and in front of the flywheel, is this strange lookin disc that has obvious inner parts to it, like springs or bearings or whatever makes the thing go, lol, i call it the thing a ma bob,lol...maybe inside that disc thang is our troubles, but i dont see the relevance of this disc, it doesnt seem to connect to anything beyond the flywheel...i would love to take the bolt off to see what is goin on beyond there, but im afraid its compressed and ten thousand parts are gonna come flyin out, lol, it's makin me crazy and i still have a week to wait for the garage appointment me so sad, no more ridin'

[aZOOMIN]

if u look closely, you can see where the bike was leekin oil from the crack in the crankcase...(bottom left side of bike), and a pic of my baby posing for me

maybe a pic of it would help matters too, its worth a shot,,thanks yall zoomin'

[95Kat750F]

i see to things that could be the problem.... theres thoselittle number "24" stickers on there. take them off and should start fine....




...... i bring nothing to the table.............

[aZOOMIN]

my husband says thats real dirty,giggles,,,seriously though i thought maybe a pic or two would help justify the area of the bike i was referring to

[aZOOMIN]

ok all we had a good day at the doctors, nothing serious was wrong, phew, but 100 bucks later, we found out the following...
our mechanic stated that a cotter pin behind the flywheel popped out of its slot, heres the killer, we drove an hour to get the bike to the shop and they had it done b4 we hit the interstate to come back home, lol, it was about a 10 minute job, also our carb problem has been resolved too, no more clogs, so i thank all of you who responded to help us get to this point and saving us probably an 800-1,000 dollar bike doctor bill

i hope the info here helps someone in the future, like this site has done for us you guys are awesome and we will visit regularly thanks again, aZOOMIN again,(hehe)

[Clint]

Glad you got it worked out. I'd have never guessed that solution.

[Copperhead]

Damn!!!! I was gonna say Cotter pin!