Bike stalling when idle

[IN54NEBIKER]

My Suzuki GZ250 has been in storage for the past year. Whenever I slow the bike and stop, the engine sounds like it is struggling, then splutters and stalls.

Is this a carburetor problem?

I have:
- Drained the fuel tank and topped it up with new fuel (before riding it again for the first time after it was in storage)
- Taken the fuel tap out and cleaned it
- Cleaned the spark plug
- Topped up the oil
- Cleaned the air filter

Any help would be useful...

[blaine]

Welcome.This is a very common problem on these bikes.You need to put some good carb cleaner in the tank and take for a good long ride.Most of the time this will fix your problem.Sometimes it takes a couple of tankfulls to get idle back to normal.It also a good idea to open the drain on the float bowel and flush some fresh fuel by putting the petcock on "Prime" for a few seconds.
:cool: :2tup:

[Easy Rider]

Welcome.This is a very common problem on these bikes.

:plus1:

Perfect answer.

I recommend Berrymans B12 Chemtool for a cleaner and suggest that your first dose might need to be about 2X the standard recommendation. You may notice MORE stuttering and rough running right at first as the cleaning progresses.

Increasing the idle speed just a TINY bit might help keep it from stalling but then you probably will need to turn it back down if the cleaner works.

Oh, almost forgot, keeping the choke on just a bit for a longer time will probably help too.
Partial choke is needed during warm up even on those that are working perfectly.

[alantf]

We can't get carb cleaner over here, so I add about an eggcupfull of fuel additive to every tankful of petrol. I find it helps enormously, & a €5 can lasts months. :2tup:

[tallaghan]

My GZ250 suffers from carb icing in cold and wet weather with the same symptoms that you are experiencing. I put a dash of Silkolene Pro FST into the fuel after every fill of petrol. Sorts the problem out completely

[alantf]

I put a dash of Silkolene Pro FST into the fuel after every fill

Is that the same stuff as STP (Specially Treated Petroleum) that we used to get in England?

[tallaghan]

I am not too sure about that but I would say it is similiar enough

[alantf]

So it's similar to the "fuel additive" I get over here. I agree with you - I wouldn't fill up without it :tup: (I can't get the carb cleaner the Americans use, over here)

[Easy Rider]

So it's similar to the "fuel additive" I get over here. I agree with you - I wouldn't fill up without it :tup: (I can't get the carb cleaner the Americans use, over here)

Not the same brand maybe but likely pretty much the same stuff.

I don't think anything on the shelf over here is labeled just "carb cleaner" anymore.
Calling it "fuel additive" or "engine cleaner" or some such no doubt increases their sales some.

What you need to look for in the ingredients is "real" solvents, like xylene, benzine, etc.
Products where the two major ingredients are "light oil" and "naptha" are just overpriced snake oil in my book.

[Water Warrior 2]

In the mean time until the bike wants to idle properly you may want to increase the idle setting a smidge.

[ncff07]

Berrymans does do a good job. Ran some thru my bike and i noticed a difference. After that i filled it back up with fresh fuel and stabilizer for winter. I even tried berrymans on my riding mower since its been being hard to start and it fixed that too it fires up right off the bat now.

[alantf]

I recommend Berrymans B12 Chemtool for a cleaner and suggest that your first dose might need to be about 2X the standard recommendation.

And it's not just bikes that benefit from cleaner. A couple of days ago I stalled my car on a hill. My own fault - I didn't give it enough revs as I set off - & it stalled with a jolt. Engine management light came on & the engine was juddering & sluggish. After a while the engine returned to normal, but the warning light stayed on. I thought that parking overnight would see the light reset itself, but next morning it was still on when I started the engine, so I went straight down to the Citroen dealer. The mechanic plugged in the computer, & said that it was a problem with the injectors - they hadn't been getting enough fuel, but it seemed o.k. now, so he reset the warning light & off I went. (there was no charge for this :2tup: )
I used the car yesterday, & everything was fine.
Today I started the engine, & straight away the warning light came back on, & the engine was juddering.Back to the Citroen dealer! Again he put the computer on, & again it came up with faulty injectors. By this time the engine was running fine again, so he revved it a few times,said that the fault appeared to have cleared again, & reset the warning light.
He said that if it happened again, he would have to have the injectors out, to see what the problem was.
"Do you think a dose of injector cleaner might help?"
"Can't hurt. try it & see"
So, off to the supermarket & pick up a bottle of injector cleaner. In the car park I decided to add the bottle (supposed to be used for a tankful of petrol) to the ½ tankful I had, then go & fill up.
A mile from the supermarket bleep,bleep,bleep (general warning) & the engine management warning came on, accompanied by much juddering, & a car that would hardly run. As you know, I live in the mountains, so on the steep hill home I was down to first gear at barely a crawl. Halfway up the hill there was a sudden kick in the back & the engine started screaming away. Up into second,third, & back to normal, but the light stayed on.
Got to the petrol station filled up. Started up, & miracle of miracles, the light had gone out. Seems like I must have disloged some dirt when I stalled the car, & the double dose of injector cleaner cleared the problem.
Now I'll just have to see if I've really cured the problem. (BTW there's 80,000 km on the clock)

[alantf]

Oh sheeeeeeeeet! Spoke too soon! The car started up with no problems this morning - good strong engine. Set off to pick up Sally, Jan's daughter, to take them to the airport. Got 2 km & the warning light came on with much juddering. Managed to get to her house, left my car there, & used hers to drive to the airport. When I got back, I decided to go to the Citroen dealer. Luckily it's mostly downhill, because every time I took my foot off the accelerator, the engine cut out. Coupla hours later, went back for it. Turned out to be a faulty injector, which they had replaced. $47 (equivalent) for labour, but - wait for it - $178 for the injector! Total with tax $235! :poorbaby: :curse:

I've never worked on fuel injected vehicles. Anyone know what causes an injector to go faulty? :??:

[Water Warrior 2]

Injectors are electrically powered metering devices to the best of my knowledge. Possibly the electrical portion of the injector had it's fill of life under the bonnet and went south. Glad to hear the car is fixed but the cost of an injector is a bit too much in my opinion. That said, I would never go back to a carb engine with all the maintenance and frequency of adjustments needed to keep them going properly. Now you can say you treated the car to an early Xmas present.

[Easy Rider]

Anyone know what causes an injector to go faulty? :??:

They are electrically activated mechanical devices.
The most common failure is mechanical stickage......which injector cleaner will sometimes help prevent. Then there is electrical failure.

[mrlmd1]

They have very fine tolerances and also can get clogged up with dirt, that's why, especially with diesels, you need clean fuel and periodic filter changes.

[alantf]

Thanks for the replies. Looking at the intermittent nature of the fault I reckon that it was probably an electrical fault. As you say - they have extremely fine tolerances - so if it was dirt or sticking, I think the problem would have stayed on all the time. In my experience it's usually electrical faults that are intermittent. Even though the cleaner appeared to get it working again, it could have been coincidence, given that it was an intermittent fault. I'd not realised that injectors were electrically operated. I thought they were just very fine tubes to control the pattern of fuel into the cylinder. I did wonder, however, when he gave me the old one back, what the contacts were for. I thought they just went back to some sort of monitor. :2tup:

EDIT ;- I've just been on the internet & got a picture of a section through an injector. The only electrical bit is a coil. Normally a coil either works or it doesn't. It's looking more likely that a bit of dirt was moving around in the centre, and occasionally jamming the slide. Oh well, I don't suppose it matters now that the problem's been solved (I hope!)

[mrlmd1]

For you guys across the pond who can't fine carb cleaners like Berryman's or Seafoam, check out this link and make it yourself for much less cost.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 112AAlNC5z (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080317095112AAlNC5z)

[Water Warrior 2]

Wow, that is quite a recipe for home brew. Best not to light up while cooking up some for the tank.