I can't start up the bike -- HELP!

[7653]

I recently bought a used Suzuki GZ250 2002. It has 635 miles on the odometer.

During the sale the previous owner wasn't able to get the bike to turn over+fire up initially. He had to jump-start with a battery. Then he drove the bike around and it ran fine, at least according to my newbie observations.

When the previous owner transported and transferred ownership of the bike to me on a different day he said he charged up the battery for me prior. When we ran the bike it successfully turned over+fired up.

Since then I have tried multiple times to fire up the bike without success. When I press the starter button the bike goes gur gur gur gur (turn over) and the lights eventually start flickering and I hear whimpers from the bike. It doesn't fire up.

I checked the battery voltage it was at 12.1V. I called AAA road service to check it out. They said the battery just needed a jump-start after watching me unsuccessfully trying to turn over the bike. The starter button+jump start didn't work. Starter button+jump start+choke didn't work. The start button+jump start+choke+throttle did work. I left the bike running for 30 minutes and then I tried to turn over+fire up the bike again. It couldn't fire up while I pressed the start button/the bike was turning over. I checked the battery it was at 11.8V.

What is going on?
Do I need to buy a new battery?

Could the fuel in the carb have turned into jelly after being stationary for long periods? A local suzuki dealer ruled this out when I told him the previous owner drove the bike during the sale.

Any ideas or suggestions as to what I should do?

[JWR]

Do I need to buy a new battery?


Yes. The new battery must have a good charge before using.

Failure to fully charge will give it a very short life.

The GZ MUST have above 12 volt to start. A lot of times it will turn over fine but not start, but a boost will get it going.

If you are going to keep the bike buy a good battery. A one time investment will pay off 5,6, or even 7 years down the road.

[alanmcorcoran]

76,

As always I must preface my advice with the disclaimer "I am the anti-mechanic." With that out of the way, and based on your story, here is my inexpert diagnosis/advice.

#1) You almost ALWAYS need to have the choke on. Even if it's warm out. The only exception is if you just recently turned the thing off. You don't usually need to leave it on for more than five minutes (usually less) but you always want it at least partway on to start. ALWAYS.

#2) You MIGHT need a new battery. In fact, you probably need one. BUT, it's worth slow trickle charging you battery overnight before you buy one. You can jump it yourself from your car (don't run the engine on your car - search on here for instructions) if you have to. You can also "jump" start it if you can get it rolling down hill.

#3) Your real problem is the bike is suffering from a common GZ ailment - lack of use. The symptoms are: hard to start, rough idling, stalling. I have expereinced two varieties of this. One variety (we'll call it Type 1) is self-curable by simply putting about 150-250 miles on the bike in a day or two. (at least one tank of gas, preferably two.) The second (Type 2) has much of the same symptoms, except a bit worse, idle drifts all around and NO amount of riding will cure it. I suspect the second is a more serious clog of one of the carb jets, but I don't know the cure - mine was cured by three trips to the dealer who probably finally "really" cleaned the carb on the third try.

I suggest you get a trickle charger first, then ride the thing 100 miles or so before you buy a battery. The fact that it WILL start up with a jump, means you probably do need a battery, but, the battery might just not have been properly charged. Unfortunately, once a batteyr is effed up, it typically remains somewhat effed up, and it sucks to be riding aorund never knowing if the thing is going to crap out on you and leave you stranded. However, at 635 miles, it's basically a brand new battery. You can search on here for the proper way to get the best charge into it, but be advised that it might be beyond hope. I can tell you i personally ran my battery down to zero TWICE - each time over several days (left the lights on) and I was able to recharge with a charger and it's been working fine for over a year since.

Good luck and welcome aboard.

[mrlmd1]

It's not a new battery, it's 9 years old, and if it has been left in a discharged state for a long while it may never recover and be able to hold a full charge.
Put it on a charger with no more than a 2 amp output for 6-8 hours or a battery maintainer or similar thing overnight and see if it holds a charge. A battery reading 12.1 volts is dead, 70% discharged, and will not start the GZ. What you are hearing is the starter solenoid clicking and an attempt at turning over the starter.
A fully charged battery reads 12.8 volts. Put it on a charger as I said, measure the voltage afterwards and get it load tested. That is the only way to see if it's any good.
If you do buy a new battery, (an AGM is the type for this bike), and I said this 50 times on here, regardless of what the guy in the battery store says, that it's good to go, it is not. It must be put on a charger to FULLY CHARGE IT BEFORE FIRST USE or it will crap out real quick and you'll be back at the store getting another one. Be warned - you must do this. While you are reinstalling the battery, attach a pigtail SAE connector to the battery posts (comes as part of the little battery charger/maintainers that you should buy), and let it hang down protected and accessible somewhere underneath or beneath the seat so you can readily attach charger cables to it for future use, and maybe use it for a very light load, like a GPS, not much more.
Also, to get your carb clean, add 1 oz/gal fuel of either Seafoam or Berryman's B12 Chemtool (cheaper, 1/3 the price of Seafoam) to your gas tank and do that every 3 or 4 tankfuls to keep it clean.
There is nothing wrong with your bike except the battery, and as they say in the medical profession, it's from atrophy of disuse.

[7653]

Thanks guys for the suggestions. I took your input very seriously and am following your advice. I have bought a battery tender plus (12V 1.25Amp) to charge my battery. And if that doesn't work I will just buy a new battery.

I was charging my battery on Friday and it went to 13.25V. The green light on the battery tender was flashing (indicating above 80% charged battery) but a solid green light never came (indicating fully charged battery). I stopped the charging and left the bike alone until I could charge again.

Today, prior to continuing the charging, I checked the battery voltage and it was 12.91V. I charged the battery again for several hours. During the charging I heard barely noticeable sizzling sounds coming from the battery. I stopped the charging and left the bike alone. The new battery voltage measured 13.57V. The battery tender still had the flashing green light when I stopped charging and the solid green light never came on.

Should I wait until the solid green light comes (fully charged battery) before I try to fire up my engine again or just fire it up even though it's still flashing green (over 80% charged)? What was the sizzling sound coming from the battery? Did I accidentally "cook" it or is the sound normal?

PS: On Yahoo Answers nobody seems to know the answer to the battery sizzling sound: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 030AAKnBs5 Some claim it is normal, some claim the battery is getting overcharged. Anybody here know?

[blaine]

1.25 amps will not over charge your battery.Did you check to see if it is full of water? Some may have evaporated away with time.If it won't take a full charge,and hold it is a good indication that you need to replace it.The best way to test it,is to take it and have a load test put on it.It won't hurt to start your bike with it.That in it's self is a pretty good load test.
:cool:

[alantf]

Originally Posted by blaine

1.25 amps will not over charge your battery.

Whilst in no way disagreeing with the above, Suzuki recommend 0.7A for 5-10 hours.My tender is 0.65A, & it works fine. :2tup:

[blaine]

Originally Posted by alantf

Whilst in no way disagreeing with the above, Suzuki recommend 0.7A for 5-10 hours.My tender is 0.65A, & it works fine. :2tup:

Your right,or 3A for 1 hour. :cool:

[mrlmd1]

Your battery is probably fully charged. You should be able to see through the white plastic case and see the water level (unless your battery is made of black plastic). Try and start the bike and see what happens. If it starts and you ride it, and tomorrow or the next day after it sits and it still reads 12.8 or so, the battery is fine.

[jonathan180iq]

This may have been mentioned, but cranking the bike and leaving it running for 30 minutes isn't going to charge it up.
You need to crank it up and ride it around. Good for the bike and good for you.