A couple of days ago my 2005 SW cranked over slowly a couple of times, then the starter slowed right down ... with no cranking.

I charged the battery (original I suspect) overnight, reinstalled it and same thing happened. I removed the battery and took it to the local auto store where their free battery load test indicated it should be replaced.

Bought a new FTZ-14s battery (a little higher rated than the OEM FTZ-12s) and installed it. Exactly the same physical dimension as the stock battery.

Last night after installing the new battery, the SW fired up like nobody's business. Only ran it for a about 30 seconds then shut it down. This morning, it cranked strong but took about 6 separate tries (about 5 seconds per cranking try/cycle) to get it to start. That was after playing with the throttle wide open, waiting 10 seconds in bewteen cranking cycles etc.

It finally started and I let it warm up for about 1 minute and then i turned it off and tried again. It turned over fine but wouldn't catch. I'm left scratching my head as this is the first time anything like this has happened with it. It usually catches instantaneously.

Thoughts ... or ideas as to what's up? ~ sonuvabug ~

Could be all kinds of things including, in no particular order:

1) poor fuel quality
2) faulty stator
3) faulty voltage regulator
4) faulty fuel pump/pressure regulator
5) poor electrical ground
6) faulty ignition coil
etc etc etc


You'll need a service manual to start running through the troubleshooting steps.

Thanks BigBird ... I do have a Factory Service Manual to reference. I don't think it's the gas but that's as good a place to start as any.

I understood if the stator is gone ... then it wouldn't turn over. Am I wrong in thinking this? My gut tells me its related to fuel flow somehow but I'm not sure how to check this.

If it comes down to the electricky bits to trouble shoot ... then I am lost and I guess I'll turn it over the the local dealer to sort out.

I was really hoping for an answer like .... "that happened to me and all you have to do is this ... xxx ... and it'll be all better".

Wishful thinking I guess.

You can check the fuel flow by disconnecting the fuel return line at the gas tank. Then putting the return line into a container --one quart/liter would be adequate-- and attempting to start the engine. A measured amount of fuel should collect in the container within a certain amount of time --you'll have to check the Manual for the specifics-- if there isn't enough fuel then you've got a problem in the fuel delivery system.

On another thought; has the weather in your area been excessive wet?...High humidity? If so you may well have tiny cracks in the ignition coil which are shorting out due to moisture and causing an erratic ignition failure.Once you get it running you could always spritz the coil with a spray bottle of water to see if there is any arcing going on. Of course you've got to remove the floor skirt, And doing that test in a dark garage or at night would help too.

WD-40 will help draw the moisture out of the coil. And a silicone spray will seal the coil once it is dry and back up running.

In as much as the coil is located under the right side floor skirt it can be susceptible to damage from curbside road grit and water puddles.

Let us know how you make out. Chances are pretty good that your local dealer won't know beans about your Silverwing but will be all too happy to play "maybe it's this..." with your money.

Hope this helps

Tim

Hi, If your started your scooter cold the enrichener probly kicked in and more gas was let into your combustion chamber, gas fouling your plugs just enough to make starting again hard to do. You should not need any throttle twisting during start-up, on this scooter...ever. It should start-up without touching the throttle... then let it warm up.

Good suggestion Dennis... I had an experience while waiting to get on the ferry in North Carolina... rode the scoot up to the front of the loading line.. been running like new... killed the engine... waited for the port guy to tell me begin loading... I gave it gas, cranked and cranked.. long line behind me got me frustrated and I know I was giving it more and more throttle. Finally, dawned on me to take my hand off throttle, cranked right up. Never happened again.

My 2 cents... It sounds like cranking with a low battery, not once, but twice, flooded the engine (lots of fuel, but no spark from the weak battery). When the new battery was hooked up, it was still flooded, and when it finally did catch, it was not run long enough to clear the fouling of the plugs. Then all of the extra cranking probabaly flooded it again. Now that it's been run a while, it is back to normal, and IMO it will stay that way. I think, once again, Dennis B had the correct solution. Fuel injected engines do not need ANY throttle to start. True of my cars, the GoldWing, and now the SWing. If it had not been for the battery problem and this just spontaneously happened, I might agree with the other suggestions. However, as a long time troubleshooter, you always look at the last thing that happened as a starting point.

Weak battery, happened to a friend of mine recently. He changed to new battery and no more problem,

My theory is that during cranking , voltage drops below the threshhold that the ECM needs to work at and thus no spark or other controlled functions. (probably 9-10 volts)

MaxB