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Won't start; fuel pump doesn't run.

wiscoaster

wiscoaster

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Wisconsin, USA
OK, so it's been sitting in the garage up on a paddock stand for some time. I've been starting it and running it to warm it up once a week or so. I have it plugged into a battery maintainer. Temp in the garage runs freezing plus or minus a few degrees. Today it won't start and I don't even hear the fuel pump run when I first turn the switch to run, and there's no starter engagement when I turn it to start. I checked the battery, and it seems OK at about 12 1/2 volts. Any guidance on where I should go from here for troubleshooting would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
 
I should have added: the dash display does come on with (I think - but I don't trust my memory) the usual display of symbols displayed prior to engine start. So I don't think it's telling me anything meaningful.
 
wiscoaster said:
OK, so it's been sitting in the garage up on a paddock stand for some time. I've been starting it and running it to warm it up once a week or so. I have it plugged into a battery maintainer. Temp in the garage runs freezing plus or minus a few degrees. Today it won't start and I don't even hear the fuel pump run when I first turn the switch to run, and there's no starter engagement when I turn it to start. I checked the battery, and it seems OK at about 12 1/2 volts. Any guidance on where I should go from here for troubleshooting would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
Click to expand...
I'm not even close to an expert on such matters, but funny(?) you should ask ...

Just a few days ago I was doing some electrical farkling on my '23 Meteor 350 (adding some LEDs for conspicuity out back). After my wiring, I went to check my work: the bike needed to be actually running, so I fired it up. And all I got was click-click-click-click...

So I took off the side cover and jumped it with this small, bike-sized, booster (as opposed to a much larger NOCO brand that I keep in the car):

2026-01-31_17-19-27.JPG

And it fired right up (and my wiring was okay).

I should note that I keep both of my bikes on smart chargers (Pulsetech Xtreme 100s) ALL the time they're in the garage, i.e., not just over the winters. So my M350's battery seems to have lasted for three seasons / 5,200 miles.

I have a Motobatt battery on order, which should get here any day now.

So, have you tried jump-starting your bigger bike with a booster (or maybe a car, with the engine not running)?
 
Check all the things. Kickstand down? In Neutral? Key in the right position? All that silly stuff. Assume someone had come by and fiddled with everything, approach the bike fresh and make sure all the things are in their proper position one at a time. Then try again.

If that fails, I'd start with fuses and then move on relays.
 
smilespergallon said:
.....

If that fails, I'd start with fuses....
Click to expand...
That'sn exactly what I did and found the 5A "Instruments" fuse blown, and replacing that with the spare, fixed the problem. Though it puzzles me why the TFT dash display would be working just fine with the "Instruments" fuse blown. Or maybe somewhat worrisome, why? Now I'm going to buy multiple replacements for each size. :D
 
Did he actually say he started and let it idle, perhaps he said he started it and warmed it up.
But not at idle.
Never seen any authoritative tests which demonstrate engine harm from starting and warming it up, does anyone have a link to one?
Or is it just a myth that has been repeated so many times it becomes a fact?
 
Try a test. Take your bike out for a 30 minute ride give it some revs get it nice and hot stop the engine and carefully shove your finger into the silencer outlet it will be hot a little bit sooty and dry.

The next day start your engine warm it up to operating temperature on the temperature guage and stop the engine. Shove your finger into the silencer and it will be warm a lot sootier than yesterday and damp. You have just created the perfect condition for rust to eat your baffles.

Guess what museums and collectors do with their rare and expensive machines.
 
Just spoken to a friend who knows his old bikes and apparently on vintage engines that had valve gear that flapped up and down in the fresh air (so pre WWII). The valves could stick as the liquid dinosaur dried out and turned into varnish also piston rings and clutch plates were prone to gumming up. To keep everything moving you were supposed to start the bike/car regularly and change the oil every 1000 miles.

It's a bit like the myth your not supposed to sit a battery on the concrete floor which was from the days of wooden cased batteries that could discharge if there was any damp.
 
Michiel said:
I'm not sure that starting it and letting it idle is better for the engine than not starting it at all.
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No, I don't let it idle, I definitely rev it out after it's warmed enough to do so. I run it until the radiator gets hot. I also run it in gear to work the transmission (since it's up on a paddock stand.)

Machinery that isn't used is machinery that won't work when you want it to work. My bike isn't a museum piece. It's going to get used. And used regularly. Even through the winter when it's not ridden.
 
AltcarStu said:
Try a test. Take your bike out for a 30 minute ride give it some revs get it nice and hot stop the engine and carefully shove your finger into the silencer outlet it will be hot a little bit sooty and dry.

The next day start your engine warm it up to operating temperature on the temperature guage and stop the engine. Shove your finger into the silencer and it will be warm a lot sootier than yesterday and damp. You have just created the perfect condition for rust to eat your baffles.

Guess what museums and collectors do with their rare and expensive machines.
Click to expand...
We were talking about engines, not exhausts.
Most museums are not equipped to start motors inside, but Sammy Miller regularly gets some of his hoard out and running around the grounds- just ask Alan Cathcart!
 
wiscoaster said:
No, I don't let it idle, I definitely rev it out after it's warmed enough to do so. I run it until the radiator gets hot. I also run it in gear to work the transmission (since it's up on a paddock stand.)

Machinery that isn't used is machinery that won't work when you want it to work. My bike isn't a museum piece. It's going to get used. And used regularly. Even through the winter when it's not ridden.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I was always taught that it's not good for engines to run unloaded. I was told you should ride it carefully untill it's warm and no let it sit idling/revving.
 
Roy Gavin said:
We were talking about engines, not exhausts.
Most museums are not equipped to start motors inside, but Sammy Miller regularly gets some of his hoard out and running around the grounds- just ask Alan Cathcart!
Click to expand...

Exhaust bone is connected to the engine bone I think of engine and exhaust as a whole.

I have been to the Sammy Miller museum several times my aunty lives in Southampton and every time I visit I try to spend an afternoon there so much to see it can't be done in a single trip. Last time I was there Sammy was playing with the DKW triple.
 
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