Hibernation Recovery

Hi Guys - hoping for some help in diagnosing a 2008 TE450 that sat for a couple years. It was in good running order when put away, was always well maintained, and has low miles. Honestly not sure if I had Stabil in the tank tho and that eventually led me down a path of replacing much of the fuel delivery system. When i first went to fire it up over the summer the fuel pump sounded off and it wouldn't catch. I replaced the pump with a CA cycleworks unit and a new fuel filter (Duralast FF3330DL) and new submersible fuel line (Gates 27093) . It fired right up. But was cutting out under deceleration.
I then sent the injector out for cleaning thinking it might be gummed up. And replaced the plastic fuel elbow with the zip-ty unit (GTE-FI HUSKY) for good order.

Now it won't catch at all. Have good spark. After perhaps 30 seconds of cranking (hooked to a battery charger as batt is also dead), it starts to drip fuel out of the bottom of the exhaust. So clearly getting extremely flooded. Is there any kind of check valve i needed to transfer over from the fuel elbow? Seems to be getting way too much fuel. Not sure how to check if the fuel regulator is OK. But i don't think that's likely given it was working - only change was the elbow and the injector cleaning.

I thought the pump might have gone bad again (perhaps a faulty unit) so just tried replacing that again (this time with a cheaper Japanese ebay version (Kemso)) - same result.

Am honestly at a loss on how to diagnose. I know the old adage of fuel, air, spark. Perhaps a fuel pressure test would help (i don't have but could purchase i suppose)? I don't think it's an ECU (timing) issue since it did fire up a couple months ago. I may check valve clearance, but that was fine when put away, so seems unlikely.





I've put so many hours into messing about with this - Thanks for the help!

I don't know much about fuel injection, but I have learned that it needs a good battery with the correct voltage. I've had cars turn over very well on the starter but not fire until the battery was changed.

Thanks. I'm hitting it with a charger (a proper wheeled shop unit, set to 40amps) so would think that would address that, no? If not, that could well be the issue.

The battery needs at least 9.5v- 10v to run on our 08' mikuni injection. Have you ever cleaned any of the electrical contacts throughout the bike? Check the voltage of the battery itself. These batteries don't last long. There isn't a check valve in the fuel elbow that I'm aware of. Silly question, but is there any restriction in the air box?

A 40 amp charge will cook that battery almost instantly. I recently bought a new charger because the book says to charge the battery on my 2016 TE300 at less than 1 amp. The battery in my TE510 isn't musch bigger.

Did you buy a new battery yet or are you trying to use the old one? If you're getting it ready to sell, get a new, cheap battery that will hold a full charge.

if its not fuel/injection or battery its probably HT/coil related.

Thanks for all the replies. The battery isn't holding a charge so is no doubt due for replacement (perhaps my fault per post #5 - thanks for the tip, i always thought it would harm a battery if you overcharged for an extended period of time, but would be ok just to jump, no?). Assuming the battery is dead, shouldn't i still be able to start it off of a charger? As for new batteries, what's the best bet out there now? Bike takes a Ytz7s. Am not concerned about weight so don't see going to lithium. Am not selling so doesn't need to be the cheapest thing out there. I'm a big fan of Odysseys but haven't sorted out if there's a size that will fit easily.
ghte (#7), apologies, what is the "HT"? And how would i diagnose that or the coil? I have tested for spark (removed plug) and held close to head, saw a good strong arc.
Last tip above was to clean the contacts - i've not done that. Have eyeballed wires for chaffing. The bike is very clean but obviously 9 years old so have some corrosion. Any tips on focus areas?
Thanks all!

HT: high tension, aka high voltage = your ignition circuit (well, the secondary). He (gthe) thinks you have a problem, as I did too, with your spark. Your post above that shows spark on the installed spark plug precludes that, probably.

try this: on your cold dry (not flooded) bike, spray starting fluid in the throat of the throttle body, then try starting it. if it catches or tries to: fueling problem; if not: ignition OR something like a stuck valve (auto-decompress).

good luck

Thanks = will try the starting fluid this weekend.
One thing i've not heard back on: is there a difference between (a) starting with a good battery and (b) starting with a dead battery and a charger? I can't see how there would be since 12V is 12V. I get that i could have overloaded the battery but that's another issue and I already expected to replace. Having started many a vehicle this way I'm pretty sure this isn't my issue.

Are these the fuel injection types that require a battery to run. A good battery should be reading 13.5v or so despite being '12v'

you're leaving the bad battery in while starting/running right? (if so- you're cool) Maybe take the charger off while running- if/when you get to that point.

I picked up an aftermarket YTZ7S for <$24 delivered. I've only had it for a couple of months and haven't done any hard riding on it, but so far- so good. It starts my bike in half a revolution at 15°F (I'm always impressed how fast my bike starts when it's super-cold; the only real advantage of fuel injection, IMNSHO). I had to add a piece of foam for the seat/battery hold-down, a mod that a lot of these aftermarket batteries require. http://www.ebay.com/itm/YTZ7S-BS-High-Performance-Power-Sports-Battery-/291643835867

If you're getting excess fuel and good spark- I doubt your battery/jump start combo is a big issue; but maybe.

Got it running! Picked up some starting fluid. the real trick was that even after sitting for a week the cylinder was full of gas. like a hydrolock. Pulled the plug and turned it over to pump it out. I had tried this before but this time i kept it cranking for perhaps 2 minutes with the tank off. Gas kept coming in waves - so obviously all the lines were flooded. Not sure what caused it to get so bad. once that was clear i sprayed a bit of ether into the TB and it immediately caught. could keep it hiccuping along by pulsing the spray. hooked back up the tank and it was a go! thanks. now to turn to the TE510 that also needs to come out of hibernation.