• 4 Stroke Husqvarna Motorcycles Made In Italy - About 1989 to 2014
     TE = 4st Enduro & TC = 4st Cross

  • Hi everyone,

    As you all know, Coffee (Dean) passed away a couple of years ago. I am Dean's ex-wife's husband and happen to have spent my career in tech. Over the years, I occasionally helped Dean with various tech issues.

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    Thanks for your patience and support!

2011 TC449, bike cranks but won't start with starter, bump starts fine

jmk015

jmk015

Husqvarna
I'm a new member here and just bought a 2011 TC449. The bike is mostly original and in good condition. The only things that have been changed on the bike are the handlebars and the addition of aluminum radiator guards.

The bike has a brand new battery that is fully charged and has fresh gas. The electric starter cranks the motor over plenty fast, I can hear the fuel pump prime, but the bike won't start. I've tried it with the choke in and out. It won't even pop or make any noises indicating that it's trying to start at all. Hot or cold doesn't matter, it won't fire up when cranking on the electric start.

I can bump start the bike, via a 3rd gear clutch dump, and it fires right up on the first revolution of the motor every single time. When its cold, it starts on the choke, and I turn the choke off after ~30 sec. If the motor is warm if fires right up when bump starting without choke.

Once the bike is running, it runs great. It has plenty of power, idles smooth, revs nicely, and doesn't stall out. IT RUNS PERFECTLY... it just won't start when cranking on the electric starter.


I was wondering if maybe the battery didn't have enough juice to crank the starter and power the computer and coil to make spark, so I hooked a jumper box to the bike and cranked it again. It still didn't start... but then I bump started it in 3rd gear rolling down my street and it fired off on the first revolution.

I reset the throttle position sensor by following the directions on this forum, and it didn't help. The throttle cables aren't binding and my idle speed is set correctly.


This issue really has me scratching my head! Any help from the forum experts would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks in advance!
 
I haven't checked the valves yet, I'll do that tomorrow.


I checked spark while cranking with the starter, and it has a a nice fat blue spark.

I cleaned and inspected all of the electrical connectors on the whole bike.

I cleaned and inspected the kill switch.

I reset the TPS again.


Nothing helped. It still won't start when cranking but fires right up when bump starting.
 
I charged the new battery overnight last night. The charger indicated a 100% charge. The battery voltage was 12.8 volts. When cranking, the voltage dropped to 10.6 volts, measured across the battery terminals. I then removed the coil pack (left the spark plug in the head) and spark tested it while cranking with a new plug. It has a nice fat blue spark. The 10.6 volts while cranking seems low, but it's making a nice spark and the fuel pump is priming.

Could the 10.6 volts while cranking be too low and causing some problem, even though it is cranking, sparking, and priming the fuel pump?

I have a 550 amp jump starter pack (fully charged), which I hooked up to the bike's battery. The voltage still dropped to 10.6 volts, measured across the bike's battery terminals, when cranking. I was surprised to still get the voltage drop...
 
I would start by checking the coil for power. There should be three wires on the coil, 1 going to the block as a ground the other 2 are the power and ground. Using a test light clamp the test light to the block and put the test light probe in terminal 1 and push the start button. If you don't get power then there could be a faulty diode. By clamping the test light to the positive battery terminal and putting the test light in terminal 3 you should see the test light blink as the bike is cranked over. If you don't have that then there is a problem with the computer. The schematic shows a diode connector which could be suspect but I am unable to find the location of that connector in the manual. Hope that helps
 
Correction for my previous post. The other 2 wires are the power and the control wire from the computer (which is a ground signal)
 
jmk015 said:
I'm a new member here and just bought a 2011 TC449. The bike is mostly original and in good condition. The only things that have been changed on the bike are the handlebars and the addition of aluminum radiator guards.

The bike has a brand new battery that is fully charged and has fresh gas. The electric starter cranks the motor over plenty fast, I can hear the fuel pump prime, but the bike won't start. I've tried it with the choke in and out. It won't even pop or make any noises indicating that it's trying to start at all. Hot or cold doesn't matter, it won't fire up when cranking on the electric start.

I can bump start the bike, via a 3rd gear clutch dump, and it fires right up on the first revolution of the motor every single time. When its cold, it starts on the choke, and I turn the choke off after ~30 sec. If the motor is warm if fires right up when bump starting without choke.

Once the bike is running, it runs great. It has plenty of power, idles smooth, revs nicely, and doesn't stall out. IT RUNS PERFECTLY... it just won't start when cranking on the electric starter.


I was wondering if maybe the battery didn't have enough juice to crank the starter and power the computer and coil to make spark, so I hooked a jumper box to the bike and cranked it again. It still didn't start... but then I bump started it in 3rd gear rolling down my street and it fired off on the first revolution.

I reset the throttle position sensor by following the directions on this forum, and it didn't help. The throttle cables aren't binding and my idle speed is set correctly.


This issue really has me scratching my head! Any help from the forum experts would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

weird- I looked at the wiring diagram for something like a clutch or kickstand interlock (which you wouldn't expect to find on a TC but your problem sounds similar)... nothing really jumps out.

two things were funny though- there's a neutral sensor (why?) and a map switch in the same housing as the starter button? if that's true, look there (map sw circuit and the neutral sensor).

let us know what you come up with.

good luck.
 
I checked the valve clearances, both are spot on, and within spec.

I think I found the problem!!! I decided to do a compression test while cranking on the electric starter, and got a reading of 0 psi. The bike has TONS of compression when bump starting, runs great, and doesn't burn any oil or coolant... so I know it has plenty of compression to run.

This leads me to believe that my auto-decompressor is broken. I read elsewhere that the auto-decompressor should reduce compression to ~60-90 psi while cranking, but mine reduces it to 0!! How do you check and fix the auto decompressor??
 
I removed the valve cover and cranked the bike over with the spark plug out and watched the auto decompressor. The auto decompressor is NOT moving at all, and is remaining is fully decompressed mode while cranking. This is my problem. I assume its supposed to move in as the bike cranks like in this video of a g450x BMW (basically the same motor)?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9KJYQsPDl4


How do I fix the auto decompressor??
 
In the middle of the video I posted, you can see where his auto decompressor gets stuck 'on' for a few revolutions. (in fully decompressed mode) Mine is 'on' all the time at cranking speed. The counterweight never moves in to decompress the motor.

How do I fix this? Thanks
 
I'm assuming that the auto decompressor is supposed to move at cranking speed, like it does at first in the video. Mine does not move at all while cranking, which I assume is bad, since it stays fully decompressed and results in 0 PSI while cranking. IF this thinking is incorrect, please correct me.
I wedged a small piece of rag into the decompressor, to force the counterweight to stay in. I then cranked my motor and got a compression reading of 60 PSI. I then put the spark plug back in and fired the motor with the cam cover removed and the rag bit shoved into the decompressor (yeah, this sounds sketchy, I know). The bike fired right up, but I hit the kill switch immediately. I think this tells me that my decompressor is bad... but I still don't fully understand how it works or what to do about it...?
 
With the auto decompressor disabled, my bike fires up on the electric start, but its still hard to start on the electric when its cold. It bump starts just fine though.

Will flashing my ECU to map #3 help with my cold starts? IS there anything else I can do to help with starting? (my battery is new and fully charged, valves are within spec, and I cleaned and inspected every electrical connector on the bike)
 
It couldn't hurt as the stock map is quite lean. However, I can't remember if it was just the TE ECU or all the 2011 ECUs are locked. Call ZipTy and find out for sure.
 
Here's an update on my bike's problems. It turns out that my decompressor has been fine all along, I finally learned how it works. The beginning of the video I posted, where the decomp lever moves around a lot, is wrong. His bike is broken, not mine. The counterweight is supposed to remain fully out and the decomprssor is supposed to remain fully 'on' until the motor starts.

My bike had 0 PSI when cranking with the decompressor 'on' and 60 PSI with the decompressor only partly 'on'. I fully disabled the decompressor, and my bike only had 90 PSI compression. Not good. I decided to do a leakdown test, but as soon as I hooked it up to the motor and turned on the compressor, it started to blow air out the exhaust (yes, it was on TDC compression stroke). So much air was blowing out the exhaust that I couldn't even pressurize the motor at all. Looks like I'll be needing a valve job.

I pulled the motor and tore it down to the cases, which only took ~4 hours. Now that I know what I'm doing, I could do it much faster.

image_zpsqwq0hkwt.jpg


The bore is 98.00 mm (my bore gauge only goes two places past the decimal) and my piston skirt to cylinder wall clearance is 0.06mm, checked in several places in the bore. I can't find clearance specs for the Husky, but the BMW g450X manual says 0.06-0.08mm for the piston to cylinder clearance, so I'm thinking this is the stock bore and piston and doesn't have too much wear on it. The g450x book also lists 0.1-0.3mm as the spec for new piston ring end gap, and 0.5mm as the service limit. These are some pretty tight ring gaps. Can anyone confirm that this is correct for the 449 Husky too? My ring gap is .55 mm, so I'm out of spec. Looks like its time for new rings.

I can't find a piston ring set for the stock piston anywhere!! I see where I can buy a whole new piston with rings for anywhere between $150-250, but my piston and bore are fine. I just want to re-ring it and get my valves done.

Where can I get a ring set for the stock piston???? Thanks in advance.
 
I agree- probably a burnt exhaust valve. But, just in case, inspect the head for a crack (or even a bad head gasket... but I can't see how that would leak out the exhaust). Use a magnifying glass, go slow. Look at the seats. and intakes- again, this is just in case.

I'm surprised that it had any power when running or that you could even get it started at all, if you couldn't pressurize it at all for a leakdown test.

got a pic of the valve?

Rings: BMW maybe?
 
Yeah, after seeing how badly the exhaust valves leaked, I'm surprised that it ran at all and it bump started pretty easily. It actually ran pretty well, and didn't smoke.

I didn't take a picture of the head before I dropped it off at the machine shop. I carefully inspected it for cracks, and didn't find any. The shop is going to do a valve job on all 4 valves. The machinist said that the valves and seats looked OK, and that they can probably* just be re-ground. I'll know by the end of the week, once they get to it.

The cylinder still measures 98.00 mm, and my piston skirt is 97.94mm (0.06 mm piston to cylinder clearance). My ring end gap is .55mm. I can't find any specs for cylinder to bore clearance or ring gap in the Husky manual... but the BMW G450x manual says that the piston to cylinder clearance is 0.06-0.0-8mm and that new ring end gap should be 0.1-0.3mm. Maximum tolerance for worn ring end gap is 0.50mm, so my rings are worn and need to be replaced.


Can anyone verify that the g450x numbers are also correct for the husky 449? (its the same motor, right?)

Where can I buy a standard bore ring set? All I see the my Husky parts book is the complete piston and ring kit, and I don't need a piston. The Wossner and Pro-X websites also list the piston+ring kits, but I just want a set of STD bore rings!?
 
I would go ahead and do the piston too. There is no reason not to go with a fresh top end. Do you know how many hours this bike has?
 
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