94A No Fuel

[landisr]

My bike just decided it doesn't want to start. It spins ok at first, but then slows down. Typical symptoms of a weak battery. It's less than a year old, but 1) is an EverStart from Walmart, but fully charged before installation. 2) It's crazy hot here in the Phoenix area. It's parked in an attached garage with the garage door facing north, so it's the best I can do without ac in the garage. I charged the battery and tried again. No start. Sprayed starting fluid into the snorkel; it fired right up for about 3 seconds then died. Tried jumping from an non-running car. Swapped a known good battery out of my '76 LTD. No difference. Removed the seat, etc etc. Fuel filter is clear and I can blow through both ways. I jumpered from the battery + to B post on pump and tested fuel flow without the filter in place: excellent volume. So I reconnected the fuel filter, unplugged the line going 'down' from the fuel petcock and plugged the filter directly into it, bypassing the petcock. Still no go. I then checked voltage at the B connector on the pump while cranking. 8.46 volts. So I have the battery back on the charger while I scratch my head and put a shout out here.

What am I doing wrong and where do I go from here? Many TIA.

Ron in AZ

[WingAdmin]

Your (N)Everstart battery is a flooded wet cell, I take it? Probably just not capable of doing the job in this hot weather. Take a meter, put it on the battery terminals, and watch the voltage as you crank the bike. Ideally, you don't want to see it much below 12 volts, maybe 11.9 as it's cranking the bike.

[landisr]

Thanks, Scott. I will let the battery simmer on my 1A charger for a little longer. Look for the green indicator. Then try again. I did upgrade to an AGM on my Michigan bike ('76 Standard) and am a new convert. Will probably go with same here. BTW: Apparently they enlarged the battery box some time between the 1000s and 1200s because the Odysee (sp) would not fit in my '76. Too tall.

[AZgl1800]

as Scott said,

the 1500s require a stout battery, and that means AGM.
wet cell batteries just cannot hold up to 110*F heat,
I lived in Mesa, AZ for 20 years and worked in Phx at the Fire Dept and rode my '94SE every day if possible.
the wet cell battery would not start it reliably in the evening, I put in a new AGM and that ended my starting problems.

this of course, assumes that all of the vacuum lines are good?

[BikerBuck]

The fact that it started immediately with starting fluid leads me to believe you might have fuel delivery problems. Possibly fuel pump or fuel petcock.

[landisr]

The fact that it started immediately with starting fluid leads me to believe you might have fuel delivery problems. Possibly fuel pump or fuel petcock.

UPDATE: As it turns out it was a fuel problem, but only because insufficient voltage was getting to the fuel pump. A new AGM battery and a Gen-u-ine Gold Plated Honda Fuel Filter got it going just fine. Thanks for all your support.

Ron in AZ

[WingAdmin]

The fact that it started immediately with starting fluid leads me to believe you might have fuel delivery problems. Possibly fuel pump or fuel petcock.

UPDATE: As it turns out it was a fuel problem, but only because insufficient voltage was getting to the fuel pump. A new AGM battery and a Gen-u-ine Gold Plated Honda Fuel Filter got it going just fine. Thanks for all your support.

Ron in AZ

So many GL1500 problems are solved with a new battery. They are power-hungry beasts!