minimum fuel to start?
minimum fuel to start?
Hello I hope someone can help me. I took the tank off my 08 crossbones so I could run internal handlebar wires. Had to drain the tank by splitting the crossover hose and siphoning from the tank...it was a mess but I was able to save some fuel in two 16.9 fluid ounce water bottles. Wiring done carefully and molex plugs assembled correctly, no wires pinching anywhere. Put the two bottles of fuel into the tank.
So I put the bike back together and first I have the security system preventing me from starting the bike, it was flashing like crazy for a long time. Finally figured how to override with and without the fob. Turn on ignition, thumb the run button and hear the fuel pump whine. Hit starter and instead of hearing the engine turn over, you hear loud rat-tat-tat tat of the starter. Battery replaced last January and is always on the tender and has been running strong since then but I guess I should do a voltage test.
Feels like no fuel combusting to turn the pistons? I don't know. Were the two bottles of fuel (combined 34 fluid ounces) too little to even feed the throttle body? I pulled the fuel disconnect and felt fuel on my fingers..? Should I find the hose to the throttle body, disconnect and see if the fuel pump spits anything out? The only thing I can think of is trying to add more fuel tomorrow (2 gallons) and pulling all the fuses in case I blew one when reassembling all the molex plugs. I hope my starter is okay, its spinning but i've never heard it do the machine gun clicks like that before...Any help is appreciated!
So I put the bike back together and first I have the security system preventing me from starting the bike, it was flashing like crazy for a long time. Finally figured how to override with and without the fob. Turn on ignition, thumb the run button and hear the fuel pump whine. Hit starter and instead of hearing the engine turn over, you hear loud rat-tat-tat tat of the starter. Battery replaced last January and is always on the tender and has been running strong since then but I guess I should do a voltage test.
Feels like no fuel combusting to turn the pistons? I don't know. Were the two bottles of fuel (combined 34 fluid ounces) too little to even feed the throttle body? I pulled the fuel disconnect and felt fuel on my fingers..? Should I find the hose to the throttle body, disconnect and see if the fuel pump spits anything out? The only thing I can think of is trying to add more fuel tomorrow (2 gallons) and pulling all the fuses in case I blew one when reassembling all the molex plugs. I hope my starter is okay, its spinning but i've never heard it do the machine gun clicks like that before...Any help is appreciated!
Last edited by Nightcruiser; Jan 7, 2015 at 03:48 AM.
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Joined: Mar 2014
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From: St Louis
You have a battery/starting problem not a fuel problem. The amount of fuel in (or not in) the tank has nothing to do with the engine turning (or not turning) over. The rat-tat-tat-tat of the starter is not enough juice to crank it. No need to pull a fuel line to see if there's fuel coming out. When you turned the switch on and heard the fuel pump run, it was priming/pressurizing the fuel lines. Had it not accomplished that goal, the fuel pump would continue to run; i.e. if there was a leak or not enough fuel to pressurize the lines, etc. It doesn't take much fuel to fill/pressurize those lines and run the engine for a few minutes. As long as the pick-up point for the fuel feed is submerged, it'll do what it needs to do.
Thanks galaxyfe for your answer. I finally had the bike started. It turns out that I needed more fuel in the tank, maybe the two little bottles of fuel were just too little and only filling up a part of the tank and the crossover line but I dunno because after putting a gallon in it started up!
But I do believe that the battery might have been weak at that point in time because I had run it down while trying to get the security system working (lights flashing constantly until I learned how to disable) so it's a possibility there was enough fuel but battery was low and starter had barely enough power, hence the clicking.
After a day on the charger and a gallon i'm just happy all is well. Thanks for the input!
Nightcruiser
But I do believe that the battery might have been weak at that point in time because I had run it down while trying to get the security system working (lights flashing constantly until I learned how to disable) so it's a possibility there was enough fuel but battery was low and starter had barely enough power, hence the clicking.
After a day on the charger and a gallon i'm just happy all is well. Thanks for the input!
Nightcruiser
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