99 SV650 Won't Start

I have a 99 SV 650 that won't start. Was working fine last summer. I rode it until about October. Left it out a little too late into the winter, uncovered. Now it won't start. I took off the air breather, and dumped some fuel down the carbs, fired right up, sounded good for a few seconds. I've verified that the fuel control valve is opening and letting fuel through. Changed the fuel. Verified the pump is coughing up gas, all though with this one, I'm not sure what an appropriate amount is. It didn't really start chugging out gas until the battery was almost dead from turning over. I charge up the battery between tries. When it turns over, it sounds good, but its not even trying to start. Like its not getting fuel. I have verified that there are no fuel leaks around the carbs themselves or the fuel lines. Inspected the vacuum hoses, everything appears in order. I did pull apart the fuel pump and discovered a lot of water in it. Cleaned that out, and did the fuel pump test successfully afterwards. I have a hard time picturing anything wrong with the carbs that would cause both of them to fail at the same time. I've been searching the forums a lot, haven't found an answer yet.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Don't want to miss a beautiful riding season.

[Biker Biggles]

Water in the fuel pump? Where did that come from? I suspect you have wet fuel but finding out why is the issue.

[Seeker]

You have proved that the spark is there and it's only lack of fuel that's preventing it from running. Pouring fuel in via the air inlet would give a rich mixture so maybe your choke plungers are stuck.

If you left fuel in the carbs over the winter the ethanol in the petrol would have attracted any available water because it is hygroscopic, even water from the air. Once the ethanol and water combine they come out of solution and form a gunky gel that is superb at blocking jets. If the petrol has evaporated from the float chambers I suppose there is a chance the float valves have stuck and are not allowing fuel back in although I think this is less likely.

In any case it sounds like the carbs will have to come off for cleaning.

We have 5% ethanol in most of our petrol in the UK, in the US it is 10% and up to 15% in the winter months. Not many engines will run on 15% without modifications, they are marked "flex fuel" in the US.

In addition to being hygroscopic ethanol attacks rubber and some plastics and has questionable positive affects on pollution.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...ly-on-ethanol/

Sorry, I wasn't clear on that. I live in Oregon, it rains all the time. That was probably when I was testing. Had things disconnected, but covered. Probably some condensation or runoff, or similar. Probably didn't cover up the ports on the fuel pump.

Was hoping to not have to take apart the carbs. Seems like a lot of work. Thanks for the input seeker, will check that next. Have heard about ethanol issues multiple times now. Must be some truth to it

[embee]

If the fuel pump had water in it, the carbs will be full of water too. Usual suspect is that the drain pipe from the filler recess in the tank rusts through and lets water direct into the tank. If you take the drain hose off the bottom and block the tank stub then try blowing into the drain tube in the filler recess it shouldn't blow through into the tank.
Sounds like drain the tank, drain the carbs (there's a drain screw in the bottom/side, no need to strip completely at this stage), clean the hoses through.
If it's been trying to run on fuel poured directly into the intakes and there's water in the carbs it will have pulled water through into the combustion chambers and probably got onto the plugs too, so get them out and squirt a little WD40 or something in the cylinders to help dry them a bit, spin it over with the plugs out, then start from scratch.
If the tank drain is holed there isn't an easy fix. I believe some folk have fitted a sleeve through it with epoxy resin, but it's hit and miss whether you'll fix the leaks, it can leak water in and petrol/gas out.

[R1ffR4ff]

I used to have to use the Drain screws on my old Hondas carbs.If left in damp conditions moisture would build up in the Float Bowl bottoms over time causing startup problems and misfires.

I think the water and the not running, while now related, didn't start off that way. I think the water was introduced when I pulled off the air breather and tank and lines recently to start checking into what was going on.

[Biker Biggles]

If you think the water is a red herring then its back to basics. Service the plugs and especially the choke plungers and cables. Is it very cold where you are? If so try and get it running with some flammable aerosol like easy start down the air intakes just to get some heat in it. If it runs when warm its back to those chokes. Make sure you have a fully charged battery and keep it that way. Check again there are no intake air leaks from the miles of rubber tubes including those two crankcase breathers.

Pulled the carbs off last night. Opened the float bowls, pulled the main jet and fuel filter from each carb. Nothing that had me too concerned. The bowls had a couple of tiny white gooey balls in them. Really small. Smaller than a BB. Maybe 3 or 4 of them. I ordered some rebuild kits, replace all the gaskets and seals while I'm there.