Guzzi V11 Le Mans 2000...Starting issues

[David Sandbrook]

Hi all, a newbie to this forum. A brief run-down of the history here; She has been running nicely (for a bit), but after about an hour she coughs, splutters and dies at idle or at the traffic lights if I am not 'on' the throttle. I have recently replaced all fuel hoses through a Guzzi dealer and added a new lithium battery and she has been starting first push of the button. Last week I took her out and again, after about an hour or about 30km in traffic, she coughed, spluttered and completely died. A battery voltage check on the road side read '0' volts, so I trucked her home, recharged the battery to full and tried again to start her. Now, she has power, but struggles to start...she cuts out quick and has a backfire. There also seems to be a strong gas smell after attempting to start. 

Any help from you wise men out there would be greatly appreciated. 

David 

[audiomick]

1 hour ago, David Sandbrook said:

.... after about an hour... she coughed, spluttered and completely died. A battery voltage check on the road side read '0' volts,

So obviously the first thing to do is make sure the charging system is working. That description is consistent with riding off with a freshly charged battery on a bike that isn't charging. Battery runs flat after a while, and the bike stops running.

 

I'd say there may well be something else happening, as not all of what you describe can be immediately blamed on the charging system, but make sure that is working first. If it isn't, there is not much point in fluffing around looking for other issues until it is sorted.

[Chuck]

Not very wise here.. but a common failure is the voltage regulator from a dodgy ground. This would have let the battery run down. If it was truly 0 volts (!) it may be dead even though you charged it. Battery's

don't like being totally discharged. Once you have replaced the voltage regulator and ran a solid ground from the regulator case to the engine block and most likely replaced the battery..report back.

Oh, and welcome to the best knowledge base on the V11 in the world. Somebody else may have a better idea than me shortly..

Quote

really

Edited October 26 by Chuck

[Pressureangle]

Not much to go on yet, pull your spark plugs and check for fouling. A weak ignition can foul plugs. 

[po18guy]

Had a poor > no start issue. There is a multi-pin connector on the left front of the frame from the regulator/rectifier wiring loom. It is not a sealed connector and is exposed to rain, road spray, soap, etc. Separate it and clean the terminals on both sides using a pipe cleaner soaked in contact cleaner, denatured alcohol or similar. Probe as far into the connectors as you can, then use air or canned "duster" to blow everything out and dry it. Then, probe and swab the contacts using a fresh pipe cleaner with Caig DeoxIt on it, then plug and unplug 2-3 times to ensure good contact. I had no problems since. A check of running voltage with a multimeter will let you know if all is OK. Mine was 14.02V, which is "acceptable." 

[David Sandbrook]

Okay gentlemen, thank you so much for the guidance here. A volt-meter check a few months ago suggested it was charging okay while running; but obviously not. Maybe the battery was already damaged. So, I will start with the charging system and voltage regulator check, with new battery if necessary. At the same time check the plugs and po18guy's multi-pin connector cleaning. There is enough here to keep me going for a while. 

 

Cheers to you all,

David 

[po18guy]

3 hours ago, David Sandbrook said:

Okay gentlemen, thank you so much for the guidance here. A volt-meter check a few months ago suggested it was charging okay while running; but obviously not. Maybe the battery was already damaged. So, I will start with the charging system and voltage regulator check, with new battery if necessary. At the same time check the plugs and po18guy's multi-pin connector cleaning. There is enough here to keep me going for a while. 

 

Cheers to you all,

David 

Not only keeps you going, it hopefully gets you going. These really should have been the sealed 'AMP' connectors, but that's for another life.

[p6x]

On 10/26/2024 at 5:00 AM, David Sandbrook said:

Now, she has power, but struggles to start...she cuts out quick and has a backfire. There also seems to be a strong gas smell after attempting to start. 

It is probably a long shot. But in August 2023, I experienced the same symptoms of sputtering, did not want to keep idle;

Look at the picture below, and you can understand what happened. The rubber connecting the admission pipe to the throat was no longer properly sealing. You can see the small gap which messed up the fueling.

Check that all your fueling components are sealing properly. No stray air entry anywhere.

 

[Pressureangle]

10 hours ago, p6x said:

It is probably a long shot. But in August 2023, I experienced the same symptoms of sputtering, did not want to keep idle;

Look at the picture below, and you can understand what happened. The rubber connecting the admission pipe to the throat was no longer properly sealing. You can see the small gap which messed up the fueling.

Check that all your fueling components are sealing properly. No stray air entry anywhere.

 

The same happened to me. Ran funny, then backfired and the problem became obvious. Still, rode it home at +3500 rpm (a mile) which kept it close enough to run on that cylinder.

[p6x]

18 minutes ago, Pressureangle said:

Still, rode it home

I did too...

There is a lip on the admission pipe, and the rubber sleeve has a corresponding inner indent, or it should have. My guess is, UVs hardened the rubber compound allowing the throat assy to jump the lip.

This is something that I have not seen mentionned yet. After 20 years, all the rubber made items should be replaced. O'rings have to be kept in their bag, away from light, and to be discarded after 10 years.

Can those sleeves be purchased somewhere?

[Pressureangle]

2 hours ago, p6x said:

I did too...

There is a lip on the admission pipe, and the rubber sleeve has a corresponding inner indent, or it should have. My guess is, UVs hardened the rubber compound allowing the throat assy to jump the lip.

This is something that I have not seen mentionned yet. After 20 years, all the rubber made items should be replaced. O'rings have to be kept in their bag, away from light, and to be discarded after 10 years.

Can those sleeves be purchased somewhere?

MG Cycle has them, I assume Harper's will as well.

https://www.mgcycle.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=42

[audiomick]

Stein-Dinse and Wendel too...

https://www.stein-dinse.com/de/search.html?grp=&searchStr=01114390

 

https://wendelmotorraeder.de/ansauggummi-sp1100iv11brgr_gu01114390-p-1034021.html?ref=expl

 

I bought some only a couple of months ago. From Wendel, I think.

[p6x]

As an apparté to the thread's main topic, I think we should not ignore that many of the non strickly mechanical parts of our aging motorcycles need replacement.

When I was still working at Schlumberger, we had already moved from scheduled maintenance to RCM (Reliability Centered Maintenance). No longer doing routine changes based on time, but strictly when required.

Althought this is applicable to just about everything, vehicles are still mainly using the scheduled maintenance scheme; of course, this is the most profitable one. Although we have seen some evolutions lately. The mileage between maintenance has significantly increased.

To some extent, my car tells me when I need an oil change, and this is different with what my garage' sticker says. By a long way...

Edited October 29 by p6x

[gstallons]

And you are not required to stick to 10k oil changes like some vehicle manufacturers are stretching out to . 

[audiomick]

16 minutes ago, gstallons said:

... vehicle manufacturers...

are generally more interested in selling new vehicles than keeping old ones running. Jus' sayin'...