Starting problems

Rit · Trackday Trickster Joined: 24 Jan 2006 Karma :

Lo all,

My xj600 only seems to start fine when the battery is fully charged.

It is prolly due a new battery anyway but for example this morning after not running it for a day, went to start it. The engine turned over but diddnt fire. I diddnt bother cranking it forever. No point. Anyways after the battery being on charge for a hour it started no probs at all. It did just this the other day too.

So what I am asking is does the battery on larger bikes (even though it turns the starter over ok) have to be in tip-top condition and fully charged to produce a good spark so it will start ok?
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mr.z · World Chat Champion Joined: 04 Feb 2004 Karma :

Yeh pretty much, if the battery is stuffed it wont hold charge propperly.. but might be worth checking the chargeing system on the xj just in case (it would suck to get a new battery to find it dosn't help)

You can pretty much flatten a battery in 60seconds of turning over i think, takes quite a big kick to get them going propperly..

(have you had it out and about yet? what do you think to it?)
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Rit · Trackday Trickster Joined: 24 Jan 2006 Karma :

Its kicking out over 14v at around 2k and over and does drop down after a while to 12v so I guessed it was going to be a new battery. I was just curious about the bike firing which you answered....ta Thumbs Up

I did take it out the other day Chris to the MOT place for a number plate check as it was cracked. I posted up in new bikers. Wow it was soooo bloody different and I have to say, a little bit scarey for the 1st 10 mins.

Its going for what is looking like a very wet MOT at 10am tomorrow....Crossin' em Wink

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Finglonga · World Chat Champion Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Karma :

The battery doesn't need to be in tip top condition to start the bike. A few of my bikes had batteries that would just about turn over the engine and most the time the engine would catch and fire up.

Sounds like you have another problem somewhere???

If you have 14v at 2k it is charging ok. make sure the terminals are tight and clean from corrosion. You would be suprised how many amps that can strangle from a battery. How many volts from the battery when the engine is off?

If you don't already, turn off all the lights before starting the bike see if that helps.
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Rit · Trackday Trickster Joined: 24 Jan 2006 Karma :

Sorry yes, my wording was confusing. 14v at 2k and with the bike off its around 12.8v but does drop overnight. As far as I know (only had it a few days) it will start it up everytime just after switching off. It just seems to be over a length of time it have problems starting. I will investigate more tomorrow. Spark looks weak to me sometimes even though I fitted all new plugs. I'll report back Wink

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