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Sprint GT starting problem

10K views 53 replies 11 participants last post by  UlsterSpud 
#1 ·
Never had any issues with my 2012 Sprint GT before until the other day travelling home from work. Bike was running fine,then whilst sat in traffic I went to pull away when bike stalled and when i tried starting it,it sounded like it was a flat battery, turning over very slowly. Tried several times to restart bike with same result but i did notice that the engine light and oil light remained on when normally they don't,usually only the abs light stays on til you get moving. I checked the battery connections,all fine. Left bike for about 20 mins then tried again and bike fired up straight away and got me all the way home. Once home I put a multimeter on the battery and it started the bike no problem,multimeter showing 13.8v,so all good.Turned engine off,tried restarting it again, noticed oil and engine lights stayed on and bike wouldn't start?Replaced battery as I think it was still on the original and results still the same. Any ideas fellas as I'm totally stumped. Thanks.
 
#3 ·
  1. Plenty of oil in the bike .Trying to see where the oil pressure switch earth is but the wires just disappear into a load of wires?Battery earth lead looks fine. When the bike turns over it just doesn't sound right. Don't understand why the oil and engine warning lights are staying on? Really has me stumped! When I removed the tank I did find a socket that wasn't attached to anything,not sure if that has anything to do with the problem? Any suggestions are really appreciated.
 
#9 ·
  1. Plenty of oil in the bike .Trying to see where the oil pressure switch earth is but the wires just disappear into a load of wires?Battery earth lead looks fine. When the bike turns over it just doesn't sound right. Don't understand why the oil and engine warning lights are staying on? Really has me stumped! When I removed the tank I did find a socket that wasn't attached to anything,not sure if that has anything to do with the problem? Any suggestions are really appreciated.
When you say it doesn't sound right when turning over, that worries me a bit. Do you still have compression? People often say their engine "sounds different while cranking" when the valvetrain bites the dust. I hope that isn't the case. Perhaps it is just turning slowly due to a weak battery?
 
#8 ·
I believe that's true, but I'm not entirely certain of the order of dependencies. I've always thought my bike didn't fire until the oil light extinguished. I assumed it was an interlock feature, to prevent you from starting the engine until it has oil pressure. If that's the case, and his oil light won't extinguish, it may be a good starting point. Perhaps the oil pressure switch can be bypassed with a jumper for a short moment just to see if ignition returns.
 
#12 ·
What are you getting?

Starting System Symptoms:

Weak
battery symptoms:
-- Slow cranking.
-- Stops cranking suddenly on compression stroke with button pressed.
-- Starts when starter button is released at end of cranking.
Repair:
-- Charge/Test/Replace battery.
Failure Modes:
-- Loss of capacity. Appears to charge, voltage good but no reserve for starting.
-- Won't hold a charge.
-- Low voltage/cell failure.
Preventative Maintenance:
-- Check fluid levels regularly
-- Maintain full charge: Regular riding, trickle charger.

Ignition Coil failure symptoms:
-- Hard starting/misfiring during cranking.
-- Rough idle that can't be tuned out with carb adjustments and carb cleaning.
-- Idle misfire clears with new sparkplugs, returns in a few hundred miles
Repair:
-- Replace: Preferably with Nology for higher reliability than stock Gill coils.
Failure Mode:
-- Shorted turns in secondary resulting in weak spark.
Preventative Maintenance:
-- None
Testing:

Pickup Coil failure symptoms:
-- No spark at all
-- Spark quits with engine hot, returns when engine cool.
-- Note: Pickup coil failure is total. There is no random misfire spark loss.
Repair:
-- Replace pickup coil
Failure mode:
-- Thermal intermittant with long (15-30 minute) period.
Preventative Maintenance:
-- None. Get a spare.
Testing:
-- Ohms checks hot and cold.

Worn starter symptoms:
-- Sometimes won't crank until the bike is rocked in gear.
-- Excessively noisy cranking with a grinding sound.
-- Click from under seat but no cranking.
Failure Mode:
-- Brush wear progressing to commutator damage.
-- Bearing failure related to brush wear.
Repair:
-- Rebuild or replace.
Preventative Maintenance:
-- Maintain battery in peak condition.
-- Follow proper starting procedures. Neutral, clutch in.
-- Crank 5-10 seconds at a time max., switch off for twice as long before cranking again.

Worn sprag clutch symptoms:
-- Very loud rattling when cranking
-- Starter spins but engine doesn't turn
Falure Mode:
-- Breakage
Repair:
-- Replace sprag clutch
Preventative Maintenance:
-- Maintain battery in peak condition.
-- Follow proper starting procedures. Neutral, clutch in.

Worn starter solenoid:
-- Click from under seat but no cranking.
-- Won't crank after rocking bike.
-- Starter continues to run after bike starts and won't stop until the battery is disconnected.
Failure mode:
-- Internal contact damage resulting in non-conduction.
-- Internal contact damage resulting in contacts welding shut.
-- Internal damage/wear prevents solenoid core movement.
Preventative Maintenance:
-- None.
Repair:
-- Replace starter solenoid.
Testing:
-- For no cranking, short across solenoid high-power terminals. Normal operation denotes failed solenoid contacts.


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#22 ·
As I stated earler the bike turns over, but doesn't sound right and just won't start and I don't understand why the oil and engine warning lights stay on when I'm pressing the starter? As the oil pressure switch is apparently connected to the ecu I wondered if a faulty oil pressure switch would trigger this?
 
#23 ·
I'm pretty sure that the oil switch only activates the red light in the instrument cluster and does not circuit through the ECU and therefore could not prevent a start. My Sprint is parked for the winter so I cannot check but IIRC, the oil and check engine light stay on during the start sequence. Perhaps someone who is still riding could start their bike and either confirm this or not.
I changed my Sprints oil pressure switch this year as a first step to tracing why the oil light started to light whenever the bike idled but when given slight throttle it would extinguish. I really though I was seeing the start of big end bearing failure or maybe just the oil pump but luckily, the new switch did the trick and we're back to normal running. Just to note that prior to replacing the switch, whenever the light came on at idle, it did not affect the engine running.
 
#24 ·
Thanks for help mate ,much appreciated. When the ignition is switched on, you can hear the fuel pump priming, and the fuel and temp gauges flash and the oil,engine & abs lights are displayed, then when that initial cycles finished the oil & engine warning lights should go out,leaving only the abs light illuminated,then you press the starter button. Another thing I noticed was that after the ignition sequence is finished,the fuel level isn't registering even though there is fuel in the tank. Never had any issues like this with any of my old bikes, too many electrics on bikes these days!
 
#29 ·
.... Another thing I noticed was that after the ignition sequence is finished,the fuel level isn't registering even though there is fuel in the tank. Never had any issues like this with any of my old bikes, too many electrics on bikes these days!
Two years ago I had generator stator shortened, that leaved me on the road with flat battery. After rebuilding the stator and charged the battery, I found that the fuel level isn't registering even with the full tank. I believe low voltage is to blame. After reading this forum I was advised to reset adaptation on the ECU with TuneEcu program. I did this and the problem was solved.

On the charging voltage 13.8 V is fine, it is in the range.
When cranking the voltage must not drop below 11,0 (10,5) V.

I had problem with my old bike with oxidized main leads - from the positive lead of the battery to the starter relay, from there to the starter, and from the negative lead of the battery to the ground. So I soldered this leads and the starter motor start to crank faster.
 
#25 ·
when that initial cycles finished the oil & engine warning lights should go out,leaving only the abs light illuminated,
This is incorrect. The oil pump is mechanical and can only work and build pressure when the engine is turning over. The oil light on my Sprint stays on until the engine fires up, as is the case with virtually all engines with a mechanical pump.
 
#30 ·
I think it's time for back to basics trouble shooting. I re read the OP's posts and have not read where he has dumped his fuel and filled with known fresh fuel but that would be my first thing to do now. After that, disconnect and clean battery, solenoid and engine ground wires. If the no start condition remains, then time to check condition of spark plugs and if you have spark on cranking. Next check for fuel at the throttle bodies. These are the most basic fault checks.
I have not used Tune ECU and don't know if it can scan for trouble codes with only ignition on and bike not running but others will know, so if all else fails to get you going then maybe it's time to scan for stored faults.
 
#33 ·
Had to take the tank off to get to the stuff underneath but to be honest the fuel gauge is the least of my worries, I'm certain whatever has caused this starting problem is all linked. Even though the earths on the bike appear clean and tight enough I'm going to remove them and clean and refit them first,then if that doesn't work, check the oil pressure switch, the starter relay and the switch on the clutch lever. Thanks for the advice though mate,much appreciated.?
 
#35 ·
G'day.
Had a similar problem with my Daytona 900 Super III when I bought it and road it home. Kept stopping once it got hot. Was advised it was the crank angle/ignition pickup sensor. The heat can cook it so it doesn't function properly. The bike will fire up again once it's cooled down usually.

Not expensive to replace. A reasonably competent home mechanic can do it themselves.


Not saying this is the issue but it seems very similar to my issue.

cheers.
 
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