SV650 won't start

[Admin]

Ok, so my girlfriends bike won't start, here's the story:

The bike sat for a few months.  It was running really rough.  I took the carbs off and took them apart.  One problem was that the slider return spring on one side was all bunged up, so the slider wouldn't open.  This was probably the cause of the rough running.  While we had the carbs off, we took them apart (leaving the floats on) and cleaned them all up.  Great.  While we were in there, we change the plugs too.

We put everything back together (except the airbox), and tried to start the bike.  It wouldn't start.  We finally got it to start when I dialed the idle WAY up, and it idled at 7000...but when I turned the idle down, it died, and wouldn't start.  Lots of gas smell.  Also, when you let off the starter, there is a lot of "sucking" sound coming from the carbs, and it looks like gas is flowing in.  This happens for a couple seconds after realeasing the starter.

So, anyone have any ideas for me?  The bike started and ran (although poorly) before we cleaned stuff up.  Now I might get it to start and run for 20 seconds or so after it sits, but then it won't start again...almost like it is flooding.

Shawn

[Mark Bernard]

I don't know SV's.. but it sounds to me like a sticky float. I hope you find the problem. Good luck....

[Ridgeway]

Not sure if the carbed SV's have a throttle position sensor, but that might be worth checking.

On my 03, I got mine all out of whack when adjusting it and had similar symptoms, (had to set idle WAY up to get it to run), and everything was fine when I got it adjusted to where it needed to be.

On the FI bikes, the TPS is attached to the throttle body, so I imagine it'd be on one of the carbs if the earlier bike's have one.

[dwilson]

I don't know SV's.. but it sounds to me like a sticky float. I hope you find the problem. Good luck....

+1, sounds like you got a float or needle valve hung up somewhere.

The 99-02 SV does not have a throttle position sensor.

[Zac]

+1, sounds like you got a float or needle valve hung up somewhere.

+2,  does the SV have a fuel pump?  Sometimes the pressure regulator switch on the pump can fail, and high fuel pressure can overwhelm the float valves.  

Most likely it is a hung float or some crap in the needle valve.  Clean the needle valves and fuel passages with compresed air.  You can pull the plugs and crank the engine (with the fuel off) to clear the flooding.

-z.

[Nate R]

99-02 SV does have a fuel pump, and it DOES have a Throttle Position Sensor. It is attached to the throttle assly on the right side of the bike.

In the Fuel section of the Suzuki Service manual, they specifically say that the connector for it needs to be removed to remove the carbs.

(available at http://www.sv650.org/sv_manuals.htm)