[drider21]

I am new to riding and not the handiest mechanic but I can do a decent amount. I have a 2002 Kawasaki zx6r. I got the bike about 6 months ago and it ran perfect and I had no problems with it.

Now its after winter and I'm having an issue

I took it out the other day and I believe that I ran it completely out of gas. I forgot I had already put it on reserves.

Well I filled it up couldn't get it started and pushed it home.
Got it started later that evening and thought it was all good.

Took it out the next day and got about a mile or 2 up the road and it started to act like It was running out of gas again. It died on me and I couldn't get it started back up. I pushed it home.

I looked up some things about the problem.

I have drained the float bowls about 3 times, and today I also added a gas treatment called heet to the tank. let it sit then took it out for a spin same problem.

I can hear the fuel pump it doesn't humm but it clicks.
After I take it down the road and it runs out of gas it will not click anymore though, not sure if that's normal.

Cant find the fuse or relay for the fuel pump either but I mean I do have power to it so I know the fuse is good still.

Please help......

 

[RedAndBlack]

Battery?

 

[ely]

I'm not familiar with your bike but if it has an inline fuel filter check that

 

[NitrusReigns]

Not a bad plan to check the fuel filter, but I kinda doubt that's the issue.

What does it do after it dies? Will it still turn over, but just not start? If it's turning over, does it fire at all? Have you tried spraying starter fluid in? How have you narrowed down that it's actually a fuel delivery issue?

 

[RJ2112]

I am new to riding and not the handiest mechanic but I can do a decent amount. I have a 2002 Kawasaki zx6r. I got the bike about 6 months ago and it ran perfect and I had no problems with it.

Now its after winter and I'm having an issue

I took it out the other day and I believe that I ran it completely out of gas. I forgot I had already put it on reserves.

Well I filled it up couldn't get it started and pushed it home.
Got it started later that evening and thought it was all good.

Took it out the next day and got about a mile or 2 up the road and it started to act like It was running out of gas again. It died on me and I couldn't get it started back up. I pushed it home.

I looked up some things about the problem.

I have drained the float bowls about 3 times, and today I also added a gas treatment called heet to the tank. let it sit then took it out for a spin same problem.

I can hear the fuel pump it doesn't humm but it clicks.
After I take it down the road and it runs out of gas it will not click anymore though, not sure if that's normal.

Cant find the fuse or relay for the fuel pump either but I mean I do have power to it so I know the fuse is good still.

Please help......

As you will need this, go ahead and download the shop manual for your bike from this site.

Shine a flashlight in the gas tank, and check for rust.

If you stored the bike with little or no gas in it, the moisture over the winter has corroded the inside of the tank. That junk is probably clogging your fuel filter.

Report back, and let us know what you find out.

 

[drider21]

Okay i will check the fuel filter

As for battery ive had to jump start it a few times after winter but when it dies after i try and start it again battery seems fine it just continues to roll over like there is no fuel

 

[drider21]

I will also try the flashlight into the tank and see what i can see but i have alot of gas in there right now not to sure how much ill be able to see

 

[iLean2much]

Sounds to me you might have a vacuum leak.

The fuel pump on a carbed bike doesn't have the same purpose as a fuel pump on the fuel injection.

It doesn't give as much pressure. it's more like a feeder but the major work is done by vacuum sucking the gas into the lines.

I had a vacuum leak on my carbs on the emissions side. Even though emissions don't really have much to do with the fuel delivery, they still are a part of the vacuum system and disrupted the air circuit.

Do you ever notice the bike slowing down, loosing power, if you open the throttle it makes a VroooOOOOM sound and quickly after dies?

If you let the bike sit for a few minutes or even just have it sit at idle, the low vacuum (or gravity when shut off) will fill the float bowls back up with fuel.

If this sounds more like your problem, troubleshoot the air system. Any hose that doesn't carry fuel is relevant!
Take every hose off each connector, flex it and get a look at it all around. That's where the old rubber hoses are most likely to rip, is on the connectors.

If you had to kick start the bike a few times, cheapest way to improve the battery is a battery tender, have it hooked up every time you park it, even if it's just over night.

If you got the spare change, invest in a new battery. Still, it can't just sit there for a few days. It starts to discharge, especially when it's colder.

While troubleshooting the air system, might as well change spark plugs. Every 10,000mi it should be done for sure.

 

[Ridgedawg88]

I recently had a starting problem and it was my battery. It turned over like a champ. There was no indication whatsoever that the battery should be the problem. And every time I tried starting it, I'd put it back on a battery tender to make sure the battery was topped off. BUT I ended up taking the battery out of my R6 and sticking it in the ZX6R. The bike started RIGHT up with the R6 battery. Funny thing is that the R6 ran fine with the ZX6R battery. ZX6Rs are finicky when it comes to batteries. I would definitely start there. Even if you don't think it's the problem, it's a simple thing to rule out.

That said, I don't know why it would quit on you two miles down the road. Oh wait..

If you didn't warm your bike up before riding it, I suppose it would take a mile or two for it to warm up. And that's when you said it dies. Check your idle adjustment. That would make sense. If it got knocked out of adjustment, it could easily stall out after getting warmed up. Just another easy thing to check. I've had both of these problems.

 

[drider21]

Giving a small update

Looked in the tank last night to see if rust was the issue. I could not see any rust but i do believe that its a plastic tank anyway. I couldnt see to the bottom of the tank but i did get it used so the guy before me could have gotten crud in the bottom then when i used the last of the reserves it sucked the dirt in as well.

I have plans when i get off work to check out the fuel filter but how will I know if it is bad?

I will adjust the idle speed as well. Any tips at how it should be sounding or what rpms it normally is at would be great. Downloaded the manual last night as well.

As for the vaccum leak. It deffinatley does give the Vrooooom sound when I get down the road. Then dies almost instantly after. I have looked around most of the bike and have not seen any loose hoses or cut hoses but i will give a more thourough investigation when i get home.

Thank all of you for the ideas. I will update after i work on the bike some more

 

[Strider]

The idle should be set to ~1500 RMP's when the bike is warmed up.

 

[Ridgedawg88]

Just a heads-up, checking for a vacuum leak can be pretty tedious. It probably won't be easy to see. If a hose is disconnected, good...that's easy. But small cracks from wear or dry rot aren't as easy to spot. Some may disagree with me but if you get a bottle of soapy water and lightly spray the area, the leaks become more visible. You'll see a disturbance in the soapy water. Bubbles or a sucking in. Just a tip.

 

[RJ2112]

Just a heads-up, checking for a vacuum leak can be pretty tedious. It probably won't be easy to see. If a hose is disconnected, good...that's easy. But small cracks from wear or dry rot aren't as easy to spot. Some may disagree with me but if you get a bottle of soapy water and lightly spray the area, the leaks become more visible. You'll see a disturbance in the soapy water. Bubbles or a sucking in. Just a tip.

Wetting the lines with WD-40 while the bike is running, then checking the exhaust to see if you get any white smoke will tell you where a vacuum leak is......

 

[VULGR]

The clicking noise definitely makes me think it's the battery

 

[RedAndBlack]

The clicking noise definitely makes me think it's the battery

Exactly what I thought as well and with the history of the battery, probably isn't a bad idea to replace it.

 

[iLean2much]

Looked in the tank last night to see if rust was the issue. I could not see any rust but i do believe that its a plastic tank anyway. I couldnt see to the bottom of the tank but i did get it used so the guy before me could have gotten crud in the bottom then when i used the last of the reserves it sucked the dirt in as well.

I have plans when i get off work to check out the fuel filter but how will I know if it is bad?


Thank all of you for the ideas. I will update after i work on the bike some more

Definitely not plastic! I've sanded down the whole tank before I gave in to painting.
Only some bikes like Honda cbr got a plastic tank cover but they still use a metal tank. Only cars have a plastic one.

A new fuel filter will be yellow.
Tap some gas and see if it will flow through the filter. Would only be clogged if the gas pours out in a thin stream or drips.
Not that it wouldn't be a bad idea to put in a new one.

But the list gets long if you wanna check every thing off.
spark plugs
clean carbs
new battery plus battery tender
etc.

might as well do oil change, coolant change... you know, do all the things you haven't had done before the bike was in your possession unless you had it for around 10,000mi already but haven't done any of it.


The way I troubleshooted my bike for the vacuum leak was, I took a sports cap bottle, fit the fuel hose on the mouth piece, filled the bottle with gas from the tank (tank off the bike), poked a hole in the bottom of the bottle while having it taped/secured to the bike upsidedown and ran it. touch the hoses and really pay attention to when the bike started to die. it probably will take longer with less air being forced in at still stand and not reving the crap out of it for the sake of the neighbours...

I bet you, all the things mentioned beside the (to me) obvious vacuum leak will make little improvements to your bike.

Just be warned, running a bike with vacuum leak aka starving of fuel might cause a hole in one or more of the pistons since the spark plugs don't get cooled down enough when running on a very lean fuel/air mixture. The spark is too hot and if ran for more than 1000miwithout having solved the problem might burn a hole through the metal.

Easy check on if your bike is running too lean is by taking out a spark plug and looking at the round ceramic center that surrounds the electrode.

If after an hour of riding/use the plug should still look white/like new it's too lean aka running too hot.

 

[riverszzr]

Start simple.

Charge the battery fully and make sure it is good

Once you know the battery is good, then proceed further

The fuel pump definitely pumps fuel into the carbs---no vacuum to draw in fuel....geez people, give good advice or don't spout bullshit that is erroneous

If you ran it out of gas, you could have drawn shit into the carbs

Storing it over the winter, you could have to clean the carbs

There are just simply so many possibilities, with what you have provided I would start at the battery, then perhaps dump the tank, rinse it clean with fresh fuel, then dump it again and refill.........2002-I guarantee it has rust on the top surface of the tank in VA.

But you ultimately need to know what has been done in the past, prior to you buying it so you have a starting point for all your needed maintenance and service intervals...
It is likely way overdue for about everything in the service manual!

 

[drider21]

Ran like normal

okay guys,
yesterday when I got home I got to work on it. I looked at some other treads to see if anyone had similar problems and they did.
First, I drained a couple of liters of gas out of the gas tank.
Second, I took the fuel filter out and blew through it to see if it was good it fuel came through the other end so it was working.
Third, I took the hoses off of the fuel pump to the carbs and wiggled them made sure there wasnt anything. I didn't see anything that would've made it not work.
I also cleaned the air filter just for good measure while i was up and around there. Then put it it all back together turned back on the gas and let it fill a second.
Started the bike up and it ran fine, then I adjusted the idle speed and it was running fine then started running like crazy so i adjusted it back down.

I think it just finally managed to run out the crappy gas or water/heet combination whatever it was. I rode it for an hour and a half with no issues adjusting the idle as i went and everything seemed back to normal.

I will get a new battery soon as well though.

Thanks to all for the help and insight!

 

[Strider]

Glad you got it running good again! As far as a battery, check out Shorai batteries (Home - Shorai Lithium Batteries)

It's as light as a feather compared to the OEM style battery. Mine has been great!