‘85 Spree - No start condition again

[Rideslikenacho]

Ok so I rewound my starter and that works. Cranked the bike yesterday after clearing the hydrolock condition and it idled fine. Now I’m back to a no start condition again.

The starter solenoid clicks
Tail light blinks with both brake levers
Using a battery jumper pack to start
Also tried using a drill on the fan side to spin over the crank

I’m definitely getting spark
Definitely getting fuel to the carb
And there is definitely compression

The solenoid clicks but it wont fire up even with starter fluid.

Any ideas what to check next? Seems like maybe something electrical. I’ll pull the fuse first.

[Meatball]

Massive air leak? Base gasket, crank seals, carb/intake connection, etc..plugged or restricted exhaust? Carbon buildup is a real issue sometimes….also, be sure youre spinning the drill the right direction. I think the Spree motor spins backwards to most other bikes. Could also be a bad CDI. Try swapping with a known good one.

[Rideslikenacho]

Massive air leak? Base gasket, crank seals, carb/intake connection, etc..plugged or restricted exhaust? Carbon buildup is a real issue sometimes….also, be sure youre spinning the drill the right direction. I think the Spree motor spins backwards to most other bikes. Could also be a bad CDI. Try swapping with a known good one.

Yeah I may try swapping the cdi first. Fuse is good

[Meatball]

Also try swapping the ignition coil for a known good one. Even if it has spark, it might still be faulty. Also check the sparkplug gap and verify youre getting a good seal at the crush washer.

Are you getting any sign of life when cranking? Does it cough and sputter or turn over forever with zero pulse? At least if you can get it cough you know youre getting close.

I assume you’ve fully disassembled/cleaned the carby and made sure the internals are functioning properly…float, slide, needle clip, etc…also the mixture and idle screws are set somewhat close.

[Rideslikenacho]

The starter cranked it up and it ran fine last night until I shut it off. Then I tried again with the battery jumper and could hear the cli k from the solenoid but starter would not turn. I may have a potential starter button issue.

[Meatball]

Firing it up with a drill on the crank bolt would at least eliminate issues I mentioned and zero in on starter loop problem. The drill needs to spin pretty fast and be spinning the right direction. I think it goes reverese…which makes it difficult since the crank bolt wants to unscrew unless its on very snug.

[Rideslikenacho]

Yeah so I cranked it up with the drill spinning clockwise on the fan side the other day and it fired up. Now.. doing so doesn’t crank it up even with starter fluid.

Solenoid is good
Cdi is good (pulled from a known good one)
Brake lights on
Brake levers turn the light on
Off switch killed the engine the other day so that should be good
Spark is good and consistent when running with the drill on the crank
Not hydrolocked
Fuse is good
Battery is dead but using jumper pack to start

Seems like something is just constantly either keeping it off like the kill switch. The starter button seems to be fine too because I get power to the solenoid to click.

Maybe loose ignition switch wire or bad ignition switch?

[Rideslikenacho]

The other thing I need to check is whether the washer that goes on the end of the bendix is keeping it from going too far out in the left side case and not engaging the gear. I picked up a washer off the floor and couldn’t place where it would have come from. Seems like it would be about the right size so I’ll check that too. If the bendix is too far out I could see the starter not working but doesn’t explain why the drill wouldn’t fire it up.

[Rideslikenacho]

So I took off the left side cover and the bendix was out of its hole and not engaging with the starter nor the drive face gear.

Does anyone know if there is supposed to be a washer or something that helps hold that bendix in the cover or just the cover itself?

Also, the nut on the drive face side stripped the crank threads some but still threads. Any idea what thread count that nut is?

[Meatball]

Theres supposed to be a thin washer behind the bendix to keep it away from the motor case a bit. Theres also supposed to be a copper bushing in the belt cover hole for the bendix tip to go into.

Thread count: no idea

[Rideslikenacho]

Excellent thank you, I have a random washer about that size that appeared one day after rebuilding the starter and thinking that is it. Was too big to fit inside the left side cover itself where the bendix goes so maybe thats the one that goes in the case behind the bendix. Will try that later and see.

[Rideslikenacho]

Theres supposed to be a thin washer behind the bendix to keep it away from the motor case a bit. Theres also supposed to be a copper bushing in the belt cover hole for the bendix tip to go into.

Thread count: no idea

Does that washer go inside the engine case? Not seeing anything on the parts diagrams.

[Rideslikenacho]

Cleaned the carb really well with spray and also several cycles in the ultrsonic cleaner. Getting good spark running with a drill on the fan side and plug against ground. Checked compression and its at 150. So I’ve got spark, fuel, compression. Bike still won’t fire up. What am I missing?

[motormike]

Cleaned the carb really well with spray and also several cycles in the ultrsonic cleaner. Getting good spark running with a drill on the fan side and plug against ground. Checked compression and its at 150. So I’ve got spark, fuel, compression. Bike still won’t fire up. What am I missing?

Something meatball mentioned....plugged exhaust.
With ALL the other factors seeming to be good, a plugged exhaust will never start.
Usually this happens over time with the build-up of oil sludge accumulating inside the muffler.
Can also be a result of mud-daubing insects building nests inside.
Simply check flow of the exhaust...you can usually tell by simply holding your hand over the exhaust outlet while cranking it.
If the exhaust is off the bike, you can blow through the pipe, either with compressed air, or your mouth if you don't mind getting right down into it. Several methods are outlined in Wikispreedia for clearing the exhaust if that's the problem. I've had this exact issue more than once.

[Meatball]

How long has this thing been sitting? Bad gas?