All of a sudden won't start - High pitch whine but won't crank.

[stickman]

ST1300, 2006, was running fine, have about 55,000 miles. Go out this morning, turn the key, so far so good. Hit the button and all it does is gives off a high pitch steady whine and will not crank the engine. Once after holding the ignition button in for about 5 seconds I get one pop out of the exhaust like it wanted to turn.

I check the battery under load, still in the 11.5 range. Pull the plugs, don't look too bad, but replaced them anyway. Pulled the battery anyway and took it to a local cycle shop buddy, checked it on his load tester, battery is fine.

I did some searching here and came up with checking the ECM codes. But the directions say the ECM plug is accessed under the seat. On my bike it looks like I need to take the rear cowel off to get to the ECM, is there an easier way? Also, the F1 light does what it normally does, goes on then shuts off.

Weird it was running fine, put a couple hundred miles on during the past week, then it sat for about 2 days before this happened.

Are there any known issues with the ST1300 that I should be looking for? Any help would be appreciated. Luckily I still have my Shadow, so there is a reason for having more than one motorcycle. Thanks.

 

[st1300r]

ECM quick guide.
http://stwiki.notonthe.net/twiki/bin/view/ST13/ECMQuickGuide

Red connector under the seat. You don't need to get to the ECM itself.
If you've never used it it's probably taped to the wiring harness.
From about the center of the passenger grab rail follow until you hit the frame tubing. The one the has the bikes color code on it.
Under or next to the frame tube there's a wiring harness the connector will be taped to the side of it.

Or in neutral. Side stand down. Crank for 10 seconds and check for blinks.
iirc If it is on the center stand the FI will stay steady on after 10 seconds of cranking, and then blink the codes if you leave the bike on and put the side stand down.

It doesn't sound like you have a code though.

The starter is turning but the engine isn't?

If you got a pop then maybe the engine is turning but there's no compression. The popular theory there is a sticky valve. Rare and usually after the bike sits a while. The fix is to keep cranking then some techron, seafoam, or whatever your cool-aid is. It's done that to me once after a month of sitting and took maybe 3 or 4 good 10 second cranks to get it going.

 

[stickman]

Red connector. Got it. Thanks.

Normally when you press the ignition the starter goes "whine whine" a couple times before it kicks over. But now it just goes "whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine" and the engine does not turn.

 

[st1300r]

?
When you 1st key on you'll hear a relay click then about a 2 second whine from the fuel pump. With the bike still on cycle the kill switch off then on. You should hear the same click and 2 second whine. After that the go button directly turns the engine with no delay.

I hope the whiiiiiiiiiine isn't the starter turning and the engine not, but the engine turning over and not firing.
The whine whine you normally hear is the engine turning before it lights off.
Hopefully you're hearing whine whine whine whine, not werrrr of the starter not engaging.

 

[jjoyce2]

I don't understand a pop from the exhaust if the engine isn't turning over and pumping air.

 

[dwalby]

just a suggestion, do you have a flat area where you could try to push start it? That might narrow down your list of possible causes if the bike starts and runs.

 

[SMSW]

Red connector. Got it. Thanks.

Normally when you press the ignition the starter goes "whine whine" a couple times before it kicks over. But now it just goes "whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine" and the engine does not turn.

This sounds like the bendix gear is not engaging the flywheel and turning the engine. How do you know the engine is not turning? You might try this with a friend and have them hold their hand over the exhaust to feel for air pulses. If the engine is NOT turning, you will have to pull the starter and check the gear on the end of the starter's shaft. It should advance when the starter spins and retract when it slows and stops.

just a suggestion, do you have a flat area where you could try to push start it? That might narrow down your list of possible causes if the bike starts and runs.

If you can bump start the bike, then for sure it is the starter motor not engaging. Hint: Do this on a downhill slope if possible. Pop the clutch in 2nd gear.

 

[st1300r]

If bump starting doesn't work remember you still gotta push it back up a hill LOL.
iirc honda uses a one way clutch not a bendix or solenoid, pulling the starter won't expose it.

You could put it on the center stand side stand up crank it in gear and let the clutch out. You should see some wheel movement.

 

[dwalby]

If bump starting doesn't work remember you still gotta push it back up a hill LOL.

+1, that's exactly why I suggested level ground.

The ST is no fun to push up any kind of incline, unless its very slight.

 

[SMSW]

+1, that's exactly why I suggested level ground.

The ST is no fun to push up any kind of incline, unless its very slight.

The ST is no fun pushing it anywhere. Though, if you are bump starting two strong young twenty year old guys would come in very handy.

If bump starting doesn't work remember you still gotta push it back up a hill LOL.
iirc honda uses a one way clutch not a bendix or solenoid, pulling the starter won't expose it.

Oops, my error. So how does one access this one way clutch? drop the engine?

 

[dwalby]

So how does one access this one way clutch? drop the engine?

you don't want to know. On the 1100 you have to remove the engine and pull the crankshaft as I recall, but I don't think anybody has ever had that part fail. I think on the 1300 the sticky valve lack of compression produces the symptoms you're seeing, but I'm not totally sure.

 

[stickman]

Perhaps my whine description were off. Below is a video. Thank you to the person that suggested putting a hand over the exhaust, the engine is turning, I felt air coming out.

I jumped those wires on the ECM, and F1 light stayed on. So there are no fault codes.

I tried bump starting it, sort of, in my garage. I just wanted to give it a push while the engine was cranking to see if anything was stuck. No luck. They really need to include kick-starts with all bikes.

I'm at a loss. Haven't looked at the air box yet, we do get mice in the garage at times, but never had a problem with them eating my vehicles. But if they ate wires, I imagine a fault code would have shown.

https://youtu.be/tKrRS1hjBY4

 

[Bruski]

I had the same sound when my ST sat for a while. I think you will find that the noise is the standard cranking sound that normally lasts for a very short time before the engine fires. I'm guessing you have a fuel issue. In my case the fuel rails drained down and it eventually started. Good luck.

 

[Tom Mac 04a]

I'm going with the crap gas we get today and he ran it and let it sit.... maybe the gunk sticking open a valve.

Happen to me the same way, long ride let sit for 3 days went to start... hi pitch crank over like one or two plugs out or no compression

Fix was to use a car battery with jumpers ( so you don't kill the battery ) hold open the throttle and crank for ten seconds, let cool down ( don't let go of throttle ) and redo... Took me 5 times till it started to pop and then one cylinder and then slowly all firing.

Since then I use seafoam every few tanks and never came back

 

[970mike]

That sounds like you have a gummed up valve from the great American Ethanol in our fuel today. You need to put some type of additive into the fuel to clean out the sugar that will gum up your valves and cause the lose of compression.

 

[stickman]

Thanks for the suggestions, folks. I'll check it out tomorrow.

I started a ride by getting some gas, did about 150 miles for the day round trip, then it sat for a couple of days. That's when it wouldn't start.

I use that Techron cleaner once a year, usually after the winter. I don't know how well it works, but heard good things.

P.S. It's safe to hook it to a car battery without burning anything out? I've heard mixed stories.

 

[970mike]

Here is an article on the problems with today's fuel http://www.revzilla.com/common-tread/f-ethanol?utm_source=facebook&utm_content=stream&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=boosted-posts&utm_term=f-ethanol

 

[dwalby]

P.S. It's safe to hook it to a car battery without burning anything out? I've heard mixed stories.

Just to be safe don't run the car while its hooked up, so the car's alternator doesn't try to charge things.

 

[st1300r]

P.S. It's safe to hook it to a car battery without burning anything out? I've heard mixed stories.

It's a good idea to have the car off, the battery is plenty big enough to start it. You're trying to avoid a load dump which can briefly put 90volts and a lot of noise on the 12 volt system.

The good news is it sounds like the starter clutch hasn't failed. Some good 10 second cranks and it may sputter to life. After a few attempts grab a beer and let the starter motor cool down and try again.

It's probably a better idea to put your fuel stabilizer like seafoam and valve cleaner like techron at the end of the season top off the tank and run it a bit to distribute it thru the system. Better idea to not have an end of the season LOL.

 

[ALANT]

I too think it's a fuel issue. Something very similar happened to me recently. Starting with a wide open throttle as Tom Mac mentioned is what worked for me although it took more like ten tries before it finally started.

Good luck! Alan