y srx hard to start and not vipers

Mine is hard to start after its been sitting for more that 5 days, if i ride it and come back two days later it starts no 2-3 pulls, if i let it sit a week its going to take 15 pulls
 
sounds familiar, It must be the gas flowing back down the fuel line empting it. The resulting pulls suck it back one pull at a time until float bowls are happy.......
 
I also had this problem on my 98 srx. I went through the every carb, with a magnifying glass. I cleaned them so good it was as if they had not had a ml of fuel run through them, I haven't a problem since!
 
They are hard to start after sitting for a while, a trick I use is to put the nozzle of an air gun in the gas overflow line and give it a shot. This forces fuel up into the carbs, so you don't have to pull it 20-30 times.
 
I;ll have to try that trick of shuting off the fuel shut-off valve and see if it helps in the future..Funny my SXR is ther oposite way ..first pull it nearly fires,second pull it is going.Srx totally opposite.Why isn`t the fuel running back on on SXR then,and it has nearly 12,000 km`s on her already.
 
I'll also add my $.02 and say that it sounds like the fuel is running back down the lines into the tank.Sounds like you may have a diaphragm problem in your fuel pump allowing the fuel to siphon back down.
 
my 00 700 always starts 3rd pull cold no matter how long it sets, i just had to move it to a different storage place last week after sitting since march, 3rd pull fired up, even with the fogging oil in it, smoked like a tire fire. I'd say like others said make sure your carbs are spot on clean and dialed in, i do mine every fall along with the powervalves
 
I've got a '99 and it is super hard to start. I had the motor out last summer to seal a small leak in the case-halves and looked at the carbs at this time. They were clean as a whistle. Moreover, if you had dirty carbs issues you'd have running issues too. As once the machine is running it would be lean at some point due to narrower passages in the jets for that particular throttle opening.

For me, I just pack some starter fluid with me, give it a shot in the air box and it fires on the first pull. Though I don't know, but I'll pontificate since I'm here, I find it hard to believe that fuel is running out of the lines. And since mine will also NOT start on a cold day W/O a shot of ether, why then would it start and run great with a shot of starter fluid? If the carbs were empty I sincerely doubt that fuel could instantly get there. And a shot of starter fluid would not provide enough fuel to allow the bowls to fill.

And don't any of you go knocking starter fluid for it's lack of lubrication...it's not going to hurt one bit. I'll check in with you all in another 5k miles to confirm my sled's still running great.

Also, I checked the choke cable on my sled and adjusted it so as to max it out and no change.

Lastly, I also own a 2002 Viper with triple pipes...and yeah...that thing starts WAY easy. Never more than a few pulls. What I have noticed is that the SRX pulls so slow, and hard when cold. And as others have said, the colder it is, the harder she starts. But of course when warm, one hand from a sitting position and you're good.
 
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figgy, your post is about as right on as I have read regarding hard starting. Many good points, could it be a higher compression, or pilot jets that are too small except in optimum conditions ? It is current on all models of srx 2001 for sure, as I have had two, one brand new, that was a bitch to start right out of the crate. You could tell the temperature to a degree by how many pulls. I stick a light bulb, with a blankie over her overnight when it is less than -10 c now, otherwise, it is heart attack time.....................
 
Thanks Jeff,

You know I'm sure if one of us SRX owners spent some time trying to really figure this out we could. But frankly I don't give a rat's a*s. I just shoot some ether down her throat and she fires right up.

But the contrast of the pull-effort of the SRX versus the Viper is drastic. It's like the Viper has a compression release (which we know it does not). The configuration of the motor must have some difference. But, in warm temps, as you have noted, it is not too bad to start. But man, if it's cold, you're screwed. And I am NOT pulling that rope 20 times or more.

So really what it boils down to is that life's too short to spend trying to "diagnose" this hard starting condition when I can "fix it" with a $3 can of starter fluid. I thought that by poking around in my carbs to see if they looked dirty was enough. You know?

Screw it, light bulb or starter fluid whatever gets you there. I do however like your "easy bake oven" style block heater! But seriously, that could be a bit of a fire hazard. Get some starter fluid, it (starter fluid) will also use a lot less energy than heating up the motor all night!
 
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jvizzacc said:
2 things to try:

1. Kill the engine by choking it out. It will start a lot easier next day. Don't do this if the sled won't be run for awhile as it might wash the oil off the cyl walls.
2. Put in a fuel shutoff valve. shut the fuel off as soon as the engine is off. This will hold fuel in the line.
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X2. This is good advice.

I will never drain all the fuel from my tank & run the carbs dry again at the end of the season. I couldn't prime mine for the longest time last year...PITA.

Stabilizer & Fogged only.
 
I start all my sfuff a little more than once a month and let it get to operating temps. Only thing i do is fill tank with stabil green before last ride of season. Never had a problem been dong that for over 10 years now.
 
linemech31 said:
I start all my sfuff a little more than once a month and let it get to operating temps. Only thing i do is fill tank with stabil green before last ride of season. Never had a problem been dong that for over 10 years now.
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A great discussion. While I wouldn't expect a two stroke to be as suseptible, I know achieving acceptable cranking speeds at low temps on four strokes requires a lot of thought about engine and trans oil viscocities, amperage draws and other factors.

You're not pushing any oil with a two stroke, but you're still up against cold oil on the cylinder walls and rotating parts.

Add to this the percieved added compression on an SRX, and you end up with increased pull requirements to get the thing lit with lower ambients.

I don't know about others, but the way I pull the cord determines to some degree whether the thing will start or not. When air and engine temps are cold, I make sure one of the cylinders is on a compression stroke, and give 'er all I've got with two hands. This is during the season when the sled has sit for only a week or two, maybe three. I have witnessed yard implements hard to start for my neighbor, but I seem to get them lit without too much trouble. This would suggest the guy pulling the cord is a controlling factor.

First start of the season is another story. I have tried a few things like pressurizing the tank with shop air. This works but I've always been afraid of taking out a diaphram in the pump.

Someone suggested rocking the clutch back and forth to pulse the pump rather than pulling a dozen times. I've been adding pri-mix through the plug holes and after two, maybe three squirts, the bowls are full. I'm going to try this pulsing the pump this season.

After all the stories from last year and my own experinces, I will continue to drain and refill with in season fuel. I don't have the restraint after a summer's worth of waiting to govern the loud lever and it's been my experience that those that use last year's fuel (regardless of what treatment used on the fuel) open themselves up to detonation on that first long pull across the lake.

I have not owned a can of ether for some twenty years. IMHO, if it's required to get something started, something else is wrong. But pre-mix in place of ether shouldn't be the answer either.

I blip the choke after a day's ride when shutting down and have been doing so for years. The main reason is to suck any moisture from the choke plunger well to avoid freeze up of the plunger the next morning. I don't see how this would affect cold start but maybe a little fuel (or in our case, pre-mix) helps seal the rings better.

It would be interesting to see if those that have electric start on their SRX see the same inconsistancies related to ambient temps that us cord jockys see. I would assume that with batteries at the same state of charge, cranking speeds between different sleds would be compairable thus eliminating the variable between folks doing the pulling. In other words, do the guys (and gals) that have electric start have the same difficulties with lower ambients?
 
excellent post snomofo, but none of this works for me. Fresh fuel or not, choked when turning off, carbs clean or not, sitting for two weeks or not. It is entirely temperature related for me. After sitting all summer, three pulls and she's off. After sitting for 4 hours at minus 15 c, it will not start period. At minus 10c, it is a twenty puller. At zero, two pulls .....you can actually tell the temperature outside by the number of pulls........
 
I agree Snomofo, a lot of thought to your original post.

But again...life is too short for me to spend thinking much about this when I can "fix" it with some starter fluid.

And, the juxtaposition of my SRX to my Viper ceteris paribus (your fun word for the day folks http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceteris_paribus) is stark. The Viper, 2-3 pulls no matter what. The SRX, it could be awhile if you don't shoot some ether into the air box...or never. Not to mention you'll have some very sore arms/shoulders once it's running.

I agree with SnoMo that anything that has an engine, the right touch, goes a long way. But I have the right touch and it's now going on twenty-two years of motocross bikes, street bikes, boats, cars, PWC and snowmobiles that I fix...and this thing is just plain hard to start when it's super cold out. I don't know if there is a better fix, maybe a primer bulb would do it...I seem to recall people with SRXs having installed them.

And don't get me wrong, I like a good challenge, but I've got PWCs, cars and boats to maintain/repair in the summer, so putting on my lab coat, and finding a freezer large enough to put my sled into during summer months for accurate diagnosis is not on my "to do" list.

But there are some engines that are just cold-blooded. This is one of them AFAIC; an engineering flaw.
 
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the viper takes less effort to pull over cause yamaha changed the ratio to make it easier to pull over with less effort.

my bud's '98 starts about the same as my '04 viper in all temps. last year it was -35 F and the viper took 5 pulls in the morning.
 
Thumper1 said:
the viper takes less effort to pull over cause yamaha changed the ratio to make it easier to pull over with less effort.

my bud's '98 starts about the same as my '04 viper in all temps. last year it was -35 F and the viper took 5 pulls in the morning.
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I had a 98 and it always started great. My 00 is a different story. When its cold its a pig. 20 pulls sometimes. Just makes no sense to me.
 
For me when I had my 00 srx running... it would be all relying on the tempuratures...

I kept the sled in a tempo so it was out of the wind but in the cold... would start in 5 pulls or more depending on tempurature... unless i get luckey.... if its warm... no second though it will start right up if i give it the right pull....

But when I go ice fishing and it sits in the open in the wind and everything its a soab to start.... and def follows the tempuratures on how many pulls or close to it! def looking in the 20's at times...

I havent had the chance to try out my 01 yet... but im curious to see the outcome

Though I have never have yet to date pour something in my cylinders or anything in those lines to help it start
 
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