GasGas starting problems

[Lex P]

My dearly beloved 2002 Gasgas fse400ec starts ok cold but once it's had a thrash through the bush and i stop to take a break it wont start untill its had time to cool down.
The electric starter kicks over fine but no luck getting a spark to fire.
What can be causing this problem? any ideas?
Lex P

 

[jeffd]

Well if it were an XR, I'd say that the valves are tight - have they been adjusted recently? Another thing that I had heard about earlier models of this bike is that if it fails to start within a reasonable amount of time, then turn it off for 15 seconds to let the ecm reset.

If it were me, I'd start by adjusting the valves, clean up the ground wires on the frame and make sure they have good contact and check the coil.

jeff

p.s. Nice pics of your bike in the photo gallery...

 

[GMP]

What Jeff said, basic stuff first. Then I would start to look at possible thermal issues causing vapor lock in the fuel system. Does it run OK hot before you shut it down?

I'm not familiar with the Mag Marrelli EFI and firmware, but my Cannondale had on Optimum system that incorporated a max temp limit for the engine. If this was reached the ECU would shut down and not allow a restart. Does the GasGas include such a safeguard? If so, and your bike runs very hot, the high temp spike when shut down may keep it from restarting. Just a thought.

 

[JTT]

My dearly beloved 2002 Gasgas fse400ec starts ok cold but once it's had a thrash through the bush and i stop to take a break it wont start untill its had time to cool down.
The electric starter kicks over fine but no luck getting a spark to fire.
What can be causing this problem? any ideas?
Lex P

Will it start if you just barely crack the throttle open while cranking it over? One of the guys here had somewhat similar issues and found he could start it with just a tiny crack of throttle. Trouble in his case was an EFI trim setting being slightly off. If you can, get your dealer to put the software on it and check the setting.