Rough start this morning

  • Thread starter AmericanRecluse
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AmericanRecluse

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My NT has been parked outside for three days (in a carport and covered), it's been uncharacteristically cold and very wet. This morning she didn't turn over right away (never happened before), I had to try about 6 times before she started up. After it started I smelled some gas and the exhaust fumes were more greyish than I ever recall before. I kept the engine running and checked the oil, waited for the gas smell to subside a bit then took a ride around the block to see how she was running.

She's running fine, it appears. I'm wondering what happened and if I should be overly concerned. I had a valve adjustment done about 1200 miles ago.
 
The fact you smelled gas makes me think it was flooded. I don't think parking it outside has anything to do with it as that is how mine has spend its life and it has always started in the cold or the rain. I guess I would just wait to see if it does it again. Did you have the recall on the spark plug caps ?
 
99.9 % of the time my NT has no smell at all

Once in a blue moon in the hot months, the garage will have the gassy oily motorcycle smell like the old days
 
How did you check the oil when the engine was running?
 
My question as well Phil, I would be afraid of a snot full of oil! YUK!!!. BUTT mabe we will lean somethng!!

Eldon
 
Hopefully it was just a one time occurrence. If it does it again, listen for the fuel pump when the ignition is turned on. If fuel pump sounds normal, crank it continuously for >10 seconds and to see if a sensor failure that controls fuel injection or ignition will light your Maintenance Indicating Light (MIL). Then, either follow what the MIL says, or if no MIL, look at other possibilities (spark plugs, spark plug caps, water settling in fuel tank overnight and being the first thing to enter engine for the morning start).

Air, Gas, Spark, valve and ignition Timing, Compression.....that's about all it could be. Sorry, that was uncalled for.

Until then, ride it if it runs fine.
 
Different kind of rough start for me this morning. I had driven home to Fort Morgan on Sunday afternoon because I had a Denver meeting on Monday morning and there was supposed to be a chance of rain on Monday. Turned out I was off a week about the date of the meeting. (Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.) I wouldn't have gotten there anyway because I had a flat and had to get that fixed.

Last night Joanne and I were going to meet at the show to see "Noah." I wanted something to eat before the show, so I was on my way to get a Subway. I got in the car and the battery was totally dead. My neighbor has one of those chargers that will throw out a 100A starting charge, so we hooked it up and after a few minutes I got the car started. Swung through McD's drive-through and got to the show. I turned the car off while we went to the show figuring that if it didn't start, Joanne would be there and we could jump it. It started fine.

When I got home I hooked up the neighbor's charger and left it on 2A for the night. Went out this morning on my way to the hardware store and it was dead as a doornail again. I used the 100A starting charge and it started and ran fine. I went to the hardware store, came out, and it was gone, gone, gone...and crying wouldn't bring it back.

I figured, what the hey! I've had AAA for about 25 years and haven't used it since the summer of '96, so I called them. Their guy was there in about 15 minutes and his port-a-battery got it running. This time I went straight to AutoZone and bought a battery. It's worked just fine since then.

I had had two Interstate Batteries from NAPA in the car. One had lasted two years this one lasted four. I've always had longer-lived batteries than that in my cars, so I abandoned Interstate.
 
Phil,

The newer battery formulations, like calcium type batteries, do not give the early warning signs of the old lead acid batteries (sluggish starts after sitting for a while, etc)

From my experience the symptoms you are describing are typical early failure signs of the newer batteries.

Not sure if your battery is one of the newer types or not.
 
Seagrass, I don't know what type it was, but it's gone. The new one has worked for a whole day now. :)
 
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