I have Andy and Sylvia from Switzerland with me tonight. They have been travelling the world since mid 1999. Sylvia's 1991XT600E is having starting problems. Adjusted valves in Perth and drove about 600kms when suddenly it wouldn't charge anymore. Battery was always flat. Discovered the rectifier needed replacing. That didn't help the starting problems which occurred only when the bike had been left standing overnight. When engine was hot there was less of a problem but bike still wouldn't fire up quickly. Replaced main bearing (badly worn) and replaced piston rings, new feul lines, cleaned carby, new plug (but not the cap), measured resistance, started the bike and it fired first time. Since then it only starts by running the bike down a hill although hot starting is now not a problem. Starts very quickly in fact. They have been struggling with this problem for 6 months and have had it in a garage for a week but no solution. HELP KLAUS PLEASE. Andy has had enough of pushing!! Answers in German are more than acceptable.

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Hi Roger, and Andy and Sylvia,

I noticed Klaus hasn't responded, he's probably off somewhere, so I thought I'd throw in my two - well, one - cents worth:

Some questions and hints for you to help us solve this "interesting" problem:

Have you checked ALL grounds (earths) and connections - disconnect, scrape clean if possible, especially battery terminals and main grounds and coil grounds? Spray with contact cleaner too. Clean ignition switch, disconnect sidestand/clutch switches if they exist.

Has the plug cap and wire been replaced since the problem started? (measuring ok isn't good enough - can fail under stress - and note that a hot engine requires less electrical juice to start than a cold one, so everything must be better in order to start cold - therefore electrical connection suspicions)

But just in case:

Have you checked for air leaks in the inlet manifold/carb mounting?

Does it burn any oil now? How is the compression - has it been tested, and what are the numbers hot/cold and with a little oil squirted in the cylinder? Are they ok or not?

If all that checks out:

Is there another bike available to swap parts with?

If so I'd start with carburetor complete, (cause it's easy and eliminates a whole area)then coil, and other ignition components, AFTER a thorough check of grounds.

Hope that helps!

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Grant Johnson

Share the Dream!
at: www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

hi roger, andy and sylvia,

so sorry, but we (www.xt-club-emmingen.de) held our annual meeting last weekend and to satisfy about 120 enduro-riders is is not a simple job to do...
i would say you have a problem with battery charging.
in xt600e's ignition system the voltage for the ignition comes directly from the battery, therefore a weak battery can cause a weak spark which results in cold-start trouble.

first check all grounds as grant already mentioned. in most of such cases a wrong ground is the reason.
main switch/steering lock is also a possibility.

second, measure the voltage of the battery in the morning before you attempt to start. it should show at least 12.8 V. then measure the voltage on the red cable coming from the rectifier while engine is running. it should show something around 13.8 VDC when engine is running with at least 4500 revs.

third measure the voltage on each of the 3 white cables coming from the alternator. it should show something around 60 VAC (!).

i would be glad to here how you solved the problem.
you can direct further questions also to: http://www.xt600.de/xt_rat&tat/index.htm

good luck!
klaus