[chillry]

Ok here’s the deal. I’ve searched around and haven’t found anyone with this exact issue (though there are a few that are somewhat similar)
Rode my '06 wee about 6 months ago, ran fine. Didn’t put stabil in (oops) and then went to start it a couple weeks ago and nothing.
The starter cranks strong (with jumper cables to my car's battery) but the bike won’t fire up. Checked TOS, kickstand, kill switch, and bike is in neutral and clutch is pulled. Disconnected and reconnected fuel line and wiring harness to fuel pump, wiggled starter relay, sloshed tank around. Tried giving it a little throttle and the cranking sound changes a bit but still won’t fire. Then I noticed the gas smells funny (like varnish) so I drained the tank and replaced with fresh gas. Still just cranks without catching. When I put it in dealer mode it shows C00.
The one thing I can find wrong is that the fuel pump doesn’t prime when I put it in on position, though the needles do sweep, lights come on, etc. The starter relay clicks when I hit the start button.
So I tried putting power from car battery directly to fuel pump (positive to red/yellow and ground to black/white and nothing happens. Checked fuses, all good.
Removed fuel pump from tank and didn’t see any gunk though there was a small patch of rust near some wiring connections, cleaned it up still nothing. Prefilter looks pretty clean.
My question is, can bad/old gas cause a fuel pump to fail? Does this sound like I need a new fuel pump? What else could it be?

 

[chillry]

Or maybe the relay?

How does one test the relay? I have it sitting in front of me with a multitester but don't know how to go about checking it.

 

[dmfdmf]

How does one test the relay? I have it sitting in front of me with a multitester but don't know how to go about checking it.

I think you ruled out the bad relay when you put power directly to the pump motor. I think the bad gas could have wedged the pump so the motor can't turn, did it make any noises like it was trying to turn when you applied power? That would be a hopeful sign that the motor still works but the bad gas has gummed up the pump rotor. If you take it apart maybe you can hit it with carb cleaner or WD40 or kerosene to break it free. I don't know the design well enough to say you can even get access to the rotor without destroying it but at this point you are looking at a new or used pump anyway so its worth a shot.

 

[Rolex]

I have some paddock bashers down the farm that don't get used very often so when a fuel pump plays up I run it backwards for about 5 minutes by putting positive power to the negative terminal and negative to the positive, I don't even remove the pump fron the car, I may have to do it a few times but eventually they come good.

I would give that a try while you have the pump out as you have nothing to loose.

 

[dmfdmf]

I have some paddock bashers down the farm that don't get used very often so when a fuel pump plays up I run it backwards for about 5 minutes by putting positive power to the negative terminal and negative to the positive, I don't even remove the pump fron the car, I may have to do it a few times but eventually they come good.

I would give that a try while you have the pump out as you have nothing to loose.

+1 for a great idea.

Update: I wouldn't run it for 5 minutes outside of the tank, it will over heat. I'd run it in reverse to break it free, run it forward to test then put it back into the bike and run it with fresh gas and some seafoam to clean out the "varnish".

+1 for the use of the word "paddock"

 

[chillry]

thanks!

The bike is parked at a friend's house so I won't get to try out your suggestions till next weekend.
Running the pump backwards won't hurt anything?
when i put power directly to the fuel pump it didn't make any noise at all.
before i started taking stuff apart i tried to start it many many times so i might have burnt out the fuel pump if it got gummed up right away and i kept cranking it.