[Walshman]

Well for starters this bike did sit for probably 1-2 years without being started or ridden. It was running when it got parked. So it's got that going for it...

I pulled the carbs and cleaned 'em out even though I was surprised how clean they were for sitting that long. Checked that none of the jets were plugged up, didn't seem to be any problems on that end. I triple checked everything to make sure all the hoses were back on where they belong, drained the tank and put a couple gallons of fresh premium in there. There's no fuel leaking anywhere or anything like that.
I didn't completely dissamble them and soak em in a tank of carb cleaner though... didn't seem neccessary, the float bowls didn't even have that laquer coating that I've seen with old gas.

It's got spark, (although I'm going to replace the plugs next) grounded the plugs on the frame to make sure and its clearly visible. They look a little dirty but I've pulled far worse out of an engine that was running 30 minutes prior.

The battery was dead when I picked it up, but I charged it till the charger said it was ok, read a little bit further in the booklet and found out it switches to a trickle charge after that and I can run it indefinitely so I'm gonna let it charge overnight and let it go while I'm at work tomorrow

Seems to have good compression, I can feel it at the tailpipe when I try to crank it over, although I haven't hooked my compression tester up to the cylinders yet (hard to get into the F3 plug holes).

The guy I got it from has been pretty much my closest friend for 17 years so I have no doubts about his honesty when he said it ran when he parked it, the main reason he stopped riding it is he wiped out in the sand that gets pushed to the center stripe after the winter snow and ice is gone. He was just going around a mail truck at normal speed (35-45mph) and rode it home.

All I can think of is the sparkplugs and the battery. Maybe try taking the top of the airbox off again and try getting some starting fluid directly into the air collectors that stick up?
I'm starting to get perplexed as to what it could be other than that.

Any ideas?

And no, I have not tried removing any of the CA emissions stuff even though I was asking if one could...

I can't find any references to the fuel pump in the manual at all, does the F3 have one? I was just skimming other posts and saw that as a possibility for an F4 not starting.

[Walshman]

Well pulled the tank, and top of the air cleaner back off, got it to fire up for a second spraying carb cleaner down into the carbs directly.

The battery got run down pretty quick so I'm pretty sure it might be toast, so I'll probably replace that and the sparkplugs next.

So I found what looks like a fuel pump, on the left side, below and forward of the battery box, near the top of the shock. It's got 2 fuel lines in/out im assuming, a vent tube, and a couple of wires. Should it make a whirring noise when the key is turned on? I don't hear anything coming from it.

[cbr1kfireblade]

glad to hear you get it started i wish i could help, but ive never worked on that bike before so i dont know the setup.im sure it does have somewhat of a fuel pump and yes you should hear it buzz when the key is switched to on..instead of carb clean get a spray bottle with gas to start it as it is not good to run on that.. that itself will prove your not getting fuel so you will need to inspect the ENTIRE system (hoses blown through, and electrics) good luck maybe someone else will tune in to help with that bike

[Walshman]

Thanks for chimin' in, I figured it had to have some kind of pump rather than relying on gravity and vacuum.

I only used the carb cleaner briefly and didn't need a whole lot. I was just seeing if I could get it to turn over at all. Which it was quite a relief just to hear it fire up for a second.

I think my brother dropped my multimeter since it wont even pick up voltage off a battery, so I had to just use my test light. I couldn't pick up any volts off the port that the fuel pump plugs into, there was power in the fuse box though for the fuel/ignition circuit which i'm assuming would power the fuel pump. I'll have to check the wiring diagrams.

I took the pump off the bike and hooked it directly to battery power, it just made a single click noise and a little bit of gas trickled out. It wasn't still hooked to the tank though so it's not like there was a whole lot of gas for it to pump through. I think I need to buy an actual service manual instead of the adobe files I've got. They don't have any mention of a fuel pump in the fuel system chapter let alone any procedures to bench test it.

The fuel filter definitely isn't clogged, I could blow through it pretty easily and the gas in it was fresh.

I think I need to either get my multimeter going again or buy another. I need to get an ohm reading off the plug on the wiring harness side for the fuel pump, see if that circuit is open or not.

Definitely starting to think that the fuel pump or the electrical circuit for the fuel pump is the culprit though. Isn't there a relay or another 30amp fuse or something for it under the seat somewhere?
I couldn't locate anything that I could say for sure was related to that circuit. Certainly didn't find any other fuses than the 4 up by the headlight though I thought I read there were a couple of 30 amp ones somewhere else.

[isacguy]

There is a 30 amp blade fuse on the starter solenoid.(I think that is what it is) It is just at the end of the positive battery cable from the battery. There is a little black box that both the positive and negative cables go to on the front of the battery box. Pull it out of the rubber grommet that it is in, and on the bottom under some more rubber is a 30 amp fuse. But if this was blown I don't think that your bike would even turn over.

Here is a link to a diagram:

CheapCycleParts.com's 1998 Honda Street Bike CBR600F3 Parts List

[isacguy]

I would also have to agree with cbr1kfireblade on using gas in the tops of the carbs to start your bike, it might take a little bit since the bowls are probably empty from it not running for so long, I just got done bringing this same bike back to life (sat for one year after a RR fire), it was a bitch to get started, but once i got the gas flowing finally, it ran great.

[Walshman]

Well, popped the fuel line off that runs from the pump to the carbs and routed it into a jar, tried turning the ignition on/cranking it over and didn't get any fuel coming out of that line.

Seems to me that the fuel pump might be shot or the electrical circuit it's hooked to has some problems. I would think that at least a small amount of fuel would come out to fill the float bowls.

[Walshman]

Well I got it to start up Just what I thought, the fuel pump/or relay was the culprit, I hooked the filter up to a couple of pieces of hose and ran the tank straight to the carbs.

But since the battery is toast and needs to be replaced it didn't want to run that well. The more of a charge the smoother it runs so I'm figuring there's just not enough juice coming from the battery to give it adequate spark to burn all the fuel since I could smell gas at the tail pipe, and as the charge ran down it would get progressively worse till it would crank over but not fire up. Charge it up again, and the cycle repeats. So new a new battery and plugs are next.

Seems like its comin' together Should have her on the road before the weather gets too bad to ride this fall.

[cbr1kfireblade]

[Walshman]

Sweetness, got a new battery and actually got it running. Still needs a little tuning but I changed the oil and took it out on my dead end street, gave it a little throttle, did some U-turns, definitely still makes decent power. Turns out, besides the battery, it wasn't getting enough air... so I think I just over-oiled the filter. I've always had K&N's and this ones a UNI, so guess I'm just not used to having excess oil soak up.

OMG the front wheel-bearings are horrible though... good thing I've got a set waiting to go on. Doesn't feel wobbly like a bent rim would (at least on a dirtbike) but more of a slow pull from left to right almost like the wheel's got some play side to side on the axle.

[cbr1kfireblade]

gooood, post some pix when you get it done and cleaned up