one problem after another!!!

Okay, now I got a new problem with this darn XJ650 I have. The carbs are hanging up. No, its not the cable, it does it with the carbs off too. What should I use to lube the shaft and plates with? I dont understand why it did this all of a sudden, it was working fine yesterday..... I think I got a couple of gremlins running loose on this bike!!!!

I also noticed that when I start it, it will run for about 10 seconds and then shut off. Looses power to the ignition circuit. If I let it set for a minute, it will start back up, run about 10 seconds and do it all over again!!!!! Any clues on that one too???

 

I lube the Carb linkage, the butterfly shaft pivots and the shafts of the Enrichment Circuit Valves with Marvel Mystery Oil.

Hook-up a thick string to the Carb Cable link and "Pull test" the linkage for binding. The direct connection of the string to the carbs eliminates the "Pulley and Lever" of the throttle grip and cable.

Feel for binding as you pull to open the carbs. If you feel an abnormal hitch you can also do this in the quiet and listen for the area that hitch is coming from.

Still relying on the information of the earlier posts regarding this ... my guess is that the throttle cable is binding or improperly routed causing that hitch you have.

The throttle cable binding is sometimes hard to detect. Like the TV that works fine when brought-in for no picture! You can twist and feel and look and listen and get nothing. But, get on the bike and the trouble flares-up; again.

Take-off the throttle cable and oil it with Marvel Mystery Oil. Marvel has the nice quality of exceptionally good -- "Capillary Action."

You can hang the throttle cable and let drops of the oil run down the twisted cable; and the Marvel will begin to "Pull" the droplets of oil into the cable sheath and down along the cable.

As the cable is being lubed ... run the sheath up and down to help work-in the oil and feel for a possible broken strand of the cable which will require replacing the cable!

 

Cant be the throttle cable. As I mentioned in the first post, it even binds on the bench, no cable hooked up with carbs on bench. It has to be in the shaft bushing on one of the carbs.. My big wonder is why did it do this overnight when everything was working fine yesterday... I am going to take the carbs back off tomorrow and try to lube the shaft bushings somehow...

 

Damn, man! About now you're probably wishing those carbs were mounted on the bike with a Zipper or Velcro!

Hold the rack -- Vertical. Oil all the shaft bushes on the bottom. Work the linkage and get the lube in there good.

Invert the rack and do the opposite side; too. Work that side in too.
Do 'em again with a few drops and exercise the second application in really good.

Brother ... I hope that does the trick ... because YOU need a break!!!

 

check the fuzes , trace the voltages.

 

Dgmid61, did you (or the previous owner) by chance disassemble the carbs? By this I mean further than just pulling the bowls?
If one of the butterfly valves is misaligned, it could cause the issue. So could a carb body that wasn't aligned to the rest of the carbs. If you see evidence of this, or know of it for sure, loosen all of the carb mounting screws that secure them to the bars that align the banks, lay the rack with the intake side of the carbs down on a sheet of glass. Once they are all down and the tension is relieved, retighten all of the bolts with the bank resting on the glass. It will get you pretty darn close to perfect. Good advise from HooNz on the electrical problem, I expect you'll find the problem in the fuses or a relay fed by a fuse. Good luck to you!

 

I didnt disassemble the carbs, but I cant say for sure the PO didnt do it. Funny how it did this all of a sudden when they were working fine the day before. It seems to be more the #3 carb than any of the others. I may try your aligning trick anyway just to make sure they are right.

I am thinking now my electrical issue is in the ignition switch. I played around with the switch last night and the bike stayed running. Just cant give it any throttle due to the sticking carbs!

Okay, its back out to remove the carbs again! Your right Rick, I do wish they had velcro holding them on now! But I will say this, I am getting pretty darn good at removing and installing the carbs on an XJ650... might not be able to fix the darn thing, but I can pull those carbs off pretty quick now.. lol

 

The switch is easy to pull apart , a pest to get out , clean the copper tracks and contacts and relube...

 

Cool, I will give that a try once I get these darn carbs working right. Thanks!

 

Looks like I got big problems... The throttle shaft seals on all the carbs have swelled up, causing the binding on the shafts. I called the yamaha dealer and the parts have been dis-continued.. Guess I either need to get another set of carbs or call it quits and get rid of the bike..

 

Ccommon problem with these bikes, mine were hard as a rock and broken.
I posted pics in my gallery of new vs old seals.

Replacements are available, search the forum for the source.

You need to buy in quantity is problem, but many members buy and resell to others the left overs.

 

Thanks Nick, is it just the one o-ring and the teflon washer or are there other seals inside? I havnt pulled the shafts out yet, wanted to find the parts first..

 

http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=2134.html looked here yet?/

 

Actually I was just looking there! Good timing huh? LOL Did you replace yours already? Is it just the one seal with the teflon washer? Seems a bit expensive for the seals, but gotta do what I gotta do...

 

Hey HooNz,

I was looking at that web site, they have the seals listed at $5.00 each, but have a listing on the Hitachi catalog page of 8 seals for 20. No part number listed though. Did you by chance get that deal? Our carbs are Hitachi, right?

 

NoT yet , waiting fer them to turn up in da post from oversee's.

Just the seals as the washers were ok , expensive yes but at least they exist [not like in this c***ry]. These too were very bad , i could not get no1 right this was after having them off twice so i figured maybe the seal in that carb , off again and looked and they were all just a soft mush with some stuck on the shaft and turning in the housing.

The vacuum kept changing depending wether one pulled the throttle up and then was different if one pushed the throttle up [at the carb's].

 

Inbetween typing the other one.

that 20fer8 the dude told me day no longer available , email , and confirm , and yes mine hitachi.

on that front page click the seal and a partnumber comes up....

 

I just ordered mine, should be here by friday hopefully. Is there a "how-to" anywhere showing the proper way of doing these seals? If not, I will just go for it and keep my fingers crossed.. LOL

 

dgmid61 , several post about a how to fer the carbs , have a search , but ya probably don it already by now , i hope all goes well.

 

Just keep a clean area, take some pics as you dissmantle, work slowly, see how all the linkage goes together, mark the butterflies, top, carb # they fit in, etc...

I did mine one carb at a time, wasn't that difficult, but I would suggest that you buy the o-rings that seal the brass fuel line also. When I took my carbs apart I found these were also in need of replacement. The local auto parts supplier didn't have any orings in the correct size, and I ended up having to order them from Yamaha.

Good luck.