success!

first off i want to thank everyone on here for their help, suggestions and 2-cents. after tearing apart the carbs 6-7 times, fooling with the fuel system, replacing shims, going thru 2-1/2 cans of starting fluid, hours...if not days, of reading how-to's, FAQs, and old posts, and finally rewiring the fuse box, i got it to fire up almost instantly tonight! i had a mess of a bike (still do), and problems upon many others made it hard to diagnose.

all i have to say to noobs (like me) is this: search for your problems using the search button, read posts that might not seem to have anything to do with your problem, follow the tutorials EXACTLY step by step, get the right tools, and KNOW YOUR BIKE! i cant tell you how often i ran into suggestions, links or anything helpful in the middle or near the end in old posts.

if i can figure out how to add a signature, i will add links to the posts that helped me beyond measure.

 

Good for you Munkiep. That racket is sweet music no?

 

To add signatures: click My Account. Then go to My Profile Info. Then Add away.

 

seaguy, i think i know now, how Beethoven felt, but im far away from a symphony. thanks davstarks...this account setup thing is confusing to me :?

 

i ran into a problem today. left hom on the bike headed to the tag office, made it about 8 miles or so when i started having to close the choke again to keep it idling. then as i was riding about 45mph or so, it seemed like it was losing power (running out of gas) and i ended up at WOT going 30 mph in 3rd gear and no balls to go any faster. when i finally pulled off the road and let off the throttle, it immediately died and would not start again. keep in mind i had been riding for about 20 minutes before the first symptom arose. here are the plugs when i got it home:

cylinder1


cylinder2


cylinder3


cylinder4

 

Plugged gas cap vent.

 

thats what someone else asked me, but while i was doing the shims i disassembled the cap and there was no dirt, rust, corrosion in the vent where the little ball was and i could blow thru it easily

 

Looks like #1 and 2 weren't firing (they're glossy, ground electrode is shiny - not gettin hot)

 

i took the fuel tank off to run a new fuel line to the carbs. while i had it off i took a vacuum line and plugged it into the port on the petcock and sucked on it in the run position but no fuel came out or it just trickled out. put it to reserve and a little flow came out but not much. on prime it just poured out. sound like the petcock is stopped up? or is the diaphragm malfunctioning?

you see why i'm having such a problem with this bike, there are all sorts of problems, and when one thing gets fixed it seems to surface another. i believe its all due to poor maintenance from its previous owner(s)

 

disassemble the petcock carefully unless you have an overhaul kit on hand and clean ensuring all passages are clear and diaphram has no holes.
did you try running the bike on the prime position to see how it ran.
run good on prime but bat on others, diaphram = US.
rep[lace asap

 

Considering the age of these bikes and how little care PO took, it's about par for the course. Keep at it and Good Luck...

skillet

 

Your bikes is running too COLD!!!!!!! look at your plugs, plugs out of the box don't even look that nice-[as in clean] If your bike is running ANY duration at all [ 30 seconds] you do not have a fuel supply issue-ALWAYS check the tank!!!!]. Ouit screwing around with the god -almighty "petcock". although important to be sure, for these situations just run it "STRAIGHT FUEL " thru and quit fooling around. I'll bet you have the"Racer" wannabbe pods too.---- TROUBLE ,did you over jet as well??? - can be TROUBLE!! --only my opinion. You have had the rack apart 6-7 times??. Floats still aren't right. Not getting enough fuel, these XJ,s have to run pretty HOT!! even though they like coolish weather. I would love to see your "rack" -no disrespect, but you may WAY overdone TOO much work on them. In my opinion -ONLY,ADD a can of "Octane" booster and see what she does- you might be surprised. ONLY if she has the Valves for it. Keep me posted.

 

actually i still have the stock airbox connected to the carbs, and the carb to box boots are getting to be a hassle. and the floats are set well within specs, the clear tube test on a level surface shows bowl level to be within 1mm +/- of the bowl top. and the jets, as far as i know, are factory sizes. i dont believe in octane boosters. there is fuel system cleaners, and there is race gas. the power you feel from such "octane boosters" is regained power (power that was once there, that is no more) from cleaning deposits built up over time.

 

i rode it around today, but it seemed lacking. i pulled the plugs and one and two still look the same as in the pictures. while it was running i pulled the boot off of 1 and motor kept running, no change, but if i got my hand near a ground it would shock the hell outta me, same with no 2, and no 4 & 3 would cause the motor to die when i pulled them off. i decided to swap plugs from no 1 to no 4 and vice versa, but it made no difference. when i pulled out no1 plug after swap, it was wet, but not dripping wet. and when i first pulled no1 plug after it ran for a minute, i noticed vapor coming out of the plug hole for quite some time.

when i spray carb clean into the boots no 1 and 2, the bike starts running rough. im assuming i am getting no fuel to 1 and 2. what could be causing that after ive cleaned them and set the floats correctly? the slides that the main needles go into were perfectly clean, i could see thru all of the tiny holes in them. fuel gushes out when i back out the float bowl screw. i even took the carb-to-box boots off and put my hand in front of the carbs and can feel my hand being sucked in when i twist the throttle.

 

well, i gave it a couple days rest. i didnt even look at the bike. i went out and was going to change wire 2 and 3 around, but i noticed something seemed funny. i looked closer and apparently i had mixed up wire 1 and 2 previously :roll: now i feel like an idiot, i guess i was so frustrated that i was overlooking the simple things. anyways it runs great now, but my curiosity got the best of me and i pulled the plugs. 1, 3, 4 were pretty rich, but 2 looks just as it did in the previous picture, just a little discolored (like when metal gets hot). im going to swap the 2 and 3 wires tomorrow and see if anything changes

 

I'm not sure that it would hurt anything but swapping wires would also swap the firing order which is very unlikely to help your bike or riding experience!! I had a lot of petcock problems with my 650 max including but not limited to a leaky diaphram that was shooting fuel into #3 after the carbs (you shoulda seen that plug!!!) so don't rule out the "god-allmighty "petcock" as a problem even if it isn't the source of all things unholy at this time!! While your working get a water bottle with a mist setting shut of the lights and spray under your tank at the wire (while running with the lights dim or off) then you can see the arcing from your wires and know what kind of condition their in (I had to change mine another big part my problem) good luck

Shaun