plz don't tell me i need to clean carbs again

i haven't been riding my bike often the past few of months. probably 2-3 weeks in between a ride. i couldn't get her started so i slow charged the battery. on saturday, i finally got her to start after about 20-30 seconds of pressing the ignition button. there was a loud backfire pop. and then i pushed the starter button again, and she started up. i let her sit running for about 30 minutes (saw some of smoke coming from the pipes and engine area. i assume burning the junk out from sitting too long) and took it for a 10 minute ride, before i had to leave out of town. when i came back the next day, it was having problems starting again. i'd like to avoid the hassle of cleaning the carbs again. so i'm wondering if there may be any small fixes i might try first. the battery is about 3 years old, but that about the same price as getting someone to clean my carbs. (75 bucks).

appreciate any advice, guys. thanks in advance

 

hi, cant really help with the carbs only new to all this myself but i dont think its very good practice to let it run for that long without air moving over the motor, it probably would have gotten fairly hot,im sure the more experienced will chime in.

 

Add a good dose of fuel system cleaner to the tank and ride it. You might get lucky.

 

How old is the fuel in there?

 

If the battery is holding a charge, and is full, it shouldn't be a problem. How was the ride? if you experience problems with power or Idle it might be carb related, but you might also have a weak spark. How do your plugs look?

 

Uzi! Long time no see.

Hmm... hard starting, probably old gas but the bike does have 18K miles on it...

Did you ever get that valve check/adjust done?

If not, your bike is trying to tell you something...

 

im not telling you to clean the carbs again just the small parts inside ~smiles~

 

Add Lucas Oil Fuel system cleaner in the tank and ride it untill you need to fill up again. Fill it and see what happens. I was able to clean some light deposts out of my carbs doing that. But I always say there is no such thing as a mechanic in a can. If they got varnished up good they will need to come off. Sorry

 

any bike gets hard to start after some sitting time. specially in the cold. the loud backfire is from a very lean mixture. it takes time to get the fuel flowing again.

i've found that 3 months is the lifespan of gasoline. after that age starts to kick in. i had a bike run on 2 year old gas. but not without the choke. once it got fresh gas she ran like a champ again.

over on the suzuki forum they recommend STABIL for those long winter months. it's supposed to keep the gas fresher longer by not destabilizing. some people have claimed to have good luck with 2 year old gas.

they also recommend SEAFOAM for carb cleaning and conditioning.

you said you haven't ridden much in the past few months. have you tried fresh gas?

 

$75.oo does NOT get Carbs Cleaned right.

$75.oo is about enough to get 1-Carb cleaned. Maybe. If there's no trouble.

Based on a long history of Bikes that don't run too well after the Owner has spent $150.00 or less having the Carbs Cleaned, ...

I'd be willing to bet 20-Bucks -- across the board -- that you need:
Float Screens Cleaned
Emulsion Tubes Cleaned
Enrichment Circuit Cleaned.

 

Enrichment Circuit Cleaned. I cleaned my carb a few times. This last time I figured out a good way to clean the enrichment. My bike went from starting off starter fluid to starting up the first try every time now. There was a thread about cleaning them I found. I think I read it there. After I couldn't get them clean I finaly took length of welding wire and ground it down with my drimmle. I took it down as far as I could untill I couldn't get it any smaller. It was sharp enough to easily make me bleed. Then cleaned them. It is a job but sounds like it needs to be done.

 

I'd missed the $75 carb cleaning first time around. I'm with Rick, at that price the only thing cleaned was your wallet.

 

hey thanks for all the advice guys! i would say the gas in there is probably about a month and a half old tops. it has been cold a while for a few weeks as its sat.

when i rode it on saturday (around 5:30pm), although it took a while for her to get started she seemed to ride just fine when i did. no bogging down or idle problems. it felt like normal. i rode to the gas station to fill the tires up (30 minutes of just letting the engine run and then a 3 minute ride to the gas station at this point), and i turned the engine off. she started up almost immediately. i did the same thing after i finished riding. she started up fine.

when i came back sunday night about 24 hours later, she was having starting problems again. i never did get her started then either. i kept my finger pressed on the starter button for about 15-30 seconds at a time.

i also want to add that she is just about overdue for an oil change. i'm not thinking this would affect the starting issue, but i just wanted to throw that out there in case i'm wrong

based on the advice given, i think my plan of attack is
1. get new spark plugs (these ones are 3 years old).
2. then i'll add the fuel system cleaner as suggested.
3. then ride it until i need to fill it up with fresh gas
4. and then....cross my fingers.

thanks again for the help guys!

 

Just ignoring it won't make it go away and it could be contributing to your problem big-time. It will just get worse, not better.

 

Valve clearance check/adjustment and ....once more... a through carb cleaning, hitting all the points mentioned by Rick. Bite the bullet and just get it done right, you are wasting time avoiding the inevitable and feeding money to the mechanic needlessly.

 

hey fitz! can u refresh my memory about the which valve we were talking about at that time? it's been a while since i've been on the forums, and certain experimentations from my college years may have affected my memory :wink:
i read that part about the valve, and i vaguley remember talking about something like that. i even went to my inbox to see if i could find the old messages about it, but i must have, or the site must have cleared out some alot of the messages. but i just can't recall which valve we were talking about. thanks, man!

 

if your pressing the starter button 30 sec at a clip you better add a starter in the near future to your list your gonna cook this one fast

 

I decided this last night! taking the time to do it right may seem like a waste at first but after all said and done its a win-win situation. you get the hands on learning from yourself and others as well as a better running bike hopefully!

 

Your intake and exhaust valves. The ones in the motor that open and close, allowing intake mixture in and exhaust out; the ones that need checking/adjusting every 5000 miles after the initial check at 3K miles.

Last I knew you hadn't checked them yet; your bike is at the mileage where it will start to have problems if they've been completely neglected.

The procedure is pretty much the same for your bike as for the bigger XJs.

 

AND..... hard cold starts and easy warm starts....
Sounds a lot like a clogged enrichment system and possible idle jet.


So after the valves, get back into those carbs and be sure the enrichment ports are clean...clean ...clean....

 

He asked us not to tell him that...

Gotta do the valves first anyway; a tight valve or two will throw off your sync, even on a twin.

 

I know, BUT I think he asked knowing full well that was going to be the answer