Bike WAS running and can't get it started again

Last November I was taking the bike home from college and she left me on the side of the highway (usually a routine trip). I was cruising at about 70, then started losing power, i had to keep compensating with more and more throttle till I had it wide open but I kept slowing down till I stopped and the engine died, after that I tried pushing starting it to no avail so I grabbed my can of starter fluid that I keep in the saddlebags for emergencies and sprayed it a couple of times into the airbox, the bike would then run for about 50 feet before dying again. I had my brother come pick me and the bike up and she went into the garage to wait for weekend work.

Over winter I went through the carbs and changed the fuel filter (what one of my mechanic friends told me to do) and I still can't get it started. I was having many issues getting a fuel filter on there that didn't kink the fuel line (too long) so there isn't one on there right now. When going through the carbs the idle circut (not sure if right name, the passageway that goes through the bowl) I was able to get carb cleaner to go through them but after more research I found that fuel needs to go through there more quickly so I know that I need to pull them off again to go through that. (do it nice or do it twice!)

When messing with the carbs I know I turned the big knob in the back of the carbs (idle adjust knob?) I'm not sure how to put it back where it was or what is the "default" for this.

I think that I also need to clean the petcock because when in 'Reserve' it will leak, when on 'On' it is just fine, I think it might be plugged?

Oh, a little background, I go the bike last April and it has been running ok, but i always knew that the carbs needed some work because it was having a difficult time cold starting

Am I on the right track?

Any and all advice is appreciated

 

A good carb cleaning is always good, if you have not yet done this it need it.

It sound like you ran out of gas.
You need to make sure your geting fuel to the carbs.
Also check the float leavels.
One more quick thing to check is to see if the screen for the petcock is gummed up or cloged from particals in the tank.

If you take the carbs off you can adjust the idle screw untill the #3 carbs butterfly is just closed. That will get you in the ballpark then bench sync the the others to that one. you will need to finish the sync when you put the carbs back on.

 

Ditto on the outta gas. Could be a more complicated "reason" for being out of gas, but that's exactly what happens.

Check your float levels, you could have some stuck. Or your petcock may not be functioning properly. On and Res only flow gas when there is a vacuum signal from the intake boot. Pri always flows gas.

Fill up the tank, then try putting it on Pri to let the bowls fill up, then starting it. If it runs on Pri, but not on On or Res, either there's something wrong with the vacuum hose, or the petcock needs a rebuild

 

I switched my stock petcock for a manual $15 aftermarket jobby.
Works perfect, just don't forget to turn it off.

 

Well something strange and unexpected happened tonight. I went to my local hardware store and bought a few things for the bike: oil, oil filter, aerosol can of carb cleaner, fuses, and spark plugs, so when I got back to the garage I was feeling pretty ambitious to begin working on the bike. I first put the new fuses in (the old ones still seemed ok but looked very old) and before putting in the new plugs thought I'd clean up the old ones and just try to bump start her for sh*ts and giggles. The old ones looked dark so I turned the idle knob out a couple turns (shooting in the dark), sprayed some starter in the airbox and hit the starter, and to my amazement she seemed like she was trying to start! So after 2 bumps she was running! I couldn't believe it so I thought I would quick ride it up the street and back.

Now it begins to get strange. Initially it seemed to run like normal, after about a quarter mile it starts sounding throaty and, I'm not sure if this is the right way of describing, but choppy? so I take it home right away, pull into the garage and first notice the smoke coming out of the exhaust (NEVER happens) and more surprisingly, a large puddle of gas forming under the bike! I quickly kill the engine and push it onto some gravel to figure out what's going on and find that gas is coming out of the bottom of the airbox, but only when the motor was on.

I'm not really sure what to make of this, I've never experienced anything ike it before. Would too much stabil in the gas cause the smoke? I know that I put too much into the gas.

 

sounds like the floats stuck open. if it sat for a while I would almost bet that is what happened.

 

Stuck float. You're gonna want to:
Clean the carbs. Don't forget the clunk test.
Sync the carbs. Bench first, then on the bike when it's running.
Rebuild the petcock and install an in-line fuel filter.
Change oil and filter.
Change spark plugs.
Change air filter.
Charge battery.

When you are done with this list it will smoke for a little bit, but it should run, then a bit of fine tuning and it'll be one of the best running bikes ever made.
Also, how many miles? might be time for a valve adjustment and checking the rear brakes for delamination

 

And don't go nuts with the starting fluid. It washes all the oil off the cylinder walls and bearings which shortens the life of the engine. It's really not good to use it on gas engines, but some still do.

 

You have a stuck float. When you "went through" the carbs, what method did you use for setting the float levels? For the bench sync?

Even unstuck, you really should attend to the list that tskaz posted; if not you will be plagued with a series of "problems." (They aren't really problems, they're the results of neglect that was ignored.)

It sounds like you need to rebuild or replace the petcock as well; there is an article on rebuilding in "FAQ Suggestions:" http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=25058.html

The inherent problems with XJ fuseboxes aren't the fuses; it's the clips that become crystallized over time and very brittle so they break all by themselves. You need to replace the fuseBOX (or rebuild it.)

You might want to give this a read: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=24010.html Then get yourself a manual and start working through the whole process.

 

Thanks everyone for the replies, espeically tskaz for the list!

Looks like I have a good plan of what I'll be up to the next couple weekends

 

Not a problem. That's what we're here for, to suggest projects for you when you run out of ideas yourself! LMAO

 

i agree with you all... but was wet weather ever an issue? every time it rains, my bike gets "choopy" like you say, and slows down to a creep even wide throttle. i put it on prime, she fires, and back on on and im good. im guessing its water getting in the petcock, but just offering where ive been... its just funny when you say your not sure if choppy is the right word... its perfect. lol

 

Finally had time this Friday to really work on the bike.
I first thoroughly cleaned the carbs and I was amazed at just how much crud I missed the first time (but I have a feeling that I'll think the same thing the next time!) she passed the clunk test with flying colors, and I made extra care to clean the enrichment circuit which now sprays carb cleaner about 10 feet and a bench sync.
I do have a couple ideas of things I did wrong that may have made the problem worse: I found a few screws insufficiently tightened, and on one carb the rubber diaphragm under the cap was not lined up correctly.
And probably the biggest potential boo boo was that I think was reinstalling the floats I may have put them in backwards but I can't confirm because I had them all out before realizing that I had to look in my manual to see which way was correct to reinstall them. Does anyone know if this could have caused the problems described?
For the life of me I could not get that darn petcock off!! I was constantly spraying the screws with penetrating oil but they refused to budge! It looks like a po did some work on it though because the screws are partially stripped. So I decided to leave it for the time being.
After wrestling the carbs in I put on a smaller diameter vacuum hose than the one I put on after the bike left me stranded. (so it's the 2nd new on)
I feel like the carbs are in the boots much more solidly that the first time I reinstalled them.
Then I went to change the oil and boy did I get caught off guard, there was a LOT of gas in there and I had a temporary emergency trying to find a new container to replace my quickly filling 5qt ice cream bucket that I use! Needless to say, I got a little bit of oil/gas mixture on the floor! But I changed the oil and oil filter, and rolled her outside to try to give starting a try. And low and behold she started up and after a little ide adjustment was running/sounding great!
This morning I ran to Fleet Farm and got some more oil to change that again to make sure all the gas was out of there and took her for a test run and she performed great.
Except for one thing.
I'm not sure if I yanked the chord too hard or something but now the clutch is being funny. I believe it needs some adjustment because it doesn't allow me to fully disengage the engine. When sitting at a stop sign/red light, I have to lightly hold on to the brake or brace myself to keep me from slowly rolling forward even though I have the clutch completely pulled in. I hope this is just a cable adjustment?
But anywho, I didn't think it was a end all be all problem and drove the bike 35 minutes to school this afternoon. Which I am happy to say, brought me in one piece. This clutch still allows me to shift but I do have to push a bit harder and it's much more difficult to find Neutral while the bike is running.
Any/all ideas/thoughts are appreciated

 

Oh, and @ifonly, I don't think that was my issue, I have driven the bike in the rain on multiple occasions and its ran like a champ. I believe an older and wiser xj member could offer more insight into that particular issue

 

In my Signature is a Link to Clutch Adjustment.

Read-over the Cable routing just F-Y-I.

Don't be afraid to Undo the Lower-end and do some fine-tuning.
Get the Lower-end adjusted to give you >> "Max-throwout"

Tighten it all-up with the Knurl adjuster set to the point where you "FEEL" the last bit of FREE PLAY out of the Cable.
Then, just make that Cable >> "Guitar-string" tight.
Zero-Lash.
When you Pull the Clutch Lever, ... the Pressure Plate gets pulled, too.