New to XJ, starting troubles

Hey everyone. I'm getting my 1985 Maxim X ready for winter, added some fuel stabilizer yesterday, then came back to it today and figured I would fire it up one more time before removing the battery and storing it. I've got power, it's turning over but won't start. I noticed I accidentally left the choke partially on over night, may I have flooded it? Any sugestions would be great!

 

Re: New to XJ need some help!

I don't see how leaving the bike with a degree of enrichment & not running would do anything, pull the plugs, leave them out for an hour, clean, re-set them (or fit new). While you are doing this, make sure you charge the battery.

 

A way too common belief. With the engine off, opening the throttle, or using the choke uses zero gas. It does nothing but open the throttle plate/choke.

 

+1 Wiz
I see you changed your pic lol!
Definatly sounds like a plug issue. Swap some new ones in and let us know!

 

Was your bike always difficult to start, or is this the first time?

 

This is the first time it has been difficult to start. Doing the plugs today, fingers crossed!

 

OK, good luck. I solved my ongoing cold start issues by cleaning the carbs, specifically cleaning the cold start enrichment circuit
http://xjbikes.blogspot.com/2009/03/how ... -well.html

 

So, new plugs are in, still not starting. Carbs should be the next project? This problem came on very suddenly, running fine and then 2 days later not starting. Weird.

 

Sounds like it good sir.
Clean carbs, paying special attention to the enrichment circuit!
Add a inline fuel filter while you're at it, to keep the carbs cleaner, longer.
Clear fuel line helps too.
Make sure diaphrams pass the clunk test as well
OH and make sure that battery has FULL charge. These bikes are hard to start in cold weather.

 

....Unless you have it on PRI, or have a faulty petcock and a stuck float.


Mac, Just for sh!ts and giggles, take a whif of the crankcase to check for a gas smell.

 

This will be a simple fix - sudden failures usually are. Is the choke defiantely coming on ie cable not streched? Hook the bike up to a known good car battery. Does your bike have a sidestand switch? and OF COURSE I MUST ASK....Kill Switch??? LOL

See also:

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=14244.html

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=150.html

 

yeah but moving the throttle or choke wouldn't be a cause or even affect it, and wouldn't it have to be a combination as opposed to just one of these going bad?

*edit* I read the part wrong with the petcock AND stuck float

 

That's ok Rudie, and you are correct that if the petcock is in ON or RES pos, then opening the butterflies has no affect because of the vacuum not being created with the motor not turning over.

 

That's just one of those things that bother me when I hear it, I don't know why. I guess because Ive had a lot of people try to tell me that, and then try to argue with me when I tell them its not true.


Recently I was doing oil changes on a couple chevy's at work, and you have to tap the gas a bunch and hit the brake to reset the oil light. This new kid came up to me in this stern voice told me that "If you don't quit that that you're going to flood these trucks!!" I got outta the truck and lit him up. He then went and told the hardheaded gm, who I then, unsuccessfully, spent 20 minutes trying explain it to. He's one of those guys who when there's any kind of issue with one of the trucks, he always thinks its the alternator You'd think they'd listen to their god damn mechanic.

Sorry for ranting, like I said, it bothers me.

 

There is NO "Choke".
Nothing connected to a Throttle Plate.
The proper term for it is: Enrichment Valve.
Although called CHOKE, ... It's a Valve that connects directly to the Fuel Bowl.

Leaving the CHOKE Lever Open, Petcock on PRIME along with one or two leaking Float Valves could flood the crankcase.

 

im speaking generally of automotobiles when i talk about all this btw. On the subject of xjs though, and i thought about that in the middle of all this, if you did have a stuck float and it was leaking, would leaving the plunger open really affect how much gas flows through the carb? I would assume as it fills it just "overfills" through the emulsion tube. It kind of seems physically impossible for the gas to flow all the way up through the tiny passages in the enricher circuit OVER TOP of the emulsion tube (where the lowest and biggest entry is to the intake,) and through the enrichment circuit.

I guess i can see how it would affect how QUICKLY it starts to reach the intake once the seal starts leaking, because the enrichment would vent some of the trapped air in the float bowl, but its such a small passage, i dont even know if it would really do that.

Sorry for taking this thread way off topic but now i am curious.

 

The leaking FLUID will flow seeking its own level.
The level it seeks to equalize with is the level in the Fuel Tank.
If the Petcock leaks along with Float Valves, ... the Fuel will flow trying to rise too the level in the Tank.

Some Carbs have Overflows that route the Fuel to the Floor of the garage.
Others will have rising Fuel escape through the lowest open orifice.
The Fuel seeps out the Emulsion Tube and either enters the Combustion Chamber through an Open Intake, ... or ... spills-out the Intake Manifolds on to the Engine, ... or fills-up the Airbox, ... depending how the Bike is parked.

 

To answer your question, Rudie-- you're right, leaving the enrichment plunger up isn't going to make the situation any worse, the gas will overflow lower in the carb than the enrichment chamber.

The problem is float valves along with an unending fuel source.

Back to cars and trucks for a minute: The "common knowledge" about flooding the motor by pumping the accelerator pedal is a relic of the carburetor days when automotive carbs had accelerator pumps. You can pump the gas pedal on a fuel-injected vehicle until you're blue in the face and all you'll be doing is opening and closing a butterfly.