aaaaahhh starting! xj550

OK!
I bought a new battery because I tore the other one up messing with the starting circuit.
Checked alt. brushes, they were fine.
Got new starter
installed new fuse boxes
cleaned and rebuilt the carbs
replace spark plugs

This thing does not like to start. I am getting spark, its turning over well, gas drains from carb drain holes so its getting fuel... Why is this thing not starting? I press ignition, it pauses for half a second, oil light comes on, cranks for a good while, doesn't fire, gas smells like its coming from the exaust.

Is it possible that the sync/mixture screws are too out of wack? this would be my best guess since I --slightly-- tweaked around with them.

 

Three things are needed to run. Fuel, Air, Spark. Is the battery FULLY charged? Is the fuel fresh? Is the air cleaner flowing air ? Is the spark a strong blue ? Has the engine been apart ? maybe the cam chain is off by a couple of teeth. more information is needed if we can help. If any of the above are not correct the engine will not run. start with the basics and look for trouble spots.

 

im having the same issues with the same conditions. NEW battery, FRESH gas, BLUE spark, GOOD brushes, NEWER fuse box set up...

when i first got the carbs back from Rick, it would fire up to about 5,000 rpm right off the bat...

i attempted to adjust the idle down with the idle adjustment screw and the idle would just die right off. this is all with the cross-over and mufflers OFF the bike and the air filter OUT...

when i put the exhaust on fully, the bike wouldnt start 95% of the time and when it did it would run for about 2-3 seconds before dying...

i started with the mixture screws OUT 2-3/4 turns and when i put on the exhaust i tried a couple of other settings but to no avail...

its now too cold to try and work on the bike and everything is put up for the winter (limited garage space) so im hoping the carbs dont get all icky again. they shouldnt be but you never can tell...

d

 

try pulling the plugs and shooting a tiny bit of starting fluid in the two outside cylinders...

start with choke on but do not use the throttle until it catches. otherwise it might flood.

 

Hmm, if you are talking about a blue colortune spark then I have no idea. If you are talking about the standard sparkplug then no, the spark is your standard yellow zap.

 

A spark should have a white-to-blue tint. If you see yellow, new coils are indicated.

 

A bare spark would be blue. I currently have one cylinder which is getting no fuel at idle. Looking at the colortune, it's blue... but a VERY faint blue. I can see the sparking rhythm. I have to give it a good throttle pull before I see any combustion.

So... just because you see blue, and are getting spark, doesn't necessarily mean combustion.

 

Sounds like a carb or fueling problem to me. Possibly plugged or partially plugged jets, tiny passages or orfices. Maybe a sticking butterfly. or a poorly adjusted choke. Several months of inactivity can gum up carbs and cause all kinds of problems. The carbs should always be drained completely if the bike is not going to be used on a regular basis. Thats why they put those little drain screws on the bottom of the float bowels. Have the carbs been synced lately ? Float levels carefully checked? Dissassembled and thoroughly cleaned with a speciality carb cleaner? These bikes are now getting pretty old and need lots more TLC. Are the exhaust pipes all the same temperature after a minute of running? (be careful here, they burn.). Most of these problems are fairly easy to find if you take it one step at a time and eliminate possible causes.

 

LT:

Pull the Drain Plugs and shoot straight Carb Cleaner in them Bowls. That will keep them Bowls from gumming-up until you get around to trying to start the thing again.

Others:

Passages.

The Pilot Air and Pilot Fuel Passages are married. You can back-flush the Passages by filling an Ear Syringe with Carb Cleaner and douching-out the Pilot Air and Fuel Passages by giving the Pilot Air Jet a BIG Squeeze of Carb Cleaner with the nozzle tip of the Ear Syringe poked right into the Pilot Air Jet.

Mixture Screws.

Default the setting of those Pilot Mixture Screws.
Take them out to a Degree or two beyond 2-3/4 Turns. Stay closer to 3/4 than moving it toward 3.

Starter Jets, Fuel Bowl Well Jets and Siphon Tube.

The Bike won't start without a big fight in COLD weather unless the Fuel Supply from the Auxiliary Well gets pulled-up through the Siphon Tube to the Enrichment Circuit.

If any path the Fuel need to take to get to the top of the Carbs is blocked; the bike is going to be REAL Hard to start and moving the Lever over to Open the Enrichment Valves is a waste of time.

When the Carbs were being cleaned you should have Probed the Fuel Bowl metering Jets at the Bottom ...
Probed the Siphon tube Openings with a thin wire Cleaning Tool and Flushed the Enrichment Fuel Passage toward the top by filling the Ear Syringe and placing the nozzle of the Ear Syringe ... over the Siphon Tube ... surrounding it within the Syringe ... and, flushing the Passage toward an extracted or open Enrichment Valve.

Those Starter related Jets, Ports and Tube openings are some of the smallest little holes on the whole Carb.

It don't take much to clog them right up and seal-off the topside to much-needed fuel for starting.

 

So ahh quick question Ric... Is there anything you don't know!? Who here wants Ric to rebuild their carbs! I DO! Because I have no idea about the ports, jets, and needles within these things.

 

I have it on good authority that Rick eats his food through a main jet, and when he wakes up in the morning he reaches down and adjusts his pilot screw, which is embedded near his left elbow, turning the screw only one or two degrees at a time and then listening to his morning, start-up grunts for the perfect idle.

 

LMFAO :lol:
Thats the funniest thing I have heard all week.
People in my office just stared at me like I was insane.
rofl

 

I've got a similar question. All lights are bright and working, I turn the key, hit the start button and it tries to turn over, but each subsequent attempt results in a 3 or 4 second delay before the engine tries to turn over. Eventually I get nothing, and, oddly enough, all the lights are burning bright with the exception of the headlight.

It's a 1980 XJ650G.

P.S. I am severely mechanically challenged, you'll have to try to explain your answers in crayon.

 

Have you replaced the fuse box?
Checked the connections to the battery and solinoid?

 

The Delay in having a Starter spin is usually an issue with the Brushes. You might have a build-up of Carbon Dust in there or the Brushes might need to be replaced.

..................

For the amount of people, on here, who got Dialed-in for last season. I'd say having me here to answer a few Carb questions was a good deal. I don't have a Mikuni or Hitachi tattoo ... but, maybe I ought to get one!

 

Thank you both very much. Yes, the delay is confounding, but also the headlight not burning. It's on when the bike finally starts, but it's the only light NOT working when it refuses to start.

 

There's a Relay that opens the circuit preventing the Headlight from being ON during the cranking of the engine and when the engine STARTS ... the Relay closes and the Headlight comes ON>

 

One thing to remember....the stock ignition system on these bikes sucks and puts out a fairly weak spark unless everything is optimum.....battery fully charged, engine oil grade correct (i.e. not the consistancy of maple syrup) spark plugs gapped correctly, and not fouled. I really wish Dyna (or someone else) would come out with a decent high-energy ADJUSTABLE TIMING aftermarket system for these machines. I emailed their tech support a year ago or so, and they told me; a) they had nothing available for my bike (XJ550RH Seca) and; b) they had no intention of developing anything for my bike. How about one of you engineer-type folks with nothing to do cobble something together for us this winter using and adapting an existing product? I guarantee you'll have plenty of buyers on this forum!!!! (Rick?)

 

The timing is at the optimum for each of the XJ-Models ... or, so says the Cycle Press in their article, back in 1984, when the XJ-Bikes were roadtested and reviewed.

It's hard bringing a Maxim up to Full Strength. I run a new battery. I have replaced the Fuse Panel. I did a cleaning of all my ignition related electrical contacts and soldered-in the Coils to the Wiring Harness.

I'm running an Inline Fuel Filter with Fuel Supplied to the cleanest set of Carbs I have every done. I re-tapped the Pilot Screw threading and Colortuned the Pilot Mixtures to the Rich side of Blue after doing a YICS Passage clean-out and inserted the YICS Tool for Syncing the Carbs with columns of mercury.

All Summer long I did 25-hundred mile oil changes after adjusting the Valves to 4-thousandths; the tight side of within specs.

Since April, I have replaced the Plugs 3 times; doing magnifying glass assisted Plug Reads and made micro-adjustments to the Pilot Mixture Screws according to the Read on the Plugs; which are now very light brown across the board with no signs of electrode erosion or hairline fracture.

I dare say I have this bike square on-the-money tuned-up as a something-or-other. But, I like playing with the bike.

I have been trying to fill-in the blanks for everyone to be able to enjoy their bike as much as I do mine ... but, it's difficult to do when there are so many different bikes needing so many different degrees of maintenance and tuning.

By now, every living soul who owns an XJ-Bike ought to be running with an Inline Filter and a New Fuse Panel.

My goal for over the Winter is to get as many people who can do the Cleaning and Tuning ... ready for next season with a tuned-up and road-ready bike.

I hope it works-out that way.
I want everybody to have some fun!

 

Sounds like an evangelical crusade for you.

"And the Reverend Rick sayeth unto his flock... 'Thou shalt polish thy carburetor bores...'"