Cap lost in engine

If you can reach it with a piece of small plastic tubing you might be able to connect the tubing to a vacuum and pull it out. A shop vac and some duct tape will work and give you a lot of suction. I have been able to do that with small objects.

 

That could be my plan,B ,C or D ,just waiting for the delivery of some tools to turn up.

 

You where right Franz it is magnetic,I had a good fish today and got the cap out!

The first thing I did after that was to put the starter motor back into the hole.

I must confess that I had got so frustrated with the bike when trying to take off and then refit the cam chain tensioner with the carbs and air box in place,it was the spring loaded cap that I just couldn't get my hands into the space to push and turn at the same time.


I have put the tensioner back but I am not 100% happy with the timing marks as they are just a bit off 12 o'clock but I am waiting for a delivery of a TDC gauge to check everything before putting the carbs back.

 

I bet you were looking around for someone to high five after that excitement.
Better than turning your bike upside down haha.

 

Great you got it out. Is your cam chain tight on the exhaust side of the engine?

 

Easier if it's a 125 lol.

 

First rule of maintenance close off all of the openings into the engine.

 

Everything lines up until I put tension back on the chain.

I have rotated the engine clockwise towards the back of the bike,then counter clockwise is this the best way for the auto tensioner to take up the slack?

Attached is an image of the inlet cam dot position .

 

Just a bit, I have had a few issues doing this build, which would not have normally lasted this long.It was going to be a joint project with my son, but he ended up moving out and buying a house requiring my time helping him with some building work!

 

If you are rotating it by the timing plate on the left hand side of the engine you want to rotate it counter clockwise. The forward side of the cam chain stays tight that way and the tensioner picks up the slack on the rear portion of it. As per my bikes service manual, after timing it at the TDC mark you then rotate it to the C mark and release the tensioner. Anyone can correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Inlet cam looks one tooth out. With the exhaust and crank in the right position and tension on the chain between the crank and exhaust cam remove the tensioner and move the inlet cam one tooth to the left. Then refit the tensioner and check all marks. Always turn engine anti clockwise.

 

Thanks, I will have another go on Tuesday as the bike is not at home so I will not get back to it until then.

 

All timed up correctly now, put the carb's back on .

The bike has started up but I am not 100% happy with the running. I tried to balance the carbs using my old vacuum gauges but the hoses have split,I can't believe it they are only about 20 years old!

Once that I have some new hoses I will try and balance the carbs to see if it improves the running.
I remember from my old Z1000 days that it was common for people to link the vacuum points together,but not sure if it will work for the XJ 750.

Now for some more reading on the site.

 

Keep in mind if it has YICS the vacuum is linked between all the intakes and you have to get a block off tool to balance then.

 

They can be balanced without the tool but l have not tried it yet.

 

forget about that YICS tool, just do it

 

I did do a lot of reading on this site and remember about the YICS tool, but that was 3 years ago and it did slip my mind.

Just ordered one from the US, and will have to hope that it does not get caught for customs charges which would double the price.

In the past I have had large parcels from the US without charge but some small ones, the last being a float bowl that cost me more in import and UK post office admin charge than the cost of the goods and the US shipping!

 

Hmmm.... thinking about this again, I'm thinking it's mainly to make balancing easier. With the tool, each cylinder has independent vacuum that's controlled only by its carburetor's butterfly plate. Without the tool, each intake is also sucking the air from the others through the YICS passage. So, without the tool, any change you make in one is going to have a bit of an effect on the others. The YICS holes are small, but so are the butterfly openings at idle.

I don't doubt you can tune without the tool, but I bet it saves time to have it.