A new project, the abandoned xj650RJ

A little more spraying kroil and they all came out. Here a picture of why they were stuck in there.



I am dipping them in carb cleaner, one carb at a time and they come out nice and shiny.


On a different note I replaced the solenoid and tried to get the parts bike started... nothing... no signs of life, none of the lights between the gauges will show signs of life.

I looked inside the bucket and found a few wires that are not connected or shorted on purpose to bypass something... more digging coming up.

You can see on the picture the blue, red(orange), and the two wires coming out of the green connector are disconnected.

The green connector has Blue/yellow and black/yellow wires, they are supposed to go to the clutch switch and the have been shorted so I guess there is no clutch switch at this time.

The sky blue wire is supposed to go to the Neutral switch, not sure if the neutral light will not come off at all if this one is not shorted.



By the time I am done I will know this bike better than I know myself

 

NNOOOO!!! DO NOT submerge carbs that still have the throttle shafts and butterflies assembled in them! You can wreck the throttle shaft seals then you WILL be pulling the butterflies and shafts (you may end up having to anyway.) But submerging them is a good way to be sure you'll have to.

 

Fitz, I learned the first time. I meant all the jets and emulsion tubes. That is all I am dipping in. No rubber parts are going in.

 

If you've already gone to the lengths of dis-assembly that you did, then go the rest of the way and dis-assemble each of the butterfly assemblies. Then dip EVERYTHING.......

EXCEPT FOR THE FOLLOWING PARTS:

1. the slides and diaphragms.....clean them by hand. A clean cotton cloth and some carb spray is all you need to do those.

2. the fuel line guide that has the black rubberized coating on it, which bolts to the cap of one of the carbs

3. pop the beanie-cap screens off of the fuel valves and carefully clean them by hand. If they are re-useable use them, if not, don't worry about them as long as you put an inline fuel filter in.

4. Clean the needles by hand so you don't dunk the plastic end.

5. Clean the needle cap (large white plastic part inside the slide with allen wrench hole) by hand. FWIW, the dip does not seem to bother those anyway............have dunked enough of them to know-----

It looks like a long list, but it's really only a few parts that don't get dipped.

Now, as far as the butterfly assemblies--

Here's what I do-- I take the butterfly assemblies apart one at a time, and then re-assemble them loosely while they are off the carb body. Then I dip the whole assembly and that way I don't lose any parts. Once the butterfly shaft is out of the body, pull the throttle shaft seals and throw them away. If you've gone that far, why save the seals when you'll just end up tearing right down to that point again when you realize the seals are shot..........................?

With those out of the way, dip everything so the clean up spotless. Then clean and buff each piece with a clean cotton cloth. You may find that you have to leave things in the dip for more than a few hours. I often have to leave pieces in there for overnight. BE AWARE, though, that if you leave brass in there for closer to 24hrs, you may pull them up and find they are a reddish color rather than brassy. That's ok, just buff them off a bit more and the reddish tinge will disappear. In order to avoid that, just remove them from the dip after about 10-12 hrs and check them. Clean them, and if things are still clogged THEN put them back in for another 8-10 hrs....pull, check, clean,etc..... and the brass color should remain.

Also, as far as the bowls are concerned, unless that gaskets are nice and OBVIOUSLY re-useable, just pull them off, and if they're stuck bad, just dunk the bowls....the gaskets will soften enough to scrape them off. If they're that bad you'll end up wanting to replace them anyway.

I do all that as a matter or course. When I'm done, the carbs are always real sharp-looking. The only thing I haven't done yet (and hope to try soon) is soda-blasting the bodies to REALLY shine them up.

Slow and easy, NOT setting deadlines, is the quickest and best way to do the job the way YOU want it done.

Dave Fox

I do all that now as a matter of course.

 

I have not broken the 750 rack, I was planning on only cleaning all the jets and all the brass parts.

With that only fresh bowl gaskets and float needles since everything looks good on this rack.

Does it make a difference having metal-tip needles vs the rubber tipped ones?

 

Yes.... it's much harder for the needle to get really stuck in the seat when the carbs are left to sit for long periods of time. I had one bike that came in that as far as I can tell, the bike hadn't run in 10 yrs.......the needles were so stuck, that I couldn't pull them out. I ended up having to push them out from the other side. the needles popped out, and the rubber tips were STILL stuck in the seats.

Dave F

 

Eco, +1 on what Dave said. Also on the note of Metal tip or rubber. Working in the Marine industry we see what Ethanol does to rubber. Over time it will eventually break down leading to more of the problem with sticking needles or needles that simply won't seal. Number one thing that I sell in my store is carb rebuilds for motors. Most of the time all they need is the needles. Knowing that when I was doing all this to mine, I splurged and spent the extra money for the metal tip ones that Len sells. Only thing that I dont like about them is that they do not have the catch on them to hold onto the tab on the floats. So when you are wet-setting your floats it can be really hard to get the needles in when you cannot invert the carbs. Other than that we shall see how they hold up. Good luck, I really enjoy keeping up with your progress. I can't wait till you have them running. Maybe then we can see you at one of Dave's Carb Clinics

 

Dave, I found out that the blue and red that are not connected are not meant to be. That is how the wiring diagram is showing. I am curious now if the diode in the parts bike is no good or there is something wrong with the ground wiring since the bike shows no signs of life at all when I turn on the ignition switch.

 

Take a volt meter and test:

red to the battery +, and the black wire to a frame bolt.
Current = good No current= bad ground

Do the same thing and check with the black to an engine bolt

work your way forward and back from those points.

Dave F

 

Thanks Dave,

I did test a couple of spots on the frame, solenoid, and engine and the ground is good. I found out that one of the fuses (main) was bad, it looks good but when tested with the ohm meter there was nothing. I will replace all fuses anyways since they are pretty inexpensive.

I am thinking about replacing the entire fuse box with the 4-way one here:

http://proweldperformanceparts.com/Fuse ... anels.html

Have you used any other type of fuse boxes to replace the stock one?

 

Be sure you use one that passes straight through from side-to-side, no "common buss."

I rebuilt my stock ones, with new clips from Radio Shack; but the preferred "fix" is to upgrade to the more modern solution.

 

New fuses on, turned the ignition switch and the neutral light came off, push the start button and the starter came off and turned the engine!!! IT'S ALIVE!

Well... almost, the tank has been emptied so I am tempted to go and get some gas to see if any leaks from the petcock and see if it the engine will start.

The parts bike has challenged my patience but it is exciting to figure out what is wrong and almost get it started at least.

Darn it! Now I will be out of town for two weeks so the project will hit a pause, but will resume very soon. While I am out of town I may order the carb rebuild kit from Len and hopefully they will be here by the time I get home.

 

I did go to the gas station. I put a little bit on the tank, cranked it a few times but won't start. At the third try the engine backfired and scared the nutella out of me. Turned the ignition switch off and noticed the gas was leaking oit of the petc0k, so one more thing on the rebuild list. That is all for and the next two weeks.

 

BTW, neutral sensor works, turn lights go off, brake light runs... I am glad to find out that stuff works. I guess the first solenoid was not good but neither the fuses.

 

Today I drove back from a conference and what did I see?

 

I am back home for a few hours before I take off again. I had a little bit of time to clean the carbs since all the small parts have been through a carb cleaner.

I had my handy dremel with a little brush to clean the outside and they are starting to look good.




I will be ordering the rebuilt kit from Len soon as well as a kit to rebuild the petcock.

 

Be careful there. You already caught the MAS from dave. The spit shiny syndrome is spread by Fitz! He with those gorgeous 550 Seca's. Your evil plot has been revealed. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Ghost

 

Careful there, MiGhost...................I think you're catching it, too-------

LOL

Dave F

 

BUt they do look awesome

 

There is no question about it. You infected me long ago!! :lol:

Ghost