Bike Flooded...

Hey everyone,

So some sad news for my Maxim. Hoping to get some advice. My Maxim was flooded with fuel. Let me explain...

My dad called me about a week and half ago telling me he saw a large puddle under my bike. Turned out to be gas.

Went down to check it out/get it ready for the season and low and behold he was right. Big puddle of gas. My gas tank was bone dry, and had been filled to the brim for the winter storage.

As the story goes, a month or so ago, my dad (I store my bike in his garage since my house does not have one currently) went out to start our bikes and just check on them. Out of habit from his bike he turned my fuel valve to the position that would be off on his bike. Well on the Maxim that is the prime position. I don't know that this alone would have caused it to flood so completely, but here we are.

I am able to start the bike, but it won't stay running. Stalls immediately unless I'm giving it gas. I only tried this a couple of times until i realized that when I put the bike in the right position it is still oozing gas. I've checked the gas tank and it doesn't seem to be getting any lower (I refilled it), so my assumption is that there is still excess gas floating around in the bike from the flooding.

My dad went to the local bike shop (about a mile down the road from them) to ask their thoughts and what it might cost to have them do the work. They quoted $600 to $1000 depending on what they find as they yank it all apart.

This is my 3rd year owning the bike, and typically I do all the work myself, but up to now it has been small stuff. It sounds like I'll need to clean/rebuild the carbs and who knows what else (I think the engine was due for a tune as well).

Was wondering what you all thought I should do as next steps etc.

 

change your oil the crank case is likely full of gas too.

float needles need to be replaced they control the flow of fuel into the carb bowls

you can do a full rebuild by your self of the carbs for around 300.

 

There will be comments from folks with more experience than I have. However, I would first ensure there isn't gas in the oil. If there is, don't try to start it. Then take a look at the carbs, float height, etc. It is likely that you just need to clean up the carbs if you had already went through the "church of clean" steps. If not, it is a good time to go through them step by step. The symptoms you are describing sound are similar to when my XJ750 needed the carbs cleaned. It is easy enough to do yourself and won't run you even close to $600.

 

I guess I'm in the wrong bussiness 600 to 1000$ ha hope you don't fall for that. Change your oil and filter. Put petcock to ON not PRI . One or more of your needles are leaking , the tips are vitron tipped with age and ethonal they break down and can cause sealing issues. I recommend the solid brass tipped you can get these from xj4ever as well as all seals . Take your carbs to church will pay off if done correctly.

 

Yes to the above ^
Read:
http://xjbikes.com/forums/threads/the-information-overload-hour.27544/
And this:
http://xjbikes.com/forums/threads/in-the-church-of-clean.14692/

Do NOT - do NOT take the bike to a shop. (no echo here, that was intentionally repeated).

Read that stuff, ask questions here- you CAN do this.

 

That's why I came here first! I honestly prefer to do the work myself. While I'm not a mechanic, I'm pretty good at taking things apart and putting them back together, especially when I have amazing instruction, and assistance, such as I've found on this forum.

The reason I bought an older bike, to learn to take care of it on my own, and the Maxim has been good to me (for the most part ).

I'll go through Len's catalog and find the rebuild kit and give it a whirl.

 

Figured I should come back and give an update since I finally finished this this passed weekend.

First and foremost, shout out to Len over at XJ4Ever.com for getting me the parts I needed!

Took the carbs out cleaned and replaced everything. Took longer than expected as I had to order 2 new Jets and an Emulsion tube. Whoever cleaned the carbs last stripped them and I had a heck of a time getting them out (in the case of the emulsion tube the jet just spun inside it so I figured it was stripped).

I did not realize how much of a PITA getting the carbs back in would be. Thankfully, I found a thread on the forums here (after trying for about an hour with no luck) with some tips and was able to get them back in using some of those.

Changed the oil and you guys were right. It came out like water, so yeah the gas was definitely in there. Let it drain for a good long time.

Bike started up and sounds better than it did before..so that's a good sign.

Only things I'm working on now are my clutch (Dad messed with the adjustment because he didn't think it felt right <sigh>). I think I have that back where it needs to be as shifting now feels smoother. Other is my Choke. Doesn't seem to go all they way on or off, and when i go to turn it off, it is off once the lever is only about half way. Not stopping the bike from starting tho. When I check the arm on the carbs it appears to be all the way off when i turn it off to ride it.

 

unscrew the lever from the control and clean and lube it with some silicon.
the lever only turns about 90 degrees