cant get my idle

I was talking about having the patients and willingness learn. Some people can and some can't. I think that most people here do have it that's why there here. And the people that come on this web site that don't... Don't stick around very long. When someone comes on this site and says my bike doesn't run right help... (kinda like me). How long is the check list? It get pretty long very quick. It doesn't take long to scare someone away that doesn't have the patients or willingness to learn. Is all I'm saying. And they sell there bike.

Back to my fuel levels.

 

Recently done...

Reset all fuel levels (meaning I f'ed them all up on purpose so I had to do them all over)... Then went and adjusted them all 2ml below...
Why... I don't no but I'm 150% sure they are all right at 2ml. (took some time)

Bench sync... When I put the carb tune on them I didn't even bother adjusting them cause they were so close.

Propane test for so long I thought the garage was gonna blow.

Rechecked the gaps on all brand new spark plugs. Along with new caps and clipped a 1/4 inch. Off all wires.

Checked the battery running at 2000 rpms it read 14.63...
Not running DCV 20 it's 12.3
I think that's good although I'm not very familiar with the electrical system on these bike. But from what I read this should be good.

I don't no what to do next. I've read that people that have to clean there carbs 1,2,3 or 4 time didn't do it right the first time... I've done it twice but I've never cleaned carbs before. Started with boiling them then air through them all then carb cleaner through them all. After a few squirts of carb cleaner to the eyes... Now I wear glasses. Then I dipped them for a few hrs each. Air then carb cleaner... The thing is the carbs never looked dirty. I no that the eyes can't see every tiny port but... They really didn't look dirty. And yes I changed every rubber o ring in the carbs and all jets that were damaged they were replaced. I've applies marvel mystery oil on the throttle shaft to ensure they completely return proplerly. The bike only wants to idle 1000 or below or 2000 and above. I've had so help along the way with some members via pm. One said that 1 or 2 cyclinders wasn't firing until it hit the 2000 rpm but if I start it at 1000 rpms for 30 seconds all exhaust pipes are hot... I wish they all weren't firing then I'd no what the problem was.

What's up next to try???????

I have a day off tomorrow. I had two off last month. Lol. I would like to try something different before I completely tear the carb back down. The only thing I can think of is I need a wire to probe every port???

I could go on 4ever what I've tried but I'm just got off work and I'm tried and hungry hahahaha.

Any thoughts would be great... Thank you everyone you for putting up with me and my sad story of the xj that doesn't idle correctly.

Will not give up till I can ride with the wind.

Thanks again
Jim.

Ps... I've learned some much. Valves out of spec. Now in spec. Most o rings looked like crap now all new. I had to ez out many jets all that needed to be change have been. And nothing has changed the way it idles.... Crazy!!!!!!

 

Wait whoa stop.

You dipped and boiled them. They were torn ALL the way down, butterflies removed, etc? So, new throttle shaft seals, right?

When you put the butterflies back in, did you pay uber-close attention to their orientation? Mikuni butterflies aren't flat on the edges like a coin; they're beveled to fit the carb throat when closed and only go in one way.

DON'T USE WIRE to go probing about in the carbs, you can internally scratch things and screw up flow. Use a nylon brush bristle plucked from your parts-cleaning brush. If you don't have a nice big stiff nylon parts cleaning brush, go drop $3 at the auto parts.

I'm almost beginning to think we've got a mechanical issue with the rack. However, it's also possible you've still got some varnished-up passages despite all of the attention paid to the carbs so far. Have a look at this for a better understanding of why they're so hard to get cleaned out: http://www.xj4ever.com/inside%20your%20carbs.pdf

Have you replaced the gaskets between the intake manifolds and the head yet?

 

excellant pictorial of inside the Hitachi & Mikuni carbs.....

Thanks Fitz for sharing......very interesting reading.....

 

Thanks for the reply fitz.

I've seen that write up and now I have It saved.

The carb were torn all the way down. New seals and o rings.

The butterflies went back in the same way that they came out.

I won't go probing around with a wire.

Mechanical issue...

I've check for carb misalignment and anything binding/sticking or anything like that.
Anything mechanical issue that I should be looking for????

The intake gaskets have been replaced...

Any other thoughts before they come apart again.

Thanks again for the help.

 

They came apart again. Not bad I'm getting pretty good at it. Dipped them for 4 hrs each (then air then carb cleaner then air rinse off with water then air each one). They look good.

Couple things. I didn't lube the throttle shafts but I will take them off again and do it not a problem.

I broke a idle mixture screw o ring so i got 4 new ones and new manifold vacuum port plugs all from chacal . (thanks chacal) My carb rebuild kit didn't come from him and you can see the difference in size in the pic below. Any thoughts?

Got it all back together and... still needs to be synced. I tried but I don't feel like I can leave the blocking tool in long enough without melting the orings. I sparyed wd40 all over it. Any thoughts. I try syncing them without the blocking tool in to get it close then using the blocking tool but i still don't have it synced correctly. (I hope) Any tricks to leaving the tool in longer than 2 mins? I'll give it another go either tomorrow after work or Sunday. But it is really close.


All in all it does run better then before instead of a hanging idle (were it would jump to were ever it wanted slowly come down and want to die) it has more of a hesitation (for a second) and then comes back down and stays right above 1000 rpms. So i think thats a plus just a little more work and it should be good to go (after colortune). Hopefully!!!!

Anyone ever use Sil-Glyde. Napa part. Is it the same as silicone grease?

 

I bet the smaller o-ring is from Chacal. Is that right? You may have much better luck if his are the correct ones for your carbs....

It appears the other ones were much bigger? Not sure how you even got them in there? But I am not familiar with the 550 thou.....

Good luck with Chacal's o-rings.

That is what I use: Sil-Glyde...from Napa...coated throttle shaft seals & fuel o-rings with that.....

I would not use it on the pilot mixture O-ring at all.......

 

The smaller one is from Chacal. The original one is very close to Chacal's but it was flat on one side. Don't no if that's how they came or if it was just wear. I feel way more confident with his though. The others were almost 2 mm larger.

I coated everything with the silicone grease from xj4ever. Someone gave me that sil-glyde.

Five it also sounds like when I need my shocks done I'll just bring them over to u lol!!!!!!

 

You idle problem could very well be improper pilot mixture o-rings......

You are not going to go wrong with parts from Chacal....

I would not coat the pilot mixture o-rings with Sil-Glyde.....you don't want to plug that orifice with grease.....but check with Fitz on that....

I put mine in dry......



My front shocks were no problem with guidance from Fitz, Rick & others.....

Now I am unto the steering column....I will be upgrading from ball to tapered bearings....another order going into Chacal.....

When does the bleeding stop......???? Not from Chacal.....but from myself.....I just want to do things right & upgrade parts if I have to....

Almost there......but have all the time to take it slow.......the weather here in SoCal is advantageous to us.....while others have to park it for months at a time.....

I can help you with shocks when it comes time......I am here in the La Mesa area & you are in the Kearny Mesa Area....very, very close....

 

RE: spraying your YICS blocking tool with WD40: bad idea.

WD40 is a water-displacement spray (WD) and nothing else. It's not a good lubricant, it gums up quickly and is NOT the least bit heat-resistant. Never use it as a cable lube. It's ONLY good for driving moisture out of wet parts, other than that it doesn't belong in the garage.

But--- what engine heat resistant lubricant DO we have laying around the garage? Hmmm... motor oil?

Lube your YICS tool with motor oil.

 

How is it that this person done all of this stuff and the bike still won't idle. This makes no sense at all that these bike won't run right. I read another one today that was having the same issues. Not running right after doing a bunch of stuff to the bike. I read about this YICS crap and Honda did the same thing in their cars. I had a 1983 Honda Prelude that had motorcycle carbs and a sub carb that fed a pre-combustion chamber. The idea behind this was a small rich mixture would ignite a lean mixture in the main combustion chamber. This car NEVER idled correctly. Even though I would clean it in a parts cleaner. This is when I went to school and the teacher said he never seen anything like this. I really think is the problem these bikes. This thing with the shimming of the valves when you have great compression is for the birds. I am in my 40's and have NEVER seen such poorly designed motorcycle in my life. My opinion.

 

thank you for your opinion, now go outside and play

 

atland,

with 19 posts, you don't know much about these bikes......these bikes run fine once properly maintained......

Please stick to buying Honda cars......

 

You're in your 40s and you spew garbage like a 13 year old on a tantrum.

 

Doing a bunch of stuff ≠ fixing all of the underlying issues that are caused by various owners putting off maintainance for 30 years. Motorcycles are among the most abused peices of machinery every developed. Most people sell them on before having done any maintainance on them, then the next owner does the same. The greatest challenge in recomissining anything is finding ALL of the problems that have been caused by age, neglect, and abusive owners. Most people want to buy a bike that's ready to ride, but no used bike really is ever ready to ride as sold; particularly not when it's more than 10 years old.

As for, "This thing with the shimming of the valves when you have great compression is for the birds."

Think for a moment about what happens when an exhaust valve won't open. What happens to the compression numbers? What happens to combustion?

 

I am living proof of being an original owner of my bike for 30+ yrs. Yrs of neglect by me have led to myself putting in a lot of time & money.

You name it, I am doing it, even prior to thinking about hitting that start button.

People that do not want to work on these bikes need to go to the Yamaha showroom floor & spend 8k to 14k for one that runs immediately....

These people have no patience for tinkering with old machinery......

Ah....the virtues of knowing your bike inside & out after doing your own maintenence.

 

Just a flamer...someone who lurks blogs, becomes a member and then makes statements to inflame the members into arguments. So treat them the same way you would treat a child throwing a temper tantrum.....ignore them.

 

I could spend $500 and the bike still wouldn't start. Replacing those intake boots, carb rebuild kits, oil, oil filter, and spark plugs. How is it Bruce that you have so much more experience than what I do but you can't get the bike to idle? Could it be it's true that these carbs are really junk like I say they are? See I read what you guys say. I look at the PDF files where they cut the junky Hitachi carbs apart and show you how they in theory should operate. You guys are nuts spending money on overpriced parts. All I was trying to do is point the facts out to you that you guys talk about on this site. Had I know about this bike and all it's poor engineering I would have NEVER purchased it. Sorry folks the XJ bikes are the Edsel of the motorcycle world.

 

Umm... no they're not.

And we've been over this too many times already. You're right about one thing: YOU should never have purchased an XJ.

Sell the bloody thing and be done with it; it's "above your pay grade."

 

I think this wins quote of the month. =)

Do you really think you are going to get anywhere, make any friends, or change anybody's mind, by coming into a DEDICATED SPECIALTY FORUM FOR ONE SPECIFIC MOTORCYCLE THAT WE ALL LOVE, and trying to bash on it for being junk?

Lemme guess, probably just another old bigot who thinks it's junk cause it's some "Jap crap" while you clearly have no mechanical sense, or even common sense.

I might go easier on you if you hadn't already stated that you should have at least 13+ more years of maturity and experience than I should have.
(Also, learn when to break for a new paragraph, it makes it easier to read)

Go buy a frakin Harley. Those people could use another of your kind.