Cylinder not firing?

And the answer is: Everything

The question: "What is, what do I have fix that the PO screwed up?" :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

 

Ok, so I took my carbs off today, took off the float bowl to check out my float needle things, and they seem fine. The tips aren't in bad shape, the have a perfect cone-like appearance without lumps or swelling, and the floats themselves seem to be alright as well...

I also hooked my tank up to the carbs and opened the shut-off valve that was installed to replace the petcock, and only the 3rd and 4th carb are flooding, the first two leak nothing.

Not sure whats wrong with them. I did notice that when I took the brass piece the float needles sit in out that there was a fair amount of gunk on the little slip on screen thing, looks like little tiny pieces from the stuff they coated the inside of the tank with. I'm going to try switching the floats and needles of the carbs around to see if thats what it is.

 

The float levels need to be properly ADJUSTED using fuel and clear tubing to "see" the fuel level inside the bowls. This procedure is outlined many times on this site, and in the manuals.

Just because a float appears to be operating ok "statically" (when you're looking at it, dry) does NOT mean it's doing its job and shutting off completely AND at the exact proper level. The float levels have only a 3mm adjustment "window" and this is critical to how the bike runs.

You have to "wet set" the floats as I've described; it's not something you can guess at or skip over. In the process, you'll uncover any float level issues you might be having.

Did you find the valve adjustment "how-tos" OK?
http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=14827.html
http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=29209.html

 

+1

If the float is set too high it will not press the needle valve all the way into it's seat, thereby letting fuel flow through the valve constantly.

Same concept as a "stuck float", it's actually the needle valve that sticks and doesn't seat properly to stop the flow of fuel.

 

That's a problem all by itself-'gunk'-can't have that in there. Also it's not from racing model airplane fuel but comes from good old regular gasoline and maybe your tank liner (in-line filter) Most gasoline now contains ethanol and should NEVER be allowed to just sit in your carbs without a stabilizer added. These carbs either need the bike to run almost every day, be stabilized, or drained. Or this will happen.

+1 to BF advice. You can't tell just by looking at your floats if they are set right, only that they are operational. There are several good articles here about carbs, multitudes of information on-line and almost all CV carbs work the same way. So you can search and then do some research and figure out exactly how they work. It's not complicated but it does require the time.

Your float valve seats (where the 'cone' seals it) must be totally clean and your float levels must be in the 3mm spec set wet. And since you have them off I would take your whole carb assembly to the church of clean. Do that and your home free on this issue.

 

Well, I got interrupted with the whole process by my system administration job...had to set up a network printer and network auto-backup hard drive for my boss....and he has a mac, and this is a windows environment...so I didn't get to finish.

However, I did figure out that my float levels are indeed way off, but only on the 3 and 4 carb, from left to right as if you were sitting on the bike. I adjusted the float, attached it to the tank with the proper elevation, and presto! no more hemorrhaging fuel! Tomorrow I will do the proper fuel level tests, after I clean them like an anal-retentive step-mother.

Thank you all for the advice and help, it went a long way towards pointing me in the right direction! Can't wait to see the look on the harley guys face when I fire her up and she runs like a well oiled beast =)

 

*to bigfitz52

I did look at those, and thank you for the links, but I don't have any money right now untill school starts. I'd rather wait to start that process till I have proper tools and cash to replace anything I find that needs replacing (or anything I screw up!) But a valve adjustment is in the future, don't worry. And probably a clutch tuning as well, clutch doesn't seem to pull in enough to switch gears

 

adjusted the throw on that clutch?

 

don't have any clue on how to do that....only clutch I've ever touched was on a 94 sonoma, 4 cylinder stick....Before that, never saw one. I yanked the tranny, pulled the entire thing out, and replaced it. That sucked.

 

So I just ordered a new stator and rectifier off ebay, love that place, so I'll be starting a new topic on the replacement of that, and put together a walkthrough with pictures if there isn't one already.

 

Yo backlash check out Rick's guide to your clutch-it's an easy fix.

http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=2 ... cable.html

Valves: I understand where your coming from-I had a 650 Nighthawk that also had hydraulic valve adjustment so no maintenance. This falsely convinced me that valve adjustment was hard. It's not bad at all.

Just to check them couldn't be easier and you will blow old man's mind that you are doing that. Plus you don't wan't to run your mill if they are way tight(See big $$$$ fix).To check them you only need:

-Metric socket set to remove your tank or wrench-12mm I think on yours
-Allen wrench to loosen valve cover bolts
-Screwdriver or Impact driver to remove left front ignition cover
-19mm wrench to turn crank (nut found inside ignition cover)
-Gap feeler gauge (thin metal strips to measure clearance-metric is best <$10)
-about 1 hour of time-less after you've done it once

These bikes are very reliable and are often called "bullet proof" because of how tough they are, but ignoring your valves is a sure way to test that reputation and make the old man say "I told you so." Plus it won't run right with valves out of spec-less power, bad fuel economy, etc. I know you probably feel like enough already! But it's kind of like going fishing without a pole-it's the first step in a properly tuned 10,000+rpm motor, so can't be skipped or you won't catch any fish...if you get me. So far in the months I've been a member of this site I have yet to see a single person who checked their valves come back and say 'guess what they were all in spec.'

 

Thats exactly why I want to check them, one of the guys who replied to my posts mentioned that, and added some links to how to do it.

I checked the links out and I like the guide, easy to follow, excellent pictures, I understood it completely, doesn't get any better than that for a guy who's never done it before.

I dont have any feeler gauges, but I know a guy who does, he used to go to south america to fix hydro-electric generators and such, great guy, mechanical genius. It'll take some time to get the gauges, so I'm going to have to put that off for a while.

I have noticed that my engine doesn't sound too bad, I don't hear any knocking or tapping sounds, not even slightly....Could it be too much to hope that the PO knew how to do that and did it?....

One thing I'd like to know, however, is what the little clip thing he had in the tutorial is called. If I know the name I can find it somewhere cheap. It's the little black metal thing that clips onto the side of the camshaft holder and keeps positive pressure on the shim. Looks like something I'm gonna need!

So today, after it warms up a little bit and I get some system administrative work out of the way, I'm going to go measure my fuel levels and make adjustments if necessary. I left the tank in an elevated position all night with the shut-off valve on (for those of you who haven't read my earlier posts, the petcock has been disabled and a gravity-fed shut-off valve installed) and no gas leaked out, so at least I know my float-level systems work, just needed adjustment.

Once thats done, if I still have daylight and nothing else pops up, I'm going to see about the clutch adjustment mentioned above. After that, I'm hoping to put everything back on, snync my carbs again, and hopefully she'll work nicely.

Thanks again for all your inputs, everyone's advice has been valuable and helpful!

 

If you don't hear ANYTHING, not even slightly then you have tight valves. Valves that are in spec ticky tap a little. We call that the "happy valve tick"

 

Exactly. Quiet valves=tight valves=NOT GOOD.

A metric feeler gauge is less than a $10 investment: http://www.tooltopia.com/kd-tools-2274. ... lebase_18u

As for the "little clip thing" are you referring to the valve bucket holding tool? It's a Motion Pro product, also widely available, plus XJ4Ever carries them. http://www.motionpro.com/motorcycle/partno/08-0020

Please note*** the "quick tip" on the MP website is completely wrong. The tool has to be CENTERED on the cam lobe to be effective, see "Part Deux" of the how-tos. "Positioned anywhere" won't get it.

You're looking at less than $10 in "special tools" to check your clearances, and less than $20 to do the entire job (not counting parts.)

You might want to weigh that against the cost of repairing a burnt valve or two.

 

Your bike is the same as mine, with about the same mileage, and I am doing the same thing! (When my tool finally gets here)

 

Ok, so I put my carbs back on after checking my levels, and they checked out as best as i could tell. No more massive flooding or gas leaking out of the carbs.

Now, after I did that I went to sync the carbs...and just like last time, after the yics tool is installed, and the vacum plugs are taken off the little nipple on the top of the carbs, it will only give me a reading on my carb sync tool if the choke is on, and while its running, it bumps around from idle speed to 3k rpms and back, almost cutting off....I'm worried that this is a symptom of a problem I don't know about yet....

With the yics tool installed, and the rubber caps taken off the nipples on the top of the carbs (manual told me to do it) is it suppose to bounce around like that?

Also, how is the bike suppose to behave with the yics tool installed?

 

you only take those nipples off to hook up the sync gauges (or home made...whatever)
you cant run the bike with those nipples just wide open.
either put the caps back or hook up your sync device

 

and if those caps are hard you may as well toss them and get new ones, make some from vac hose or something.
When they get hard they like to leak when every thing gets up to temp.
It'll make you nuts

 

ok.....so i think i'm doing something wrong here then....there are 4 hoses that come out of the carbs and face towards the rear of the bike, thats what i've been connecting my gauge to....I'm suppose to connect to the metal nipples those caps go on? We're talking about the same metal nipple the vacuum line hooks up to from the petcock right?

If I've been hooking my gauges up wrong this whole time I'm gonna laugh my ass off!

 

I'll take a picture of my carbs tomorrow and post it, I've got to figure out what I'm doing wrong lol