First street bike, 91 Seca xj600, HELP Please

Hey everyone,
New to the site and the street bike scene. I just bought a 91 seca xj600 for 500.
having afew problems and looking for help. First, it starts but is fairly difficult to start, but once started it idles fairly rough and when I rev it it bogs alittle, and when I rev it past the bog and let the throttle go, it most the time will stay around 4k for afew seconds after then start to go down and die. Also, I'm getting backfire through the carbs. I was able to get it down the street and back(btw I don't have the airbox on right now) the hose that is coming from what I believe is the tranny case(right by the clutch linkage) sprayed oil all over my jeans, it seems to only be letting out steam/smoke now but not sure. I really want to get this thing running right, so any help will be appreciated.
Thanks
Ray

 

I'm not too hip on the mechanics yet but I can offer some advice from recently having kinda the same issue.

Is it a 91? or was it manufactured in 91 making it 92? check out your vin, there's a link on here somewhere to decode it. I just bought a 92, that turned out to be a 93, which is fine, still a nice bike.

On start up do you have the choke engaged to a point?

I was getting the bog on rev, but it was due to a vacuum leak between my airbox and carb's... if you've got it removed I'm not sure if that would be the solution... there's much smarter people on here for that, haha. Though they will probably say PUT THE AIRBOX BACK ON!!!!

mine idle's at 4k when it starts to warm up when i start it cold with the choke all the way on. I then drop it to the middle position, where it drops down to a low rpm until it warms a bit more and soon it'll be heading back up to 4k. usually I try to find a middle position between the 2nd and 1st position on the choke and get it to idle in the 2-3 range until I actually get on and can take it all the way off.

Check your petcock to make sure it's set to ON or atleast RES... not that I think PRI will screw you

No clue on the oil though, is it packed full?

I was looking at raising my idle up a bit but there's no adjustment (((AND IF I"M WRONG PLEASE CORRECT ME))) like an adjustment screw. You can when you rebuild the carbs, or atleast adjust/synch them I think but you can't just turn it up/down like you would a car or some of the older bikes.

 

First of all, welcome to the site! Go ahead and put the bike info and mileage in your signature so people will know what bike you're referring to in the future. Also, update your location in case some other XJ members live nearby and could swing on by and give you a hand.

How many miles does it have? Did the previous owner tell you if it had been sitting for a long time?

You could probably use a thorough carb cleaning and adjustment -- that would take care of 75% of idle/running problems. It's likely your passages are clogged up or your enrichment circuitry is not fully closing, causing the bike to run crummy and die.

Also, the fact that the crankcase breather tube shot oil at your leg certainly raises an eyebrow. I'd stop trying to run it and change the oil immediately. Then you'll know it has the right oil, right amount, and that there's no gas that might have been leaking in there.

Here is the guide to carb cleaning:

http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=2 ... n+own.html

Looks intimidating at first, but it's no sweat if you read through it and follow the directions.

And yes, having the airbox off will cause it to run differently -- but you'd have to have your carbs surgically clean and adjusted to tell the difference.

There are a couple other things that you should look at (that slip my mind), but this should be a good starting point.

Koi ma man, the idle adjust screw is in the middle of the carb bowls, and it points straight toward the back of the bike. (well look at that, I just happen to have a picture!)

 

Dude your awesome, I've read and re-read everything I could see in the manuals and nothing was mentioned of that handy little screw right there, I was just warming my bike up to go for a ride, so I think I"ll adjust that first and then go...

Your awesome again andrew!!!

And yes, welcome to the site ray... forgot to say that!

 

Again your awesome.. Mine even had a cool little handle to twist it so didn't need a screwdriver or anything!!!! Took a pic though I'm about to go for a ride so I'll post later..

Thanks again.

See ray, I'm still learning so I'm just offering what I saw, not what I know

 

Thanks guys, mileage is unknown, no speedo, and I'm in atlanta, ga. Supposedly the oil was changed but I was still planning on changing it, what weight and how much will it take, the guy said he put way too much in it.

 

And what about the backfire through the carbs.

 

Atlanta?! Way cool -- I'm just up here in Cumming.

I've been using this 10W40 oil over the winter:

http://www.bikebandit.com/maxima-maxum- ... -cycle-oil

The manual states 2.2L for just an oil change, 2.5L for oil and filter, and 2.9L when the engine is completely dry.

Now the back fire through the carbs...I'm not completely sure. Maybe someone else can weigh in there. Could have something to do with the condition (cleanliness, really) of the carbs, or maybe even the adjustment of valves. Adjusting the valves isn't that difficult if that's something that needs to be done.

Have you changed out the spark plugs? These use NGK CR8E plugs with a 0.7-0.8mm gap. Advance Auto Parts carries them.

Definitely throw "xj600" into Ebay if you're looking for things like the speedo and such. There's alot of stuff pretty cheap.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/92-Yamah ... _614wt_939

 

That's awesome! I'm in Lawrenceville, not far at all. And not yet, just got it acouple days ago. The plugs don't look too bad but I was gonna change them anyways cause autolites are what's in it now, don't ask me why. Lol.

 

Welcome to the forum.
First off, lots of good advice here, just read and do. Next, do you have a clear title? Very important to establish that before you go tossing money at it. Along with the oil change, check the brakes, it's great to have a bike that goes, but more importantly have one that stops.
The search feature is your best friend on this site, most all questions can be answered by using it, then if your not sure, quote the item you found and the link and then ask for clarifications.
Do not start tearing things apart until you understand what you are tearing into. Get a manual and read, read, read.
Never take what the P.O. says as gospel most of them think their bike was the best running bike in the state "before they put it away", others are just a bunch of lying sacks of S**T that say anything to get rid of a bike that they have given up on.
So.......establish proper ownership, give the bike a good cleaning, get a manual, change the oil and filter, and then go forward a little bit at a time. Keep checking in with what you are doing or are about to do and for Gods sake don't tear it all apart and then ask us how to put it back together.
In your first sentence you state "New to the site and the street bike scene."
This site is like school, pay attention, do your homework and you will learn.
Good luck with the new (to you) bike!

 

more and more ga guys thats great . Carbs backfiring is more then likely from not having the air box on . You need to check valve clearances. the carbs hanging up is because they are out of sync and need adjusting also could be a vac leak how are the intake boots any cracks?. While the carbs are off make sure you wet set the floats. The steam and oil coming out of the breather is not good first check make sure its not overfull of oil. Smell it make sure it does not smell like gas since your having carb problems.

 

Intake boots are horrible, need new ones. And I was looking into the carbs while running it just now and out of the bigger or the 2 holes that can be seen from looking down at them, it is pouring gas out and down into the carb on #1. And on #4 there's a lot of extra gas flying around down by the black slide. Wth is going on? So I'm guessing it sunning after I let go of the throttle is all the extra gas getting burned?

 

pretty much by the sounds like it... I'm not heavy on the carbs yet

read the link someone put up earlier about cleaning carbs, sounds like a rebuild is in order all together but i' don't know.
I'm sure someone's going to chime in w/ better advice but start reading the info on carbs, also get a manual/clymers or whatever, pm me and I can send you a digi one and read read read!

On a side note, put 130+ miles today on mine and after adjusting the idle-mix mine ran much better coming to a stop, need to look up the proper spec though but i got it around 1k at idle and it seemed happy enough.

 

rebuild your carbs do not run it your going to mess up the engine. There is an article in here on how to temporary fix the carb boots. i am sure your oil smells like gas if there is that much gas flowing into the cyls

 

Ok guys, having a hard time finding a kit for these carbs and whoever had it before me took the bowls off and used gasket maker, so I really need a kit. I have a friend with carbs off his 94 zx600r and they look extremly similar to these. Would these fit on my bike? I figure sense they're from a 600 I'm still good as far as jet sizes go. Thanks

 

did you check with chacal? let me see what i can find

 

Ok cool. Thanks a lot!!

 

From wot I've seen And please, wait til someone else post or research to make sure of my facts... but from wot I've seen there seems to be a major commonality between 92-96 xj600's in engine components and other mechanical means, there's little variances it seems in certain places, the rear inner fender is one example that each year is slightly different though they all seem to interchange

But as I said, other's know better this is just from wot I've read and seen... again, if you can get a copy of the manual, do it whether it's digital off the internet or hardcopy

 

No luck on my end sorry

 

I think I'm just gonna take the chance. He took them off,drained the bowls and ran fuel stablizer through them so they should be good to go. And ill take my carbs to see how the intake side matches up. This is happening friday so anyone else with opinions please let me know and I will let you guys know how it goes.

 

Go to the FAQ section and Rick has a carb cleaning 101 article. The gas overflowing is due to the float levels not being set right. You need to take the carbs off and clean and rebuild them. Chacal has all the parts you need to rebuild them and he has great prices. Look for him under the main page XJ4EVER. The carbs off your friends bike may look the same but the jetting will be different.