Have to use Instant Start

Hey All,
As I've also had some starting issues, I'd encourage any of you all to clean your connections in the fuse box (or actually replace the darn thing all together) and clean/replace the plug caps. After replacing the battery, rebuilding the starter, replacing the coils, and resyncing and cleaning the carb, I got clued in the the awesome wonder of ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE (resistance, resistance, resistance).

It made a world of difference.

electrical issues
There's a great link to an electrical FAQ that anyone with a bike older than 10 years should read.

 

It's doubtful (but certainly conceivable) that anyone will every change the weight of one of the sliding rods inside a carbtune. They're stainless steel, and spring loaded, and don't come into contact with anything besides the ID of the plastic tubes!

The tubes themselves could get worn over time and need replacing...and carbtunes are, by design, rebuildable. But for the limited amount of use that any individual owner is going to see with a synch tool, the probability of gauge inaccuracies due to normal wear-and-tear is so small as to be safely ignored. If it's in shop environment, and the tool is being used 20 times a month, and handled roughly, then yes.....the tool will need rebuilding (as by design) occassionally.

I think getting the relative cylinder vacuum draws all set equally to the 4th decimal place is pretty much an impossibility. The vacuum pulses by themselves insure that, not to mention parallax effects, etc. when viewing the scale.

But probably the biggest issue of all is that people try to synch their carbs before they do all the necessary, preliminary steps first: check and adjust valve clearances (almost NO ONE DOES THAT) and make sure that the throttle shaft seals, carb intake manifolds, and intake manifold gaskets are top-shelf before even attempting to synch.

And how many people still believe that you don't have to use a YICS port-blanking tool to properly synch a YICS-engine?

But that mamometer shown in this thread IS pretty crafty and neat!

 

Hey Hired_Goon,

Did you get my PM on the manometer?

Cheers,

Phil

 

I think you'd have to use the Stainless Steel weighted Manometer to Sync every Members Bike ... twice, before any appreciable change in its accuracy would be noted.

I think we need a Kit ... with a CarbTune, a ColorTune and a YICS Tool in a real, "Can-take-a-beating" Travel Case for shipping to Members needing the Kit to tune-up their Bikes.

 

hi folks this is my first post so here goes got myself a good clean 1981 xj550 started on the button had a small problem with restarting from hot but managed to overcome this (guy i brought it from said the carbs had been cleaned and balanced) found out after a few weeks that if i didnt start it for a few days it was a pig to start no biggy i just started it a couple of times a week till now, i left it for four days now it will not start at all i have good compressions fuel is there and a spark
it does however seem two plugs are getting wet and two are not i fitted new plugs and have removed checked and recleaned the carbs it does however backfire now when trying to start but makes no attempt to fire HELP please

 

If as you say, the Carbs are all Cleaned and working well ... you may have to adjust your Pilot Mixtures to get the Lowe-end Mixtures from being too Rich and wetting those two Plugs.

The best method is to use a Colortune Plug so you can actually monitor whats happening inside those Combustion Chambers as you make the adjustment.

Keep in mind ... the Pilot Mixture Screws are ULTRA Fine threaded. So the optimum Air~Fuel Mixture might be within the width of a Nickel or a Dime from where you are at.

 

I'm going to have a look at the starter tonight. I have had very hard starting problems on the bike I have now, despite changing most of the components out at one point or another, but the starter's never been looked at.

I wonder if anyone can tell me, when you are trying to start your bike and you put your hand over the air intake side of the carb, you'll feel suction. Any diagnosis for a carb in which you DON'T feel any or feel very little suction?

I honestly don't know if this is unhealthy for the bike. It seemed like a good idea at the time (as the bike sounded breathy or....windy? I guess). At the time I first did it, the bike turned over fairly quickly after. For a while, I could use this as a method to start the bike. Not anymore.

I know the reigning advice on these issues is CLEAN the CARBS!!! Trust me, even if you haven't read previous posts of mine, they are clean, clean, clean. I have done everything but disassemble the set, which I am not going to do, so don't try and make me.

I'm not out to play Stump the Community here either. If you have solved this hard start problem on your bike, I'd love to hear what you did.

 

Bad valves, very bad rings, cracked piston, broken or missing intake manifold for that carb, etc.!

Have you cleaned the starter jets in the carb bowls? Assuming your engine mechanicals are in good condition, and you are getting spark at the plugs, then clogged starter jets account for about 90% of the hard start problems on these bikes.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you're quickly reaching running out of options and reaching that point...... :cry:

 

If you aren't getting a good vacuum it could indicate any number of things.

Now, since you bring that up ... you might need to have a Compression Check.
We need to know the condition of your individual Cylinders and the Compression Tests numbers will give us a good indication.

The most likely causers for Low Manifold Vacuum are:
Rings
Valves
Head Gasket

 

So a compression test is in order, fair enough. I'll do some research on that, I'm sure there's a tool or two that I'll need to pick up.

I am fortunate enough that I have a parts bike here with an engine that has a head in great shape. This would not all suck so bad if it wasn't coming on spring here.

Thanks Chacal, I had cleaned the starter jets. I had very good advice from Rickomatic on the carbs, and providing I did everything right (no guarantees of that) the carbs are as clean as a whistle.

Further details: All the sparks are wet with gas when I pull them, even after only about 10 seconds on the starter. That is to say: turn the key, hold the button down for about 10 seconds.

Apparently I'm up for just about anything. I took my starter motor off last night! Because one of the bolts had busted in the bottom of the bike (where the gear shift lever enter's the bike) I pulled that plate off too. My oil needs changing, but that is not the way to go about it let me tell you. What a mess.

My starter motor is working much better after cleaning all the copper inside but no, it did not solve my problem.

All four sparks will light a spark plug tester.

Thanks for all your help guys, you have no idea how great it is to have the support! Or maybe you do, and that's why you're helping?

 

If the Plugs are Wet ... you are Flooding-out. You'll have to make an adjustment to the Carbs to control the Fuel being sent-in during startup to lessen the amount of Fuel for a good start.

Eithat that or youi are relying on the Enrichment Circuit to try and start a bike that has a problem other than Fuel Supply and are inadverently flooding-out the Cylinders waiting for Spark.

We'll help you get to the bottom of it.

 

I have faith! And TIME! Thank God for the weekend. I'm out riding another kind of horse on Saturday morning, but I'll call you Saturday afternoon. After work I'm going out to pick up a compression tester, fresh oil and filter since it needs a change (found out last night), fresh sparks cuz it's good to have them around and a can of fuel. If there is anything else you recommend, let me know. I'd rather have the gear that I need to hand than have to stop mid go to pick up misc items. I'm still very tempted to buy a new battery, especially with a battery shop right next door, but I don't want to spend the cash I don't need to.

 

I buy a Battery Charger before going out and buying a New Battery,
A Battery Charger that will put some real charge on the Battery is going to be a whole lot better than trying to have a Trickle Charger do the job of deep cycling a Bike Battery.

The SEARS 3-Way is a very good investment. It will do 2-Amp, 10-Amp and 50-Amp Boost. Plus, it's an Automatic Charger that won't harm the Battery of Component Parts if hooked-up backward.

You can leave the Battery on Charge while working on the Bike and know that there;s going to be some Amps available when you get around to trying to start the Bike.

The Trickle Charger only keeps the specific gravity constant. It won't deep cycle the Battery and provide cranking amps when you turn-on the Ignition Switch.

 

Okay! I'll have a look for a charger while I'm out too! Thanks Rick!

 

You won't regret having a Battery Charger handy. You'll get use from it outside of working on your bike.

I'm forever "Loaning-out" mine to people nearby who have dead car batteries due to the cold we have much of the Winter.

 

I'm going to post at length tomorrow, telling you how these guys helped me solve my problems, but right now I'm too tired as I was out all day riding around in the glorious nearly summer weather (24 celsius). All I wanted to say just quickly is THANK YOU!!!!! Rick especially. What a guy! The bike is humming along beautifully and I'll be checking the sparks for final tuning tomorrow and during the next week. She's idling beautifully now.

TIPS FOR NOOBS:
1) You do not know what you're doing. That's okay.
2) Listen to these guys. They do know what they're doing, and if they don't they'll point you in the direction of someone who does.
3) Tips on these forums, or theories, are just that. PLEASE: Start with the simplest possible fix first and save yourself the hassle. It doesn't matter what the last owner said he did or didn't do. Do it yourself and you know for sure.

I learned that last one the hard way, but was VERY lucky to have a bike's worth of spare parts in a filing cabinet in my basement. I still don't know whether to file that set of pipes we have under P for pipes or E for exhaust...M for muffler? huh. G'nite all, and thanks again.

 

I'm really curious to hear what it was!!! Glad you got out to ride....um, what is 24 Celsius in Fahrenheit? Are you in Canada?

 

Canada.
British Columbia.

That made me put-out an A-P-B for a BC Tuner to help Julie. But, I had no idea how big British Columbia was until someone got back to me with the details.

All is well that ends well.
Julie is running after a Carb Claenning.
Good work to her and Happy Cruising this Summer!

 

It's like 75 in your temperature scale!

 

Wanted to add to this that enrichment circuit well could also be a problem with having to use instant start as well. Mine had the same problem including after taking off the starter and cleaning it out (it was nasty and will need new brushes before spring). Quick easy winter project. Starts easier after cleaning out the starter, but still issues with starting after letting her sit overnight.

Anyway, cleaned out the enrichment circuit well and went outside to the garage just now and she fired up immediately. That has never happened before.

Link to the FAQ.

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=8918.html

Wealth of knowledge on these forums.