My symptoms tell you, what?

OK guys... here are the things I am experiencing.
Just finished cleaning carbs top to bottom, replaced gaskets/orings.
Bench sync'd by eye.

Bike starts up great, no choke even.
Idle is ROUGH, and it dies a lot. Revs good, and idles back down good.
But idle is so - so. And very sensitive to idle screw adjustment.

Now here is the list of things I have not done yet:
Float levels not checked - screws stuck in place.
Sync not done. No YICS tool and waiting for Andy to bring his!
Idle screws set @ 2 3/4 turns from bottom. So final adjust is necessary.
Plugs only few weeks old, but ran when bike didn't run right.
Gapped @ 32 I think, do I really have to replace them?
Battery is low on water, and near dead. Could this cause my problems?
Could a low battery make it idle bad but run good with throttle open?



Part of me says get the battery charged and try it, it may just idle fine.
Part of me also says, battery or not, something else is wrong.
And the last part of me blames the sync not being done.

All of the above?

 

Battery...

On the XJ's, at around idle speed, the power to provide spark is predominantly coming from the battery as there is not enough happening in the alternator area to keep the charge up on the battery. If the battery is low anyway it will use up juice to get the starter to kick over and then what little is left is there for the spark peoduction. It's only when you get the revs to around 2000rpm that the alternator starts producing enough to keep the battery in charge and in balance.

Sounds like you have the idle scres set about right...2.5 to 2.75 turns out from bottom.

Also, the bench sync maybe should not be done by eye but perhaps with the small wire that comes from a normal packet of bread to tie up the plastic (wire inside the plastic strip). That wire dimension is just right to slip under the butterfly valves and to adjust them so that there is just a little resistance in pulling through the wire between the carb throuat body and the butterfly valve. Too little and it won't be right.

Also, the idle adjustment screw in the middle of the carbs needs to be set to get the idle at around 1000rpm - but that probably should be the last step in the process.

If after the battery has been fully charged and all the other adjustments made it still dies then maybe float height might have something to do with it by making the mixture too rich or too lean. Try everything else first as it is less invasive and time consuming.

See how you go.

 

Hmm... I figured battery.
Should I try setting the screws to 2.5?
I was told 2.5 to 3, so I broke even.

Should I drain the battery, or just add distilled water?
The only charger I have is a friends old as hell 5amp charger, it has a switch for 5 amp or 10 amp, and that's all I know.
Will this work?

 

Until you do this, you're pissing up a rope. Don't fiddle with anything until you have the tool and the synch gauges and set it properly. An out-of-synch engine produces all sorts of funny symptoms that can be mistaken for any number of other conditions.

Now, judging from your symptoms, I believe that you may be suffering from an addiction to haste, brought on by the sudden, rapid onset and influx of solar radiation that occurs around this time of year, and the need to feel air pressure gradients blowing across your scalp and body, and perhaps the giddiness brought about by sleep deprivation and post-traumatic-carb-rebuilding syndrome.

Either that, or perhaps asiatic cholera, jungle rot, or the yaws.

Hard to tell, until you've been synched............

 

Sync THIS Len!

lol jk!

No, I know it needs a sync, and I need bluepotpies YICS tool Wednesday.
But don't you think a sync is useless with a battery I can clearly see the fluid is not level in every chamber, is near 1/2 empty in some, and ran SO low while trying to start the motor (with floats upside down! hah!) that it required the battery charger to get the motor to turn over? Even got the 'clickclickclick' sound it was so dead.

So, battery, then sync, right? lol. Don't need to be out on the road warming up for a sync, hitting the started at every red light, and then have the STARTER, not work either. lol.
I do have to say, unbelieveably easy bike to pop start though!

 

And yes - your suggestion of addiction to haste, is true.
But wouldn't you too, if you just rebuilt the carbs and work 80+ hours a week, and it's going to be 93 damn degrees tomorrow?!

God, I can't wait to get this thing running 100%!

 

Top off the battery with distilled water. Put the charger on at 5A for a couple hours.

After you start it put the charger back on. It'll provide the juice to keep things going. Then you'll know how much your problem is caused by low voltage.

And yes, you almost certainaly need a new battery.

 

from the sound of that battery it will keep driving you nuts. Even if successfully "resurrected" it's not going to hold a charge long nor put out the kind of consistent strong current you need.

You're gonna have to spend the $40 sooner or later; I'd do it now and save all the headaches.

And Len is right; until you get them synched all other tweaking is a waste of time.

 

guys all kidding aside, I'm not going fast.
I just have lots of questions at once because I only get to even see the bike twice a week for 3 hours max. so my brain runs on this stuff every other day.

i'll get the battery charged and see how it idles. sync is tomorrow.