Trouble starting...

**magicmonkey** · 31st March 2010, 11:34

well, I'm trying to break this down a bit before I get home tonight so I've got a better plan of what work needs doing. I've been back over this thread and put this together:

Time line of things done so far:

Carbs cleaned - would start after a lot of effort

New battery - would start after a lot of effort - normal behaviour at this point

replaced o-rings on breather and petrol tubes in carbs (took the bank apart but didn't take bowls off) - Also replaced the spark plug leads at the same time - Spark now strong - now not catching though

Backfire - checked electrics, all ok, still not catching

cleaned plugs and checked gap and spark jump, all ok - still not catching

Tried using 'start ya bastard' after removing the plugs overnight in case of flooding - hint of catching but no life

Checked float heights, off by around 2mm on each carb, left alone - still not catching

Checked fuel filter and tested with it removed - still not catching

Cleaned Pilot screws and blew down airways to check for blockages, they were all 3 turns out but tested back on the carbs at 1.5 turns as that seems to be the accepted norm - still not catching

Checked intake manifold gaskets and flow through vacuum tubes, all ok - still not catching

Things to try tonight:

teaspoon of oil down each cylinder - compression

turn the pilot screws out to 3 turns again as it worked fine like that before

Spray some start ya bastard at the carbs while turning over the engine, previously has just been sprayed down the plug holes before putting them back in

So, that's the plan for tonight, if anyone has any other ideas I'll welcome them as always

**bogan** · 31st March 2010, 11:37

good idea making the list, sure the leads going to the right cylinders? cos that would be an easy fix

**magicmonkey** · 31st March 2010, 11:39

Originally Posted by bogan

good idea making the list, sure the leads going to the right cylinders? cos that would be an easy fix

yup, I'm 100% on that one as I spent an age sat there with the manual going over the wiring (that was my first guess as to what was wrong)

That said, it never hurts to check for the 100th time!!

**magicmonkey** · 31st March 2010, 11:51

Originally Posted by magicmonkey

yup, I'm 100% on that one as I spent an age sat there with the manual going over the wiring (that was my first guess as to what was wrong)

That said, it never hurts to check for the 100th time!!

I've just realised how much of a tit I'm going to feel like if I check it again and realise I've screwed up!!!

**MSTRS:Me** · 31st March 2010, 11:54

Best just tell us you tweaked the Flux Capacitor...
Otherwise, we WILL laugh - at you.

**magicmonkey** · 31st March 2010, 11:57

Originally Posted by MSTRS

Best just tell us you tweaked the Flux Capacitor...
Otherwise, we WILL laugh - at you.

well, at this point I've pretty much accepted that any fix will be to do with something I've cocked up, I'll be deserving a healthy laughnig at when I work it out regardless of what it was. Still, I'll tell you all, might as well man up to it

**MSTRS:Me** · 31st March 2010, 11:58

Onya.
We WILL hold you to that.

**neels** · 31st March 2010, 11:59

Originally Posted by magicmonkey

I've just realised how much of a tit I'm going to feel like if I check it again and realise I've screwed up!!!

Can't hurt to recheck the plug leads just in case.

I notice you don't have new spark plugs on the list, before you spend $200 on more carbs you might like to try replacing them (or at least one of them), even if they look OK if it's been flooded and attempted to start numerous times they could be tracking across the plug under compression and killing your spark. I spent ages trying to get an old bike going on plugs that looked fine, checked everything else with no joy, replaced the plugs with new ones and away she went.

**magicmonkey** · 31st March 2010, 12:07

Originally Posted by MSTRS

Onya.
We WILL hold you to that.

well, it'd just be plain rude to get this much help of people and not give them a laugh in return

**magicmonkey** · 31st March 2010, 12:15

Originally Posted by neels

Can't hurt to recheck the plug leads just in case.

I notice you don't have new spark plugs on the list, before you spend $200 on more carbs you might like to try replacing them (or at least one of them), even if they look OK if it's been flooded and attempted to start numerous times they could be tracking across the plug under compression and killing your spark. I spent ages trying to get an old bike going on plugs that looked fine, checked everything else with no joy, replaced the plugs with new ones and away she went.

I get what your saying, although the engine was running fine with these plugs before I decided to be an idiot and change 2 things at once so I'm pretty sure these are ok for the moment. it'll cost me just over $100 to replace them as well which is a bit of a pain in the arse!!

**Grasshopperus** · 31st March 2010, 12:58

Nah, $60max for 4 x CR9E plugs mate.

Buy 24 beers and some bbq food and, invite a KB'er in your area over, pay for his taxi home and spend the day. I'd do it if I was in your area.

**magicmonkey** · 2nd April 2010, 09:09

well, yesterday morning the bike fired into life quite happily and was good to go. Seems that it was the pilot screws which fixed the problem

Unfortunately I'm now back at the starting point though which means that it'll start but only after a lot of hassle and a shit load of choke. Still, it will start, that's one hell of a bonus from my point of view

last night a KB'er popped round as well, spent ages working on the bike and taught me a hell of a lot about engines. The timing was out by 2 teeth, rather than the 1 tooth which apparently gives more power in the mid-range on this model, so that got changed back to factory. The fuel tap got a good checking over. Fuel to the cylinders got verified (I was pretty sure but it's good to have a second opinion). the electrics got a check over and the reg/rec taken out of the system to verify that it wasn't causing the problem, and a shit load of other checks I never would have thought of on my own.

At the moment it looks like it's still the sparks which are causing the problem so I'll be off to pick up a new set of plugs later today (something that was going to get done before I used the bike anyway so it's not going to put me out of pocket, which is nice

). If that doesn't work then it'll be time to check over the entire wiring loom, cleaning and checking all the connectors, and if that still doesn't work then it'll be time to check the individual components of the electrical systems to see if one of them is faulty.

So, there's either a tiny amount of work or a lot of work ahead of me in the next few days but it's starting to come together and I've got some direction rather than just blindly poking around and hoping that something will work so I'm pretty chuffed

so, big thanks to everyone for their advice, I'm not too sure I would have been able to get this far without it, I'm sure I'll be asking for more pretty soon as well

**MSTRS:Me** · 2nd April 2010, 09:20

Those pilot screws are quite important, you now know. Where they are set can be critical - controls the air/fuel mix prior to the mainjets coming into play.

**magicmonkey** · 2nd April 2010, 09:30

Originally Posted by MSTRS

Those pilot screws are quite important, you now know. Where they are set can be critical - controls the air/fuel mix prior to the mainjets coming into play.

yup, looks like I've learned that one now! I'll probably have to play around with them a bit more once I've got the electrical problem sorted as I think it's probably running quite rich at the moment. Still, that can be a problem for another day, for now I just need to find me a bike shop which is open today, doh!