Strugling to re-start bike.

[leviathanrising]

Hi Guys, 6 year owner first time poster,

Wondered if you can help me out.

I'll start out by saying a few years back my bike decided it wanted to go into a coma after (according to the recovery guy), one of the coils died.

After a few years in storage I've got the bike back home and long story to short: crank test compression normal, charge battery for 30 hours tries to fire, flushed tank, cleaned petcock.

Bunch of new parts ordered and reinstalled inclusive of new spark plugs, 2 new coils, fuel filter (these being changed first, by the way does everyone else have two fuel filters?), air filter, oil filter and oil to be changed later once I've got the engine running.

The Question: It sounds like it's trying to fire up properly now but no success. Is there anything anyone can suggest that I'm overlooking? I'm guessing the ultimate thing I need to do is probably clean the carbs...

Cheers guys any suggestions a great help. 

[His Dudeness]

You could try a push start it might get it going. But you've got compression and air so you need to confirm you've got spark and fuel. You could take the plugs out and ground them against the engine to check for spark. If you've got spark then it must be fuel. I'd try draining the carb bowls to check if you're getting fuel to the carbs and if there's water in the fuel. If you've got fuel in the bowls and it's still not firing then the jets must be blocked and you'll have to clean the carbs.

[johna6968]

+1 for removing and cleaning carbs especially as stood so long.. 1 small thing, ya did turn the fuel tap back on?

[Paul]

If it were me I'd do the following:


1) Take out all the plugs, attach them to the plug leads and turn the engine over to see if they're all sparking. Any that don't, you replace them.  Having turned the engine over several times (with the choke off and the plugs not in) you should have cleared the cylinders of any over supply of fuel.


2) I'd then unscrew the float drain screw of each carb to make sure they had fuel in them. If for some reason they had little or no fuel in them I'd by-pass the fuel pump and see if they filled with fuel. 


3) Assuming they did fill with fuel and it still won't start I'd want to make sure the pilot jets were clear.  You say you cleaned the carbs, but did you blow carb cleaner and compressed air through all the fine drillings and did you make sure the pilot jets were clear?


4) If having done all that, i.e. you've got sparks and clean carbs full of petrol, the only other thing I can think of is:
have you installed the right replacement coils with the correct leads on them? 
I reckon you must have because they are all one, but you never know.


Just as an aside, I had a fazer stood for about three years, and it was a bugger to start.  I ended up cleaning the carbs out and replacing a plug, and there was nothing wrong with it when I covered with a sheet and left in the garage three years earlier. My experieince is they  don't like being stood for a long time.
 

[Wookee]

Another +1 for the carbs...

I bought a classic car that had been stood for 12 years as a non-runner. Drained the tank, replaced the fuel line in the engine and took the carb off for a good clean. When I put it all back together again it started first time. It just ran a bit rough for a couple of minutes while the stale fuel in the rest of the fuel line cleared. Below is a photo of the before and after fuel :lol

[leviathanrising]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the tips.

I had it running today, but could only run it rich (full choke) so it looks like a carb cleaning job in the float area. It ran for about 2 minutes before it cut out, the same thing which happened to it when I broke down about 4 years ago, which is prrrrrrobably why I'm in this mess to start with.

I did the whole spark plug to ground test. So I know it's not the coils and distributor. I really hope that the carb cleaning job will finalise the problem!!!

:rolleyes

[JoeRock]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the tips.

I had it running today, but could only run it rich (full choke) so it looks like a carb cleaning job in the float area. It ran for about 2 minutes before it cut out, the same thing which happened to it when I broke down about 4 years ago, which is prrrrrrobably why I'm in this mess to start with.

I did the whole spark plug to ground test. So I know it's not the coils and distributor. I really hope that the carb cleaning job will finalise the problem!!!

:rolleyes

Blocked pilot jets mate - running it with the choke bypasses them so it'll run. You'll need to take them out, soak them in some carb cleaner and give them a blast with some compressed air to get the crap/varnish out!

[leviathanrising]

Thanks JoeRock,

I've never really taken anything like this apart, I work as a safe and vault locksmith so I'm dealing with metal parts all the time, so this is an entire but not overly complicated new area for me.

All I need now is if anyone has a guide on how to remove/loosen the air box or an entire guide on removing this section so I can start working on this troublesome bit of kit!!

[Buzz]

This was a method from Deefer666 where you don't have to remove the airbox, he knows his sh*t.  I've also got to get the carbs off at some point as #3 is colder on idle, been putting it off for 2 years now!

Seat off, tank off
Side panels off
Rubber air box protector either removed of just released and pulled back
Battery out
Slacken the two side airbox bolts and the top one (dont remove).
Slacken the airbox/carb clamps, place lever (long screwdriver) between the carbs and the airbox & lever the box back
Do the bolts back up to hold the airbox in the back position
Remove the choke cable
Unplug TPS module
Slacken carb inlet manifold clamps
Pull carbs backwards from manifold and out
Manouvere carbs out of the LHS of the bike

Put everything back on in reverse order of coming off

Job done

[leviathanrising]

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your help.

I think I got to the bottom of it. Two floats had jammed right up to the fuel peg valve with plenty of off brown deposits and odd green crap stuck to the jets, probably a bit of oxidation.

They are all soaking over night in carb solvent and getting a good brush down and the holes cleared out in the morning ready for reassembly.

Afterwards, I'll make a guide myself and post it here to help others.

I'll keep you posted about the progress.