Please please someone help me

i got this bike about two weeks ago and ive started it up now and then and ridden it just around the block maybe 3 or 4 times because i just got my permit today. its been running fine but when i took it out today for the first real "ride" it died and every stop light when i wouldnt give it enough gas. then it progressively got worse on the way home. whenever i would even slow down it would quit and when it would finely start after being stuck on the side of the road for five minutes it would take a while to really go. does this sound like a carb problem? or a petcock issue? i had a full tank of gas for sure because i checked several times. but i have noticed an oil leak and a gas leak out of the #1 carb to engine boot and the #4 carb to engine boot and it seem to also have a gas leak out of the #4 carb from the carb to airbox boot. also in the past 2 or 3 days its been getting trickier and trickier to start. this is my first bike everybody please help me out as much as possible.

 

It sounds like you need to do a thorough cleaning of the carbs. I had a similar problem with my bike previously. One or two of the carbs would just keep dripping and they were basically flooding the engine with too much fuel as I was riding. My symptoms were almost exactly like yours. At first, I couldn't figure out was going on until I realized I had almost no gas despite having only driven about forty miles on a full tank. Turns out, that as I was riding, fuel was streaming out of the overflow in the airbox because one of my floats was always jammped open and another would stick intermittently.

At first, I was leaning towards an electrical problem for you. Possibly something as simple as a battery going bad. But once you mentioned the dripping fuel, I would definitely lean towards the bike needing carb work.

 

I've figured since I got it it probably needed carb work but it scares the he'll outa me to be honest lol before I do something stupid am I gona need Ny special tools other than to sync them afterwords? Also how long does cleaning carbs usually take?

 

I would get the Idle adjusting tool from Chacal. Its specially made for those brass screws and will help in keeping you from messing them up with a regular screwdriver

 

You are going to need to not only clean your carbs but check the float levels and then you should bench sync them while they're off.

If you have a sticky float and a petcock that's not shutting off positively you can also be filling your crancase with gas, diluting the oil. Watch the oil level; if it suddenly rises, check for gas in the oil: With the motor cold, remove the oil filler cap and stick your nose in the hole. It should smell like motor oil, not gas.

 

What should the idle speed be on these bikes?

 

Should be about 1050 I believe if every thing is adjusted properly but be careful, just because your idle is "right" doesn't mean that your carbs are set up right.
Shaun

 

Also I noticed it has been backfiring more and more lately what's goin on when it backfires? Sorry if any of this should be obvious but I'm only 16 and I'm actually pretty mechanically inclined but what Ive learned I've learned from experience and being that this is my first bike I do t know slot of the trickier stuff

 

the backfires indicate a fouling plug perhaps.
all of it points to carb work.

might as well pick up an oil filter, air filter, plugs and oil while you are out.
give it a good tuneup and clean the carbs.
follow RickCoMatic's link on his signature for the step by step with pics
if you follow it to the letter you will have a very very good running bike

 

backfiring generally indicates a lean condition; these motors will backfire if they "run out of gas" or are fuel-starved.

While it could be ignition related I'm also inclined to think you need carburetor work.

How many miles are on this bike? It may be way overdue for a valve adjustment.

 

The bikes got 22k so it's definately overdue for a lot of things lol but I really don't trust myself with that kind of job yet

 

You are dealing with a very old machine and if it hasn't been used often you will most likely have petcck and fuel tank issues. They come with the territory anytime you put a bike that has been sitting back in service. If there is any rust in that tank, clean it or use POR15 to seal it. Please----Do Not Use Kreem! remember that anything in the fuel tank can find it's way into freshly cleaned carbs.

 

Yamasarus is absolutely right, I would say the same thing. I made the same mistake on my first bike when I was about 19 or 20. Spent hours and days cleaning and rebuilding the carbs, only to have it run great for about a week and the bike gradually ran worse and worse until it almost wouldn't run. Surprise, surprise, gas tank was FULL of crud and re-crudded the carbs. Have the tank cleaned and sealed, (either yourself, or almost any shop will do this) and definately clean the petcock as well. You also might want to consider an inline fuel filter while you're working on it. But I would also agree that just about all of your symptoms point to fuel/carb problems. Take your time, get the right tools, use this sight, and take care of everything while you're in there, you can do it, and you and the bike will be better off for it, good luck!

 

What ever you do don't run it until you change the oil and the filter. If not you can be in a world of hurt. Where are you located? Maybe some local xjr's can come mentor you on fixing your bike.

 

The PO sId he changed the oil And filter so unless he lied it should be fine, right? How long does cleaning carbs usually take? And would I have to rebuild them or could I probably get by with just a cleaning because being 16 I don't got the 60 bucks or whatever it is to shell out at the moment for four cRb kits. I just really wanna get this bike running I've been waitin for so long to finally be able to ride and I finally cannlegally so this is almost painful lol

 

I know, we feel your pain. The reason you need to change the filter and oil is because your carbs are leaking gas the probability that gas got into your oil. And that is a very bad thing. It thins your oil out then your oil can not do its job properly. As far as your carbs go, I have been rebuilding carbs of all kinds since I was your age. A lot of times most of the parts are reusable. There is very few WEAR parts in carbs. Mainly on these bikes it is the shaft seals, they get hard over time and leak vacuum. The next is the bowl gasket but if you are very careful and you do not tear them, they can be reused many times. For now just try cleaning them according to this thread, http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=2 ... n+own.html. Rick is the master when it comes to these carbs. If you need any parts for them and you do not have the funds, let us know, maybe we can donate some parts. I have some, they are yours if you need. And if it is to overwhelming for you, PM me and I will rebuild them for you at cost (shipping and parts/supplies)

 

Also as a side note please take a safety course and and live it. It can save your life. And from what I see you have a whole life ahead of you. Good luck!

 

+1 on both of the above responses.

The reason I brought up valve adjustment and asked you about the miles on the bike is that valve adjustment was often totally ignored due to the perceived complexity of the procedure.

At 22K miles the motor is getting to the point where an unattended valve is going to start to have problems, and you can't effectively adjust your carbs if the valves are way off (more than likely you have some that are tight.)

You also need to take some time and go through the BRAKES; inspect the rear for delamination (the linings peeling away from the shoes) and at the very least, flush and bleed the front (replace all the brake fluid.)

 

Where are you located? Someone must be near that might help. We want people to enjoy this passion, not suffer from it!

 

Get the Haynes Manual for your bike. They're between 10 and 20 bucks on Ebay. It's well written for the layman and they writer walks you through every maintenance step, along with this forum of course. Just don't take any steps your not sure of. And just think, within a relatively short time, you'll have learned how to take care of most things on your bike without begging some shop for help.

 

I hear you. I'm not 16, but I learned to ride after I bought my bike. I STILL haven't been able to do more than go around the block (new tires got here today!). But, difficult as it is to wait, cleaning your carbs (which isn't difficult and shouldn't take more than a couple of days, if you allow time for soaking in Pine Sol, or something similar) will make a big difference. You can pull the carbs and check the jets and screws and stuff as you take them apart. Then, if you need something, you can order it piece by piece, if you have to. It will take more time, but it will be less costly. And, in the end, you'll have a bike that you can ride for 20 or 30 miles, or more, without wondering how you'd get back home if it stops and won't start again...

Just my two cents. Trust me, though. A clean set of well tuned carbs is totally worth the wait. Then, you should be able to find someone locally who will be willing to help you tune and sync your carbs for best performance. The folks on this list are great and I have found them to be very helpful.

 

You can actually get a good deal on the carb kits here at partsnmore.com. Here's the link, https://www.partsnmore.com/cat_index.ph ... egory=carb

 

thanks a million guys pretty soon here ill go for it and take apart my carbs even though the thought still scares me a little. thank razz for the offer hopefully i wont have to take you up on that, also i have already taken the safety course so with that knowledge and some careful attention i should be moderately safe lol. once i get the carbs fixed up the first thing ill do is change the oil and filter because i took the cap off and i could smell a little gas in there. wish me luck guys, ill probably need it lol. im in minnesota by the way for those of you that were asking about a half hour north of minneapolis

 

so what should i be looking for in my carbs relating to my problem. would it be the floats that need to be adjusted or that the butterfly valves are sticking?

 

Where is your location Midnight?? Maybe someone close to you can help! I'm in the VA Beach area and got no probs ridin 100 miles in any direction. Cept east o.o
Thats the ocean

 

ok heres the deal i took off the carbs and opened removed the bowls and i started taking off the floats when i noticed some of the stuff looked beat up. some of the jets were stripped and the pins holding on the floats were bent and had burrs on the ends and big gashes along the sides, and i didnt notice until it was to late that two of those post things the pin goes through were badly cracked towards the base and when i tried to take the pin out that post thing broke off. so now im left with two carbs that i cant put floats back onto. what should my next step be? could i try to weld it back on even though welding aluminum sucks, or could i possibly get away with using JB weld. or would i have to get new carb bodies or better yet a whole new rack?

 

Man that hurts. I really think you will be better off getting a fresh rack. I just had to do that my self when i broke an easy out in the pilot mixture screw. They can be had on ebay, or even one of us. Just make sure you have all the jets the right size. But on the bright side, (I am a lemonade kinda guy) you can go over the rest of the bike with a fine tooth comb and work on it, clean it up polish it. And when your new rack comes in that big brown toy box, (UPS) your bike will look and run good. It wont be easy but you will get there. Keep us posted and we will get you on the road. Just don't give up.

 

Well, as far as the posts go, you could repair them. There were a couple of great pictorials posted a while ago that demonstrated how to do this using: a dove-tail joint add on, jb weld and one or two other methods, such as cutting the post off clean, drilling a small hole down into the body and then making an round post (easier than trying to make a square) that used a pin coming up from the body to join the two. A hole was drilled through the top of the new tower directly opposite the hole in the other side so that it was a perfect replacement other than being round rather than square.

Of much greater concern would be the damage to the jets and anything else. If the jet itself was stripped, then you could just replace the jets and move on - realizing that each jet is going to cost between $8 and $15 or so. At the same time, what if the holes they go into are stripped as well? Now your are looking at having to carefully drill out the old jets and retapping the holes for new ... Given the overall condition you imply, I would strongly recommend visiting eBay and getting your hands on a set there that looks pretty good, or ping the Buy,Sell Trade forum hear to see if anyone has one to sell: hint, search that forum for people parting out 650's ...

This way, you can ge relatively certain of having a good working set along with a decent amount of spare parts for down the road. Now, if you were *really* serious about this, you'd get a 2nd complete set that you could rebuild and have sitting on a shelf ready to put in the bike when it comes down to tear down this first set ... Less riding down time ... <grin>

 

k ive decided that for now im gona go with a lil bit of JB but i have one more question which may or may not be a stupid question but can you use mineral spirits instead of carb cleaner because i got a gallon jug of it sitting out in my garage v.s. having to go out n buy carb cleaner. sorry if that sounds cheap but again i have very low funds lol and most of my money is going towards gas for my damn car at the moment lol so im trying to fix parts instead of replacing them.

 

If you get everything religiously clean, JBWeld may work.

Mineral spirits won't dissolve old gasoline varnish, sorry. It just "bounces off." You can pick up a can of Berryman's B-12 Chemtool for less than $5. You don't want to submerge the carbs anyway.

 

As far as carb cleaner goes, brake cleaner works better - IF you are looking at the spray type to clean metal parts as opposed to a gas additive.

 

Midnight,

Since your local you should bring your carbs over and have me look at them so you can get going in the right direction. I also happen to have a spare set of bodys we could fix up for you if need be.

MN

 

Bravo Mn Maxims,,,, glad to find some one local for him.... Keep us posted.

 

Its kinda one of those things. I just don't like to see anyone struggle with this stuff. I've helped out several people in the area and it helps keep the XJ's alive and well. I see so many people with low mile bikes just get upset and part them out on E-bay.

I guess you could call me an XJ rescue shelter here. LOL


MN

 

lol thanks man, im hittin the home stretch now i got everything apart but i just ran out of carb cleaner again. how many cans do you guys usually go through? lol the insides of those carbs were dirty as hell, two of the "little" jets i couldnt get out because the tops were stripped and one of the float towers or whatever theyre called snapped off and another looked like it was crushed and cracked at the base of it. and you can tell just by looking at it that they were all out of sync. so the PO did a number on this bike, i was amazed it ran as long as well as it did. hopefully this is the extent of the problems though. is there a serious problem if the petcock is slowly dripping fuel? lol now its time to go to town and buy another can of cleaner and some jb weld to finish up the last bit of clean up and rebuild.

 

alright so last night i got the carbs all the way back together, and heres the best part, no spare parts! turned out the floats needed adjusting and all four carbs were outa sync, so took care of that and i put the carbs back on the bike after wrestling with the boots for what seemed like an hour and started her up and after a few idle adjustments shes runnin like new! aside from one thing.... lol while i had the tank off i noticed the petcock was slowly dripping fuel, not much, but some. also while i had everything apart i installed an inline fuel filter so i can see how much gas is goin through the line now andi noticed that it after a few minutes it was hardley pumpin out any fuel at all and this coulda been why it was quitin before, aside from dirty un adjusted carbs. would that be a petcock issue or a vaccum issue? what do you guys think?

 

does it continue to move fuel when the engine is off?
either way I would look at the diaphragm on the petcock

 

Most likely the petcock itself or the vacuum line quite often they develop an unnoticed split or crack.

 

Glad to see you did it your self. Me personally I like working on them as much as I do riding. That is until I break some thing while trying to work or adjust it. Like the time that I was trying to do a thorough cleaning on my carbs,tried to take out the pilot screw and it striped. Then when I tried to use an easy out on it it broke off in it. $250, one month later, and a new set of carbs, I was on the road again. But until then I had bike riding fever really bad.

 

alright so friday i finished up and changed the oil/filter and that in itself made it a miracle the bike ran. what came outa there looked like it hadn't been changed since it was new. imagine if you mixed tar with gasoline...... anyway i put some nice clean castrol 20w50 in there and a brand new filter as far as the petcock issue goes, i re adjusted the path of the fuel line to make sure there weren't any kind of kinks or anything and took the petcock apart and cleaned it then then took it for the best ride that bikes been on since ive owned it. after that though i went to my cabin for the weekend and when i came back i smelt gas in the garage again. i coulda cried.... i unhooked the gas hose from the tank because i figured it was a petcock issue and gas was just driblin outa there. i took it apart (again) cleaned it out (again) and nothin seemed wrong but i paid extra attention to the o-ring and it seemed ok but i heard that the springs go bad and that people put little washers in there to make it a little tighter but that didnt help either. what should i do from here?

 

order a petcock rebuild kit, they are cheap and a good piece of mind.
Btw I would only use motorcycle oil in the crankcase as car oils have too many anti-friction agents for a motorcycle.

 

yea hopefully tomorow ill order a rebuild kit for it and have that out of the way and hopefully with that it should be the end of my problems for now but if anything changes ill be right back here thanks a million guys