Trying to get the bike running again

I have an maxim 550 that i am trying to get running again. Back when i took it apart i noticed the fuel lines were old and were not even the correct sizes or anything, so i wanted to replace them, i took them off and now i forgot which one goes where (yeah i know, stupid) so going from the tank to the engine, which line goes where? Right now i have the bigger line going down into the carbs, and the smaller one going to the port closest to the cylinder heads, sorry i cant describe it better, i will try get a pic posted up later once i go find my card reader. Anybody have a pic of their own of which line goes where?

 

The small one is the vacuum line for the petcock. It goes to the #3 intake boot.

Sounds like you have it right.

 

Sounds right to me.

 

I'll 3rd that

 

ok thanks for the quick responses. I wanted to get the lists of reasons why it wont start narrowed down. It always has been some what hard starting when sitting for more than a day or 2, but i have never checked the plugs, so i think once i get that other line back on (need to find the correct size) then i will pull the plugs and probably replace them while im at it.

 

line sizes should be 1/4" and 3/16"

 

You should get yourself a Manual.
There's a wonderful world of information in a Factory Service Manual.
People who possess the Workshop Manual develop a close relationship with their Bike and begin to treat it differently.

You can buy one from Yamaha.
It will comprise the Owners Manual and Servicing Instructions.

There is also a CD Set of all Yamaha Service Publications which have been Illegally Pirated and Published by Criminals, who have wholesale violated the Publishers International Copyrights.

 

You can also get the manual from Len at XJ4ever, our local oarts guru. PM him at Chacal.

Loren

 

Except on the 550s it goes to the #2 intake manifold.

 

I have the lines on and everything, bike still wont run, after pulling the plugs i first thought it was a fuel issue (might have been at first) but then the fuel filter was getting fuel through it. I checked the spark, all plugs sparked against the head, then i tryed to start it again, no luck, pulled the plugs and they now have gas on them, let the bike sit a little bit, tryed again and then it backfired loud as hell, i just let it sit after that, my hearing is just now starting to come back the rest of the way (and this was 2 hours ago). Any ideas of what to try next?

 

your getting gas if all 4 plugs are wet. your not getting spark. just becuase they spark on the outside don't mean they spark on the inside. 140 lbs of compression is a lot harder to spark then 12 lbs of atmospheric pressure on the outside of engine.

your getting spark. if it's consistent on the outside of engine. then new plugs should fix your problem. if you don't have a consistent spark. then it's probably plug caps, wires, or coils themselves. worse case would be the tci.

put a voltmeter on the coils. crank her over. you should see voltage shut off and on at the coils. that indicates the pickups are doing there job. course, your getting spark. so the pickups R working.

 

i replaced the plugs, thats not the issue, im wondering if my carb boots are messing me up here, they look pretty bad, and im betting one finally broke through. I have spark, and i have fuel....

 

If it backfires you have spark, plus you had spark when you checked.

Did you mix up the plug wires?

Have you checked the valves?

Otherwise it sounds like a massive vacuum leak OR just simply carb attention time. If the carbs need attention, the short answer is go big or go home. Shortcuts won't work, you'll need to pull them down and clean them right, and do all the adjustments, in order, to get them properly tuned again.

Sorry.

 

I dont believe i did...whats the order for them?
edit: found it, 1 and 4 on left (as the rider sits) and 2 and 3 on the right. Its got to be boots from the carbs, when i put the carbs back on one of them must have cracked through.

 

I think that if you have SPARK Outside ... you have SPARK!

I don't think PLUGS Fail to Spark unless they are FUEL or OIL Fouled.

The Compression Stroke causes the Volume of AIR & FUEL to become HEATED so that MORE ENERGY gets created when the PLUG Fires.

 

I have the 550 Seca which is basically the same motor, with the exception of the cams, I believe. The cylinders are numbered from left to right, 1-4, as you sit on the bike. Sounds like you may actually have your coil wires switched. PM Bigfitz. He knows all about these 550 motors. He was a big help to me.

 

also I make a habit of not relying on referring to or thinking of the coils and which plugs they go to as left or right or front or back or any of that. Check your wiring diagram since your bike may vary but on my 750 it's

common Red/White shared on both coils
Orange goes to the coil on plugs 1 & 4
Grey goes to the coil for plugs 2 & 3

since the coils are the same you could reverse BOTH which plug wires go to the coils AND which control wires go to the coils and it would be fine. Switch one but not the other and you end up with problems.

My plugs fail all the time because I habitually smack the numbers 1 and 4 plugs with the handle of my socket driver when pulling the inner (2&3) plugs. Cracks the porcelain and the magic smoke leaks out. Once I couldn't figure out why cylinder 4 was running like crap until I was riding at night, glanced down and saw spark going from near the cap directly to the cylinder.

 

it's not called air fuel becoming heated to create more enerygy.

it's called RESISTANCE.

140 pounds of compression inside a motor is basically 10 times more resistance then 12 pounds of atmospheric pressure on the outside of the motor. that's 10 times more air inside the motor then outside. once the air is compressed.

the more air that is compressed inside the engine. THE HIGHER THE RESISTANCE FACTOR IS FOR THAT PLUG TO CREATE SPARK.

spark plugs do FAIL. i've seen it time and time again.

those old motorcycles create about as much high voltage as the older cars that had points. maybe a little higher. but they most certainly don't create as high voltage as todays newer cars.

i have a 76 yamaha xt500 that is proof that spark plugs burn out. it won't ride more then 30 minutes. pull the plug out and there's always spark. but god damned if the thing won't run untill a new plug is installed.

here's a story from a CERTIFIED MECHANIC EXPLAINING HOW PLUGS BREAK DOWN UNDER A LOAD. engine idles fine. but misses under a load.

it's the bottom paragraph.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 550AAtiIfq

 

AND HERE'S ANOTHER LINK.

SECOND SECTION PERTAINING TO SPARK.

http://everything2.com/title/engine+problem+diagnosis

it pertains to low output voltage but still has the same theory. spark on outside but can't on the inside.

and i beleive motorcycles are considered low output.

 

The spark plug wires on all 4 of the 550 Secas I have owned have all had the number for the cylinder they go to right on the wire itself.

 

the ones in the left side of the bike as u sit are numbered as i recall, but other side is not. I think those are possibly switched around but the right side isn't. i havent had anymore time to mess with it, ive been preparing my house for moving in next weekend, been very busy between that and work.