help me before i lose my mind

8O
Alright guys i need some help. i've been working on my xj700 maxim pretty much sense i bought it. right now when i go to slow down down shift or come to a stop it will just die on me unless i keep giving it gas its like pulling in the clutch and slowing down kills all my power. and on initial start up it takes a good bit of throttle to start. stupid question i'm sure but a black spark plug usually means too high of a gas mixture right? any help at all will be appreciated thanks guys.

 

I had something pretty close happen due to low carb float fuel levels. Wet-setting fixed the issue.

Might be worth a try if you haven't done that already:

http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=42604.html

Black plug usually means too rich fuel mixture.

 

Do you have one, or more than one black plug? Might be an issue with an ignition coil, coil wire, spark plug cap, or plug? Could also be over-rich from a carb issue.

Is your bike air or water-cooled?

 

all 4 plugs were black last time i had to check. its air cooled. yea my ignition coils are not in the best of shape i've had to do my best to make them work and make the best contact. the only replacements i can find are used look like crap and usually only sold separate.

 

Yeah, hard to find good used coils, as most are not in the best of condition.

Unfortunately, it'll be hard to provide a quick answer to your troubles.
So you'll have to go through the basics, and get your ignition working properly. If all the components are original, I would start with a new set of plugs and plug caps. Because if your coils are firing, you may just have too much resistance in the caps (they get corroded internally).

Have you rebuilt the carbs? Wet setting the float height is very important and if the fuel level is too high you could be creating an over-rich condition.

Also, is your air-box clean (no debris from rodents), and do you have a clean filter?

 

i'm trying to find new cables for the coils i found a website thats promising but i've been let down on just about everything i've done on this bike. i didn't really rebuild the carbs just took the bottoms off cleaned the hell out of them adjusted the float height (still not 100% sure what wet setting is) i turned the carbs over and flat and measured them to 15mm i think it was. they are brand new spark plugs i just keep having to keep cleaning them then it starts up fine. when it is sitting it will idle at 1k/rmps it takes awhile to get there but after it warms up it will idle fine. it's just after i start riding as soon as i go to slow down or stop as soon as i pull the clutch in the rpms crash.

 

take a look at the choke plungers, make sure they close all the way

 

yea choke closes all the way.

 

No wonder you're having problems. Wet-setting is adjusting carb float height using fuel (aka wet) and clear piping.

What you did is dry-setting and is not accurate since you need to make sure the level is correct when the bowls fill with fuel.

Here's a guide, xj700 specs at the end: http://www.xj4ever.com/setting%20fuel%20levels.pdf

 

Trouble finding parts? Loook no further. Pm len today, he will advise you what you need

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=14561.html

 

help me before i lose my mind.
To late lol.
You will get it figured out with the help of everyone on here just don't let it get the best of you

 

nice thanks sektorgaz i've been looking for a site like that to explain it to me. i'll have to go buy me a tube and see what i can do.

 

if your looking for a tube to do wet setting you can use the hose that came with your battery, if you recently bought a new battery. or a small section of fish tank air tubing as well. and you can build a cheap carb stand to help with the wet setting, like i did here... http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=4 ... rt=15.html

 

yea somehow i misplaced the battery acid that came with the battery along with the tube. i have been racking my brain for 2 days. no clue but i'll figure something out. thanks guys

 

you can buy a container of battery acid at Sears.....cheap like $10 or so....beats buying a new battery if it will hold a charge.....

 

how long has it been since the carbs have been fully serviced? Also, look at upgrading to Dyna Coils. There has been a lot of coil failure related issues recently. These things are past their useful life.

 

oh yea, you can buy it at autozone for the same. my batteries fine i just misplaced the one already bought. had a little bit left and i thought i stored it may have given it away not sure.

 

"fully serviced" probably never i dont have 200 bucks to let somebody clean them or even 100 bucks for a whole new kit. yea i looked at those high performance coil packs would like to buy them but their just out of my price range. for the coils i will just have to buy some spark plug wires and convert them over.

 

hmm alright guys i took the carbs off made sure they were level, and i was gonna drain the fuel that was in the carbs already so i hooked up the hose i had a 2ft clear hose. hooked it up to the bowl unscrewed it and after a minute the hose was full i marked the hose way down lower wasn't sure were to mark it just used best judgement but i thought maybe one bowl cleared out the bowl beside it, but checked it and it filled up the entire hose as well. any thoughts or comments on this? i've never wet setted carbs before so any suggestions would be great.

 

Follow the instructions in the posted PDF. No guess work required.