Starting problems.....

So I installed the carbs after cleaning them to try and fire the bike up, but still had no luck. No gaskets were leaking or anything, but when the petcock was on "pri" there was no fuel dripping from the air filter part of the carbs. However, when it was put on "res" fuel was dripping from carbs 1-3 but not four. When I was cranking the bike the first three carbs were sucking pretty hard but the fourth was not. Also, when I put the key in and turned it "on" everything lit up like it should but as soon as I pushed the start button the headlight went dim and nothing happened at all. Once I let off of the button the headlight turned back on. So to turn the bike over I just used an old screwdriver to complete the circuit and the starter was turning over nicely but the bike didn't want to crank by any means. Any possible reasons why this all happened and how to fix them?

 

Weak battery-bad ground.
Rig up a temporary fuel tank, so you are sure of the fuel supply, deal with the pet cock later.
Check the fuses, if you have the original box, change it for the blade type.

 

Fuel dripping from where on the carbs?
If the floats are correctly wet set then no fuel should be dripping from anywhere unless you open the bowl drain.
You are going to have to remove the carbs and dry set then wet set the floats so they function correctly if they are overflowing.
When you cleaned the carbs did you replace the throttle shaft and fuel rail seals? That could be part of your starting and fuel leaking problem. Air is possibly being sucked in and it is preventing the bike from starting from the shaft seals. If you didn't replace them you might as well do it now, because you will have to do it soon anyway.
The battery must be fully charged on these bikes to turn over the motor and provide enough energy to fire off the coils. Repeated attempts at starting only makes it worse. While you are working on the carbs put the battery on a trickle charger and bring it up to 100%.
Hope this helps..

 

If fuel is dripping from the carbs you need to pull them back off and fix or properly WET SET the float levels.

Have you checked and adjusted your valve clearances yet?

Done a compression test?

It sounds to me like you're getting way ahead of yourself. Plus you have a weak battery.

 

I'd agree with Fitz, youre getting ahead of yourself in excitement to hear it run. EDIT-: just reread it, NO fuel from airbox ...

What has been done to carbs? Church clean? Clunk Test? New throttle shaft seals? Fuel rail seals? Pilot screw o-rings & base setting? Wet set? Bench sync? Best get them pulled off & double check all the above.

Also to test your petrooster, fuel should flow all the time on PRI (as long as there's enough in there) and only flow with vacuum applied in RES and ON.

Then when the carbs are church clean, properly set up & behaving themselves we can attend to potential electrical issues like bad earths/battery charge levels/safety circuits etc that may occur

 

The battery is brand new and was put on a trickle charge before I attempted to start the bike so I don't think the battery is the issue. Probably a bad ground somewhere like wizard said. I haven't replaced any of the o rings or seals yet but I cleaned the crap out of those puppies before I put them back on. I did a clunk test which turned out great except carb 3 was a little hesitant so I guess I will pull them off again (after spending forever trying to put them on!) and clean once more and see where that gets me...

 

Cleaning them will do no good if A: any of the seals are shot; or B: you don't properly wet-set the float levels.

The float levels are critical to getting the carbs set up correctly. http://www.xj4ever.com/setting%20fuel%20levels.pdf

 

The seals, if original, are over 30 years old. Time alone will degrade them. I understand by your post that you have removed the individual carbs from the rack and removed all the butterflies from them in order to clean the seals. Another item that needs precision attention is that there is no light shining around the butterflies when you reinstall them. They have a slight elongated holes in order to wiggle adjust them to set them correctly. Since you also have to have pulled the fuel rails apart, those seals are probably what is leaking. My suggestion is to order throttle shaft seals and fuel rail seals along with silicone grease for reassembly and be precise on the reassemble. Do a real good bench sync, then dry set the floats and then wet set. You can not dial in the bike with valve clearances out of spec. Member Hogfiddes runs a shim exchange which only costs postage. Once you have the valves done, the bike running and idling, then you can do a running vacuum sync and a final colortune of the a/f mixture. By passing or skipping any of the steps is very much like hitting the "go to jail" card on Monopoly. The bike won't operate correctly unless you pretty much do it all...in order.. Just some friendly advice from somebody who has been "there."
hope this helps...

 

I appreciate it Bruce. I am getting a little ahead of myself like some members have stated...I'm just ready to hear her finally run!

 

It's easily done as you say, the desire to hear the bike running only grows with time I know the feeling only too well! But yeah, like bruce mentioned its like going
"directly to jail" without "passing go" if anything is skipped, except in monopoly you don't have to wrestle the carbs off again :?

We live and learn, as long as the carbs are "church clean" including the enrichment well in the float bowls themselves, and you replace all the old shrunk seals/O-rings before getting a good wet-set & bench sync then the carb side of things should be sorted.

The water head models I believe are EVEN more sensitive to correct fuelling than the air cooled bikes (which are already nit-picky enough about their carbs being right) so try to put starting the engine out of your head until you know you've got the carbs as-new. Also I do advise you definitely check/set the valve clearances now too since the running sync will be affected by any out of spec not to mention the other issues they can cause. Doing things that way will mean that when you do get the motor all buttoned up & carbs fitted you'll KNOW there's no fuelling issues and can move onto electrical

 

Your welcome! We all get the itch to hear them rev, it comes in due time I assure you. The more enjoyable thing is to hear it running like it is suppose to and not like a piece of cow dung bouncing off a fan. Recommissioning these older bikes takes time and patience, but once done you will get years and years of pleasure with just required maintenance. Have fun, take pictures and keep a note book. You will be surprised how that becomes a valuable tool in your box, much less something to look back upon and go "oh yea, I remember that."..

Also, as a fyi, I was told that your bike is much different from most as your valve shim exchange requires removing the cams and that Hogfiddles doesn't have shims to fit your bike. My bike is a XJ650J and I was basing most of my knowledge on what I have learned from working on my bike....make sure you research all procedures to your specific bike before attempting any work....