XJ700 will not start after winter (not accu issue)

Hi all,

As in the topic, my XJ700S (1986 model, build year 1985) will not start.

To give some background - it has a fairly new accu and that is not the issue. It is cranking and makes quite "healthy" starting noise, but the engine will not start.

To provide some background and history (I am a newbie, so please consider this when reading below):
- The bike worked well last summer, last time I rode it was in October and it was working well
- I left the bike for winter (Netherlands, it does not get below freezing often, never lower than -5 Celsius)
- It was filled in with 95 Benzine containing up to 10% bio-ethanol (I know, it is an issue...)
- I left the fuel valve on Priming (yes, a mistake too)

Based on my reading so far, it might be an issue with ethanol clogging the fuel hose and/or the carburateurs. The electrics in the bike worked well before winter and I doubt it should be the cause of the problem.

Any advice on how to proceed?

 

It would appear that you are going to learn how to remove and clean carburetors. And change the oil and filter. There is a thread here called the Church of Clean that you can search for that will explain what you will need to do to your carburetors. The oil change because the gasoline will have over flowed from the carburetors through the open valves (some of them are open all the time) and into the crankcase contaminating and diluting the oil. None of the needed work is terribly difficult but it is fairly specific as to what needs to be done. Almost all of us here have done it at some time. Welcome to the forum, all the help you will need to get your XJ up and running.

 

http://www.xjbikes.com/forums/threads/the-secret-life-of-carburetors.14751/

Also, if you go to the XJ4EVER link in the upper right corner of this page you will find a tremendous amount of information on our bikes as well as Chacal's catalog of parts. Good Luck

 

Hi Fuller 56,
Thank you for your reply! Been a while since I received such a friendly answer at any forum

I will review the linked information and provide a progress update when I find time go get to the dirty part of the work. Thanks again!

 

Since it hasn't been sitting too long you might try draining the fuel tank and carburetor bowls (fingers crossed the screws aren't seized) then add fresh fuel with some sort of cleaning additive. Squirt a little fuel or starting spray into the airbox and give it a go.

 

If you try draining the tank and carbs, I would suggest that when you refill with fresh gas that you let some of it drain through the carbs just to be sure to get any bad gas out of the carbs and fuel lines. Ethanol has a tendency to absorb moisture so you probably have some water in the system. That's one of the main reasons why boats use non-ethanol gas.

 

Welcome to the forum . When ever my bike is off the road for winter , I fill tank up and add a 50/50 mix of Stabil and Marvel Mystrery oil usually 16ounces , I run this till i can smell the oil in the exhaust and shut it down . One thing you can try is to pull the tank , use a large syringe fill it with acetone and Marvel squirt it down the fuel line , it may take several application , till the float bowls are full. Let this sit for an hour or so , next drain the float bowls into a container. Close drain screws reinstall your tank open petcock to the on position, wait a few minutes till bowls refill, now put choke to full on position and see if bike will start.

 

It’s always a good plan to store with no alcohol gas. If not available then try to find a product for stabilizing the gas over winter. In America we use Stabil or similar. You could try to find a product called SeaFoam. Add it to the gas in the tank and crank the motor for a few seconds. Let it sit for a couple days and try to start it again. The run/stop button is in the on position I assume.