Prime is not shut off! DOH!!!

Hi Everyone-

So I just got my clymers book and stayed up all nite reading it. Thanks to this site and the book, I know far more about engines than I knew 5 days ago. So in MSF they say to shut the fuel off using the petcock when not in use. When I first got the bike, I saw RES, ON and automatically assumed that the third setting was off. I read a previous thread and clymers and there is no OFF but PRIME. Everytime I park the bike I would switch it to PRIME. BTW, did I mention that the bike wont start. It cranks though. So I went to the store last nite and the guy at the shop recommended I should drain the float bowls. Before I did that I went and checked the spark plugs. It was caked with dry black soot. Clymers said this was a result of too rich a mixture. I changed the plugs and tried to restart. It cranks and thats about it. I also checked that there is compression --I can't hold my finger over each of the four plug holes when I try to crank. So I went ahead and drained SOME of the gas in float bowls. Here are my questions for the XJ-brain:

1) Roughly how much gas are in the float bowls? Should I completely drain it out? If I drain I assume I have to start with the petcock on prime.

2) Is there anyway to adjust all four floats without having to remove the whole carb from the frame?

3) Should I be doing any other troubleshooting technique that I should try?

4) Is there any place where I can replace the diaphragm cover without buying the whole carb rebuild kit? Its rusted a bit.

Thanks and great site. As frustrating as this is I am really enjoying reading everyone's posts and working on this bike. As soon as I get it working I will appreciate all this work and be a better rider for it.

SECA550_SF

 

1. Each carb should have the same amount of gas. That gas level should be about 2mm - 3mm below where the carb bowl meets the upper carb assembly.

2. There is no easy way to adjust the floats with the carbs on the bike. Well, that I have found anyway.

3. Putting your finger over the spark plug holes is not a good way to tell if you have good compression. You need to test it with a compression tester and see if it is within the range specified in the manual.

4. E-Pay (EBay) is a good source or local motorcycle salvage yards. The top chrome covers do NOT come with a carb re-build kit.

Hope this helps!

 

SECA550_SF, I called my buddy out in San Leandro yesterday and all of his numbers are messed up. I was unsuccessful in getting in touch with him. I'm sorry, I'll keep trying. As for your questions:
#1. About a quarter cup of gas should be in each bowl.
#2. No. There is nothing else to do but pull the bank.
#3. You need to do a compression test. Hit Harbor Freight for a cheap one, it will do just fine for your purposes (around $10). Once you have eliminated lack of compression, you've already determined you have spark, all that is left is the fuel/air system, narrowing down the field.
#4. You could go the expensive route and send them out to be re-chromed but it is pricey. Alternative is to clean them up and paint them. FleaBay is another source as are wrecking yards, but it's hit and miss there.
Good luck.

 

just to follow up. I drained the float bowls and the bike started up just fine. So I let it run for about five minutes and it was running fine,with the choke fully open to 1/2 open. i was playing around with the fuel/air mix because it would die if i closed the choke.. thinking i will have it carb sync after I attempt to clean the carb. After I shut it down, it wouldn't restart again however it still cranked. I drained the float bowls and it started again. I left the petcock on ON the whole time!!!! I'm gonna check if I have that leaky petcock problem. I will also check to see if I have those floats stuck when I attempt to clean the carbs. Thanks bluemaxim for the cleaning guide. One thing that I noted was that not all the float bowls had the same amount of gas. When i drained bowl 1, it had dribbles. Bowl 2, seemed like it didnt have any gas at all. Bowl 3 ( the screw was stripped so I have to figure out a way to remove it and replace-- can i just use a screw that is similar? does it have to be a certain material since its for the engine). Bowl 1 had probably a qt. cup +/-. I also checked the plugs after I had it run for 5 minutes. All the brand new plugs were caked in black except plug 3. I checked that plug 3 had a spark (by putting against the engine block). I felt the 4 exhaust valves and they were all extremely hot- I assumed all 4 cylinders were firing. Maybe the plugs were black because i ran it with choke fully open. Still does not explain plug 3, right? Perhaps I put too much oil (still not an explanation for plug 3). Are the 1,2,4 pistons mishaped? If they are, is the bike still runnable? I'll follow up again after the carb clean.

 

Well a choke is around to creat a fuel rich mixture so I'm not suprised in your blackened plugs. It has been quite a while since I had to futz with the carb drains screws so I'm not going to guess if they are tapered on the end or use a gasket to seal. If you got it running, odds are good you've simply got some carburation issues to iron out. It sounds like a good sync (as opposed to a bad sync, which is bad, very bad) is in order. Have you tried to set a rough adjustment with a 0.020 gap on the bottom of the butterfly valves? That should ballpark you into running well enough to get to the syncronizing. I wish I could offer more advice but I'm not a 550 dude. I'm still trying to raise my buddy, my wife had his number and left a message last night. We'll see...