Full Throttle on Starting (82 XJ650 Maxim)

check your spark plugs continued use of starter fluid will foul plugs

 

Spray carb cleaner around the intake boot for #3, and look for deep cracks that might be hidden.

 

All 4 intake boots are covered in some sort of black goop (some kind of rubber cement?), which is what I would assume was the PO's attempt to repair and seal them. God only knows what their actual condition is underneath all that stuff, so I am going to go ahead and order a new set of intake boots and just replace them. Better to just play it on the safe side then fuss with trying to make these worn out boots work again.

 

Probably RTV. It's what we used to fix them when you couldn't find replacements. If done properly they end up being as good as new.

I'd really suggest thoroughly cheking for vacuum leaks before replacing the boots.
The bolts can corrode, and tend to snap when removal is attempted.

If you do end up needing to replace the boots use plenty of penetrating oil (Not WD-40), like Kroil, PB Blaster, or a 50/50 mix of acetone and ATF. Get new gaskets too, and use Permatex copper spray-gasket dressing on both sides of the gaskets.

 

So how can I be completely sure they do not leak?

 

Slowly and methodically spray carb cleaner at them and listen for the engine speed to increase.
Be sure to spray near the base gaskets as well.

 

How am I supposed to listen to the engine speed increase if the bike won't start at all?

 

Sorry. I think I got confused about the status of your machine.
Table the search for a vacuum leak for now. Even with a fairly large leak the bike will still start and run (though with a runaway idle as you had before).

I'll give your situation some more thought before replying agian. It seems to me that there may be more than one issue to address in order to sort things, which complicates things a bit.

That she starts with carbcleaner is a good thing. We need to get her to start reliably with fuel.

 

I don't know what to do here. I am beyond frustrated with this thing.

So I decided to replace the intake manifold boots. I was very careful with the bolts and applied heavy PB Blaster.

I got 7 out of the 8 bolts out. As I had the 8th bolt halfway out, it snaps.

I was immediately angry, as of course it had to break on the very last one, but after I cooled off I went and bought an extractor.

Drilled the extractor in, and begun to back it out. It caught the bolt, and it just began to back the bolt out when guess what? The extractor head broke off in the bolt.

I am unsure where to go from here. Honestly this bike feels like it is haunted or something, as at every opportunity it seems to fight being fixed.

Idk. I feel like I'm just ranting because I'm mad. Any help would be appreciated.

 

You can try Alumn ( grocery store spice asile) get some modeling clay build a damn around the bolt mix alumn and water put a heat lamp on and wait for 24 hours. If you can wait and possibly waiting more than 24 hours if needed . The alumn will dissolve the steel and will not effect the aluminum .

 

the alum will dissolve the extractor enough for you to wiggle it out. you can also have a weld doen to extractor to give lever to remove it or go to a machine shop.

 

The most impotant thing I learned when I was repairing machinery all day was learning how to walk away before I made things worse.
The second most important was learning when I needed to employ the services of a specialist in order fix my mistakes.
Machines don't care about our egos.

The problem you have is fixable. Go slow. Get some more eyes on the problem if you need to.

 

Any tips on using the modeling clay? It seems like the Alum mixture just likes to slip right underneath any seal I make and gets everywhere

 

Prep the head by thoroughly cleaning and degreasing it.
If the problem persists, use Elmer's glue to help stick the clay to the head.