Carbs or electrical? one cylinder firing only

[remmy1101]

I've been fighting this problem everyday after work for a week now! please help
First a little about this bike its a 81 so its electronic ignition. I got the bike to spit and kind of idle when i first picked it up so I figured it was ok time to choppy chop chop
I followed this diagram

http://i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae54/inxs-de/wiring/xs650.jpg

and got the bike to spit sputter and kinda idle again so i cleaned the carbs and got a idle .. .or atleast i thought
only the right side was firing and the left exhaust was cold. I switched the plugs then the wires didn't help.
so I tried the other carb on that cylinder and boom! it was firing and holding a idle.
so I must have missed something in the carbs? nope I cleand them 4 more times to no avail. I checked the diaphragm no cracks or holes but it felt a little easier to push up then the other side so i put some RTV silicon around the seat and tried again. Now that cylinder is firing and not the other!
so it seems to be one or the other... spark is still good in my non firing cylinder and if i blow a little starter fluid in it fires it.
Anyone have this happen before?

 

[5twins]

Did you blow carb cleaner through with compressed air from the pilot jet mounting hole (jet removed) and verify that it was coming out these 4 holes? If not, then your pilot circuit is probably still plugged on that carb.

 

[gggGary]

Have you checked your alternator brushes? How about putting on jumpers to a (NOT RUNNING) car tractor or truck. See if more juice cures your ails. Will it rev or just idle?

 

[remmy1101]

The pilot circuits are clean. Like i said that carb and cylinder is now suddenly working and the other one is not firing. I have been using a car battery to start and run the bike since I have not purchased a battery for the bike as of yet

 

[gggGary]

That swapping sides thing sure makes it sound electrical. I would be tempted to put twelve volts straight to the coil, poor contacts wire connections may be dropping voltage to the coil.

 

[remmy1101]

baHA! the reason it started firing on the previously dead cylinder is because I must have swapped float bowls somehow.... the carb with the clean float bowl would fire because I'm guessing something got clogged in the float bowl passage way after i cleaned the carbs and since I had not re-cleaned the float bowl passage ways after the first time I cleaned the carbs i never fixed the problem.
The only reason I noticed this is because one float bowl i had to scrub clean and it left scrub marks in the bottom the other bowl although not shinny was clean enough to reuse and since I was in and out of the carbs so much in the last week i knew i had somehow swapped them because it was not the bowl i was use to seeing while tearing down the carbs again and again if that makes any sense.
problem solved both cylinders fire... now I can continue the tear down

 

[joe-wiseguy]

good deal. before you found that out i was going to suggest vacuum leak if you swapped the carbs and the one side still didnt fire...