Reach in and cover the hole with your finger. Squirt the carb cleaner in the mix screw hole it should backflush into the pilot jet hole. Bowl off to see it happen.
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Please help...can't get bike to start after a long period in storage!!
- Thread starter Arnold111
- Start date
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- carburetors
Arnold111
XS650 Member
Weekendrider, I'm lost...when you say reach in and cover the hole with my finger, which hole should I cover? Also, when you say it will backflush into the pilot jet hole, is that the small hole in the bottom of the float bowl? Do I have to take out the pilot jet for this to happen?
You mentioned the fuel line being short, You have put on new fuel lines, right?
Arnold111
XS650 Member
gggGary, the fuel line is the stock one that came with the bike and measures 5.5" - it has a wire spring around it. I also have the stock petcock and the fuel outlet on it is pointed towards the center of the bike (i.e. towards the rear of the petcock). I am thinking that if I instal a fuel filter, I would like to be able to see it and also open it and clean it if it is dirty without having to remove the entire carb set. In the present setup, the fuel line comes out of the petcock and then curves downwards slighly and goes straight down to the T joint at the bottom of the carb. I realise that I could fit a small filter just above the T and below the butterfly bracket using the existing fuel line, but then I would easily be able to get to the filter. So, if I were to purchase a longer fuel line - say 12 inches - I could possibly route it towards the right side of the bike, instal a 90 degree filter somewhere there, and then connect the fuel line to the T at the bottom of the carb. I may have to cut the line a little to make it fit and eliminate kinks.
Is this at all feasible or am i just full of it???
Is this at all feasible or am i just full of it???
Cover the single hole in the throat that mix screws meters. It wouldn't hurt to cover all four to clear the passage. It is better if the jet is out.
That stock fuel line sheds little chunks of rubber that will endlessly fuggle your carb, replace it (brake lines too).
Your thinking on rerouting the fuel is OK.
The "T" pipe will swievel so it points down.
At nj's suggestion/tip I route mine on the outside but on the left so I don't have to fight it checking the oil..
Get rid of the old and get some ty-gon.
The "T" pipe will swievel so it points down.
At nj's suggestion/tip I route mine on the outside but on the left so I don't have to fight it checking the oil..
Get rid of the old and get some ty-gon.
Arnold111
XS650 Member
Sigh, sigh sigh...
I tried to turn out the fuel mixture screws to clean the passageways as per the directions above. The left side screw was 3 turns from the bottom (I turned it down to the bottom and counted how many turns), the right side screw was 1.5 turns from the bottom. I loosened the left screw completely but couldn't easily extract it. I don't have a probe or sharp device to pull it out, besides a watchmaker's screwdriver. Since I didn't want to damage the o-ring, I took the easy way out and turned them both back in to the bottom, and then backed them both out by 1.5 turns, which is the amount stated in the carb guide (hope I'm reading it correctly)....So, no, I didn't clean out the fuel screw passageways...
Do I get a time out for taking the easy way out and not following directions to clean out that passageway? Is this what's preventing the bike from starting?
I battled for hours again to get the carb set to fit back onto the manifolds - I pushed, pulled, tilted, lubed, wiggled, cursed - nothing worked. When I would get one side in, the other side would pop out slightly either at the top or bottom. I took off the carbs and studied the whole picture carefully and then discovered something - the left side manifold is straight and the right side manifold is angled. If I stand on the right side of the bike (actually sit on a stool on the right) with the carbs off and look at the manifolds at eye level, the left side manifold is completely straight and at 90 degrees to the cylinder head. This means that the left side carb will go in straight. However, the top of the right side manifold slants towards the front of the bike, it's offset by a good number of degrees. It's clearly visible. No wonder I couldn't get the two sides to line up. So what I had to do was insert the carbs in a kind of a "middle of the ground" manner - they are both in, but not pushed in to the very end. As a result, the carb set is not sitting completely level now. Is this normal? I wonder what is causing this? The manifolds look good. I cannot see why it would have been built this way, angled, but maybe there is an explanation from the gurus on this forum??
So, I tried starting it again, and nothing. I smelt gas, but the puppy ain't firing up.
Where do I go from here fellas? Are you guys having fun yet?
I tried to turn out the fuel mixture screws to clean the passageways as per the directions above. The left side screw was 3 turns from the bottom (I turned it down to the bottom and counted how many turns), the right side screw was 1.5 turns from the bottom. I loosened the left screw completely but couldn't easily extract it. I don't have a probe or sharp device to pull it out, besides a watchmaker's screwdriver. Since I didn't want to damage the o-ring, I took the easy way out and turned them both back in to the bottom, and then backed them both out by 1.5 turns, which is the amount stated in the carb guide (hope I'm reading it correctly)....So, no, I didn't clean out the fuel screw passageways...
Do I get a time out for taking the easy way out and not following directions to clean out that passageway? Is this what's preventing the bike from starting?
I battled for hours again to get the carb set to fit back onto the manifolds - I pushed, pulled, tilted, lubed, wiggled, cursed - nothing worked. When I would get one side in, the other side would pop out slightly either at the top or bottom. I took off the carbs and studied the whole picture carefully and then discovered something - the left side manifold is straight and the right side manifold is angled. If I stand on the right side of the bike (actually sit on a stool on the right) with the carbs off and look at the manifolds at eye level, the left side manifold is completely straight and at 90 degrees to the cylinder head. This means that the left side carb will go in straight. However, the top of the right side manifold slants towards the front of the bike, it's offset by a good number of degrees. It's clearly visible. No wonder I couldn't get the two sides to line up. So what I had to do was insert the carbs in a kind of a "middle of the ground" manner - they are both in, but not pushed in to the very end. As a result, the carb set is not sitting completely level now. Is this normal? I wonder what is causing this? The manifolds look good. I cannot see why it would have been built this way, angled, but maybe there is an explanation from the gurus on this forum??
So, I tried starting it again, and nothing. I smelt gas, but the puppy ain't firing up.
Where do I go from here fellas? Are you guys having fun yet?
pckopp
XS650 Addict
I have had good luck by heating the carb boots with a hair dryer and then light lube. Vaseline or even grease. Just a little! Warm and slippery seems to help.
Hey! We're talkin' motorcycles here!
Arnold111
XS650 Member
Pckopp, thank you for that advice...any comment about the one manifold being straight and the other being slightly angled? Do you have the same issue?
Different manifolds for different carb sets. Linked vs. individual.
+1 someone along the way put on a manifold that isn't angled. Do both manifolds have barbs? The thing is All manifolds that fit BS34's are angled. Straight type (all) BS38 manifolds are bigger and a BS34 will flop around in the hole. Who knows "what other bike" the oddball manifold could be from.
angus67
Welder's penetrate deeper!!
the straight one is probably a 38. that's why it kinda went in.
pckopp
XS650 Addict
Maybe it's time for Arnold to get the digital camera out and show us what he has.
Arnold111
XS650 Member
Ok guys, you're right. The "carburetor joint" as they call it online, or manifold as we call it, should both be angled - thanks again Gary and Angus. My left side is straight, so someone must have changed it somewhere along the line - I've had the bike since '92 and bought it with 6k on the clock from a Harley dealer, so I guess it happened before I got it, but yet it was running fine all the while we rode it....strange.
If you could have been a fly on the wall in my garage, you would have learnt some new words today as I was trying to get the carbs to fit.... I'm searching for a new manifold now and think I might have found one at a fairly reasonable price...
Do you think though that the angle of the manifold is what's preventing the bike from starting?
If you could have been a fly on the wall in my garage, you would have learnt some new words today as I was trying to get the carbs to fit.... I'm searching for a new manifold now and think I might have found one at a fairly reasonable price...
Do you think though that the angle of the manifold is what's preventing the bike from starting?
Arnold111
XS650 Member
Oh forgot, yes pckopp and Gary, I'll definitely take some photos and post them....
Hi Arnold,
as you have just proven to yourself, the easy way out usually isn't.
Get a time out? If you were mine you'd get a clip round the ear 'ole.
Gotta get them needles out.
Gotta squirt those 4 little holes and their associated passages squeaky clean.
Screw the needles all the way out of the threads.
Turn the carbs upside down and shake them out.
If they don't shake out, smack the carbs firmly onto the palm of your hand.
If that don't work, grab their heads with a pair of tweezers and pull.
Half the time the washers and o-rings will stay behind, occasionally the springs will, too.
Get a ~6" length of 16ga gas welding rod, pound and flatten the end over at 90º in a vise and grind the flattened end short enough to go down the hole to hook the washers and o-rings out.
Do all your carb work inside a large cafeteria tray so the tray's edges stop the little parts falling on the floor and disappearing.
And fix up the mixed manifold thing; it may not be causing the non-starting but it ain't helping.
Just a heads up - carb cleaner can and will destroy or damage o-rings. With all your cleaning attempts, the small amount of carb cleaner that probably made its way in around the mix screws could have done some bad things. If your manifolds haven't been changed since the early '90s (one even longer), you need a new pair. The ones from this seller are reported to be very good .....
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-80-84-X...RBS-/361289370037?hash=item541e8649b5&vxp=mtr
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-80-84-X...RBS-/361289370037?hash=item541e8649b5&vxp=mtr
Arnold111
XS650 Member
Thank you 5twins - you and fredintoon responded at a perfect time. I have ordered a new set of manifolds from the eBay seller you recommended. I am also going to clean out the mix screws. I'll keep you informed..
