reckon I'm close to tears here

[redxz550inoz]

sigh... as some of you may have read in an earlier thread I spent 4 weeks trying to find out why my baby wouldn't start only to find it was the battery!
In this four weeks I've replaced spark plugs/leads/caps, stripped down, cleaned and put back together (using new carb kits) the carbs, been over every connection I can find and given it close scrutinization and sprayed the heck out of them all with WD40, drained the tank, cleaned it out as best I could, refilled with clean fuel and an additive to break down any water(condensation) that might occur and flush any loose stuff through the carbs (if there was any left after the clean :) ), checked the YICS, found it to have a small leak so replaced it with one that tested fine, replaced ALL hoses that hadn't already been replaced, checked rubber boots above and below carbs.
After finding out my battery was cactus and having that replaced I put the carbs back in and vroooooom - no argument from her at all!!!!
I was thrilled to say the least.
So I set to tuning the carbs as best I can and what do you know, she's purring but still not quite right. Okay I think to myself, I HAVE had the carbs totally apart so they'll need synching.
I asked hubby to give me a hand to UNDO THE LOCKNUT ON THE SYNCH ROD as I just couldn't seem to get it loose despite copious amounts of WD40. He proceeds to undo the locknut AND starts winding the synch rod!!!!!!!! As space down there is at a premium I could not see how far or in which direction he was winding it. Since then I've managed to get it started a couple of times. Once I thought I had it right but when I took it for a test ride I was proven mistaken. On the way out she was beautiful! a slight stumble as I took off but apart from that fantastic. Had to turn her off while I ducked into a shop to grab something and she wasn't keen on starting when I came out. A little patience and she eventually started however when I opened the throttle, even a little she just stalled!!
She started again okay but I had to nurse her home and basically she hasn't started since.
(wishful) Thinking that it may be something as simple as the rev limiter I've cut this wire but still she won't start.
Is it possible my YICS has just sprung a leak suddenly??
What have I missed? (sorry it's such a long one, just don't know what to do now  :-[ )

[Extent]

Well if the sync rod was moved you've got to resynch it.  Chances are if he started turning the rod after loosening the lock nut he turned the rod the same direction.  get (or make) yourself a monometer and get the sync as close to perfect as you can make it.  If you can't get it started at all you could try backing the rod both directions (keep track so you can always return to where you started from) and see if you can get it started easier.  The sync rod is very sensitive, sometimes I find if you're lazy about tightening the locknut even just doing that can knock it slightly out, so I can only imagine how bad it must be if he decided to just spin it a couple of turns  :-/

[ozian]

If you want to build a manometer, it's been drawn & displayed in plenty of posts(TCI problems a few pages back for 1). or Lucky's site. After playing ,I found about 6m of 6mm plastic tube the best, with about 1m high board to mount the loop on.
The length sounds a bit long , but it gives you a bit of time to play if things are a long way out.I also found engine oil seems better than ATF(maybe our warmer climate)
Well anyway redxz, you have a big job on hands,training the kids,dog & hubby as well now

Ian

[Lucky]

If you can get it started enough to idle, then you can synq it. the home made manometer on my site (on the 'art' page) will do it. i've never used this one, but many here have said that if you hook it up & the synq is way off it'll suck the oil right out of it. a mercury manometer won't do that...

You can synq the carbs 'by eye' to get it close enough to idle. ?here's how:
pull the carbs & make sure they're empty of fuel. ?flip them over & look at the throttle plates underneath. they should be SLIGHTLY open, & open exactly the same amount. loosen the synq rod nut and try to get them as close as possable by eye. you may have to also play with the idle set screw (big thumbscrew) a little to allow both carbs to close the same amount. ?make tiny adjustments & look at them again. ?it helps if there is good light behind them when compairing the 2 sides.

this isn't hard to do & only requires a bit of patence. ?I found that after doing this on a few different carbs, I could get them close enough that they were only off in synq by a few inches (ok, cm to you guys :) )

You can solve this problem!!

--Lucky

[ozian]

Go to syncing carbs post on this page, it's all there
I should have had a look first before posting

Ian

[ozian]

Hey Lucky, we only changed to metric 35 years ago, & it's still a shermozel,anyway all building & construction is in metres & millimetres, the only thing you use cm for is dress making.

Ian

[redxz550inoz]

Hey, thanks guys!!
I have the gear to make the manometer just can't get the old girl started to do the synch  >:(
Lucky, thanks for your tip - taking carbs off and "eye synch" (should have thought of that myself  - doh!)
I've been out to see my horses late this afternoon so feeling a little less wound up about the whole thing - LOL
I'm pretty stubborn so I'm certainly not about to give up! Too many people to prove to that the V still has plenty of life left in her  ;D
 
ozian - hehe, any more post reading I reckon I'll get square eyes  8)

will keep ya'll posted

[silicon_toad2000]

do you have a filter between the fuel tank and the carbs. I was just thinking a little bit of crap may have found its way into your carbs.
If you are taking the carbs off to synch by eye, just take the idle mixture screw out and give it and the passage a quick squirt with carby cleaner.
If you dont have a filter you're local bike shop should have a generic small one you can use, I have one with a porous bronze filter it was about 10 bucks and small enough to be unobtrusive.

[redxz550inoz]

Hey guys

silicon_toad, can you believe it! I just seem to keep forgetting to get the darn fuel filter every time I go to the bike shop - LOL. Think I'd best make a special trip this afternoon.

Had the carbs off and synched by eye as best I could, rechecked float level with a more accurate tool (found them to be about 3mm out which would explain why she was running so rich I suppose) and adjusted them. gave em a quick squirt with carb cleaner for good measure too.
Problem NOT solved unfortunately. She turns over no problems, just doesn't catch. It's like she's about to but it just ain't happening  >:(
Am going to go over all electrical connections again and have a real good look at the wires again as well (just in case i've missed something there)
I think I might be looking too hard at the problem LOL. answer is probably staring me in the face. ah well ... if at first you don't succeed...

[wolfman]

Not to argue with Lucky but I may have an easier way...at least it worked for me when I was in a similiar spot, and does not require removing the carbs...
 
REMOVE the synch rod from both carbs. (Just slide off the circlips and slide the rod off the pivot pins)
 
COUNTING THE TURNS, turn the idle screw out until it is no longer in contact with the stop plate. (This will result in BOTH carb throttle plates being fully closed)  
 
Adjust the still removed synch rod until you can slide it back over the pivots WITHOUT EITHER of them moving.
 
Reinstall the synch rod and circlips.
 
Turn the idle screw back in the same number of turns you counted when turning it out.
 
This should be enough to get the bike to start and idle (mine did) you can then synch the carbs using the homemade manometer (thanks Lucky!) from Lucky's site.  
 
 

[silicon_toad2000]

any luck yet?

how'd you set the idle mixture screws?
is there definately fuel in the carbs, can you smell fuel from the exhaust when you're cranking it?
hows the battery? fully charged? how long does it last when you're cranking the bike over? dunno what everyone else thinks about it but you could piggyback a car battery (not in the car) onto your bike battery so you know you have plenty of ooomph.
got spark at both plugs? quick easy way to check (not fool proof though) is put a timing light pickup on each lead and see if the timing light flashes.
back to basics it spark fuel and timing, you timing wont be out so its only spark and fuel you need to check.
if you have synched it by eye then synch shouldn't be far enough out to stop it from starting.
lol if you cant figure it out, sit out with the bike and drink until really way out solutions seem logical and write them down to try when you're sober again. (not that aussies need and excuse to drink, but its good one)

[redxz550inoz]

okay, it's now 6pm and I'm still stumped!  ???
I have plenty of spark, battery is good/ fully charged (brand new) have checked over most of the electrical connectors (kinda ran out of light to check those inside the headlight). I did find that once again the stator connectors had melted/burnt so I'm not sure if that means anything or itf that's happened from turning her over for so long.
I have tried another TCI from the spare bike.
I've even opened up the ignition switch and cleaned up in there.
Hubby seemed to think she wasn't getting any fuel so I checked those hoses, blew air through them and put em back on. I opened up the drain holes on the bottom of the carbs enough to let me know if fuel was getting in there (petcock on Prime). Still no joy.
first thing tomorrow - after dropping of our youngest at daycare, it's off to the bike shop for fuel filter, then home to check headlight wiring.
I've got a couple of spare sets of carbs so I'm gonna give them a bit of a clean up and if need be try one of them and see what happens.
(and silicon_toad, I haven't even had my first drink yet  ;D)
should be interesting to see what I come up with after a couple of drinks - LOL (maybe she's pissed off the puppy chewed her seat and guard so had cracked the shits with me...)

till tomorrow

[redxz550inoz]

todays effort has produced no results. (only got few hours today, to my disgust)
swapped carbs out for a set that while they need a proper clean, I KNOW they run in the bike as I've had it running with them in before.
no change
changed all the fuses, just in case
no change
checked spark - again. excellent
checked charging system - all good
checked/ cleaned all wiring and connections inside headlight

she is still just turning and turning but not catching/firing/whatever!
it's like she's about to start but - no - just keeps turning
I'm not even getting any backfiring!
reckon I might have to try my leaky YICS again, just to see if I get anything different - LOL

Could a busted thermo/radiator fan fuse cause this?
how about worn brushes? (doh, too busy checking for oil in the starter, forgot to measure them)
I'm sure it's obvious, but I just can't see it!
the only sounds the starter turning and the 'poomf poomf' from the exhaust. no clunk or clatter that might indicate starter clutch bolts (was that right?)
 :( :(

Hubby and I are both stumped!

[ProfessorRex]

Focus on fuel and spark, if you can hear it turning over (poomf-poomf) then the onlything lacking is either fuel... or spark.  
How are you checking the spark?  
Have you tried a brand new set of plugs?  I know mine gets tempermental about plugs sometimes especially when it was out of sync.
Is there fuel in your carbs? (use the drain screw, see that it comes out of the overflows)
If you twist the throttle does fuel shoot out of the accel pump nozzle? (if yes then fuel is getting to the carbs and flowing past the needles, focus on spark)

I don't mean to offend by going over the basics, and most of the time when I'm stuck on my bike it's been something simple that I passed up because I "knew" that wasn't the problem.

-Rex

[QBS]

Remove air filter, squirt engine starting fluid(ether) down both carbs, crank engine.  If you've got spark, engine will run.

[redxz550inoz]

Thanks guys!

while trying to beg/borrow/steal a fitting to fit our compression tester, some silly bugger dropped one of my spark plugs, causing gap to be completely closed so new spark plugs are on my list (he tried to pry it open but got a bit heavy handed and broke it!)
Good news is Compression is AOK!! (big sigh of relief)
I'm off to find some Aerostart (ether) whatever you wanna call it  LOL (was another of hubbys ideas this morning as well)
Have been working like a trojan so far today so it's been a case of two minutes to spare, what can I test now  LOL (sometimes working for yourself really sucks!  ;D)

Fuel does not seem to be the problem. fuel definitely getting through (checked by releasing drain plugs slightly)
Opening throttle is shooting fuel through

so I guess now I focus on SPARK!!

sigh ... i think i can, i think i can, i think i can  LOL

(beautiful day today - perfick for riding. prob just as well she's not going coz I have to work)

til later

[MotorPlow]

Thanks guys!

Have been working like a trojan so far today so it's been a case of two minutes to spare,

There is a joke in there somewhere, isn't there?

[ozian]

Red XZ , dont use aerostart on anything petrol. It helps old diesels get going , but at a cost (to motor internals).If it wont fire on petrol, it wont fire on ether & if it does get a spark from somewhere , one of your heads might end up docking with the space station  :o  Bad move


Ian

[redxz550inoz]

WOO HOO   YIPPEE   WOOWOOWOOWOO  KALOO KALAY, O RAPTUROUS JOY  ;D ;D ;D

can you guess??  Yup, she's alive!! (me doing a little dance)

however, I think I overdid the whole WD40 thing  ::) managed to short out the signal fuse.
oops

still, she's alive, yippee and DAMN she sounds good!!
NO STUMBLE when I open the throttle! just VROOOOOOM!!!!!!!

still got the fine tuning to go and just as soon as I find that second clamp the fuel filter is going ON - ah. there it is.

the final thing I did was replace the spark plugs - even tho the others weren't that old, they didn't look too flash and lo and behold - ta daa!!
(that and stood threatening her with a can of aerostart - lucky we didn't use it from what ozian said. although, I reckon she'd just about launch herself without it at the moment  ;D ;D ;D)

There is nothing quite as satisfying as fixing the problem yourself - with ALOT of help which is just soooooooooooo appreciated.

thank you to EVERYONE   :-* :-* :-* (I am so glad I found this forum)
Now I can go terrorise the baby bikes  ;D

thanks again

Christie

[silicon_toad2000]

too cool, well done redxz well done!
now just go and find a few harleys to drag off