So close to starting...help it's driving me nuts!

Ok - well i let the carbs soak in Pinesol last night.

They are cleaner but I agree with RogersJ3 - they do seem to have a crusty white layer on them in places. I have blown out all passages with compressed air followed by more carb cleaner so I hope it's all good.

Here's a picture of what they looked like after 9 hours in Pinesol.


Anyway, it's Thanksgiving this weekend and I took today off work. Daughter is in daycare and wife is working so the day is all mine. It's perfect weather around 70 degrees...so I'm going to go riding on my "good bike" and will reassemble the carb tonight!!!


Thanks all for your advice - looking forward to showing you how wll this 1990 runs very soon.

 

I don't like this crusty white layer.

 

I reassembled the carb, adjusted the floats and put them back on the bike - no good news to share. In fact, it's not even attempting to start anymore - just a whole load of cranking and backfiring

Looks like I'm back to square one. I'm just hoping I didn't bugger-up the carb with the pinesol trick...I won't be doing that again.

Not exactly sure what to do next - will try again tomorrow I guess.

Today's ride was fun...330kms up to Collingwood and back. Perfect day - changing colours on the trees made it very picturesque. The picture below on the left is Blue Mountain..the closest ski hill in the area.

 

This is dangerous as all get-out, but you could try the ol' soak in a big tank of gasoline...won't hurt the rubber/plasticy bits since they're designed for gas anyway, but it should dissolve any condensate left over from the ill-advised pine-sol bath. Just make sure you keep it well ventilated and don't allow any sparks or smoke in the area.
:smokin: ---> :kaboom: ---> :flame: ---> :rip:

 

Now I hear all these odd things to dip your carbs in to clean them, but I don't really know why.

Is this stuff no good? Berryman/1 gal. B-9 carburetor and parts cleaner with basket (0996) | Carburetor Cleaner | AutoZone.com

If pinesol worked better than this tub of carb cleaner, then the carb cleaner would just be a tub of pinesol. Same goes for gasoline. This stuff works just fine for me.

Also, perhaps that filmy white residue is immediately clogging the pilot jet as soon as it mixes with fuel? I know the frustration your having, and if you were within driving distance I'd come to help. Nobody likes being where you are in the project and I feel for you.

 

AND what is that residue? In one of the carbs I had the bowl was full of it, and you could never get it to go away. My bike did not run right and I replaced that carb and it was all better. Is it the aluminum oxidizing?

(Don't flame me.)

 

Couple of points I would try to diagnose the no start
Take some carb cleaner or a shot of ether into the airbox and turn the bike over no throttle
If it starts you have a jet clogged on one of the carbs for sure
If no start but tries to start better check all of your vacuum lines for any breaks and also check your carb vent lines as well
Start there and then see where you stand before going deeper into ignition and other areas like cracked carb boots etc

 

Some good news to share at last. I pulled the plugs this morning and noticed that a couple were not sparking at the electrode...here's how it worked out...

[video=youtube;YbTZwDm9uR0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbTZwDm9uR0[/video]

Just double checking that all is good - Seafoam treatment

[video=youtube;A53YpPhKa9s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A53YpPhKa9s&playnext=1&videos=c-4ViWthXcY&feature=mfu_in_order[/video]

I can't help but think that I might have saved a whole bunch of carb maintenance if I had replaced the plugs earlier...guess I'll never know. Anyway, I'm sure I have the cleanest carbs in Canada (white crusty stuff aside) and I know my way through these carbs blindfolded now - so I'll be more confident on my next project!

Thanks to everyone for their ideas - really appreciated.

 

Get some!!!!

 

Updated: Sorry I tried . Glad it is working now.(don't flame me to)