Poor Starting/Running

tottyscorer · Post by **tottyscorer** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 3:06 pm

Hi Guys,

Lets start from the top. I own a 02 zxr400 L9 a couple of weeks ago i went to get fuel i felt their was more than enough fuel in the tank to get me to the petrol station but flicked the tap to reserve anyway. Got to the fuel station filled it up flicked the tap back to on and set off. I must have gotten literally to the end of the main road when all of a sudden it lost all it's power it diden't cut out at first but i coulden't pull away from traffic lights, junctions eventually it did cut out and was a bitch to start. Luckily i wasen't far from my house but it still took 30 mins. In gear the bike woulden't exceed 2k rpm in neutral you really had to feather the throttle to get it to go above that. After speaking to various people they said it's "dirty fuel" which could have blocked the jets on the carb. Others say one of the spark plugs has gone down. I have since replaced the spark plugs which has made it slightly better to start but the majority of the fault is still their. I'm not sure where to go with it now guys i was going to drain the fuel tank and try fresh but i think their is an underlying problem here beyond that. I am of some use when it comes to working on the bike so any advice on what to do next would be ever so greatly appreciated. Neil. :smt013

RedexRobB · Post by **RedexRobB** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 5:33 pm

Welcome to the forum mate, sorry to hear ya bikes messing you about.

Id go with the dirty fuel theory. Crap and all sorts sit at the bottom of the tank and build up over time. If you run it on reserve some of that crap will invariably get into the carbs. There are filters inside the tank which are supposed to stop this but can sometimes be missing.

So,

get those carbs out, strip and clean with carb cleaner to get all the crap out and re-assemble. Then siphon your fuel out into a fuel can and leave a little bit in the bottom of the tank. Then turn the tap to reserve and allow it to drain out completely. Hopefully that will wash out any crap along with it. Might be worth just taking the fuel tap off from the tank and check if the filters are there or need cleaning.

Hope that helps

tottyscorer · Post by **tottyscorer** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 6:29 pm

Thanks for the reply. I have been tackling it further today and checked the the earth lead from the battery which looked good. I have checked to make sure the k&n air filter isn't blocked all good there. Everywhere i seem to look about carb removal/cleaning and re-fit seems involved and delicate if it is straight forward by all means i'll tackle it. I removed the fuel from the tank through the tap which flowed well their is still a bit in the tank. Would you be able to explain how i do that procedure and what to be careful off?. Again all assistance is appreciated. Neil.

PS NICE BIKE BY THE WAY.

RedexRobB · Post by **RedexRobB** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 8:37 pm

tottyscorer wrote:PS NICE BIKE BY THE WAY.

Cheers see more here http://www.bikepics.com/members/RobB/93zxr400/

Just run whats left in the tank with the tap on reserve. The idea is that any crap left on the tank will flow out of the tap

Once you've done that you might wanna think about fitting an in-line fuel filter just to catch any crap that might get in there again.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/motorcycle-scoote ... dZViewItem

Ive never done the carbs either actually, not on the ZXR anyhow. I did them on my XJR400 and that wasnt hard at all, once they were off all i did was take the float bowls off the bottom and wash the fine grit out that was on the bottom of the bowls and gave the jets a blow through. The carb cleaner will probably squirt out like a fine jet anyway so you can get to the nooks and cranny's without stripping them completely.

Theres the manual here http://www.zxrworld.co.uk/zxr400/manual.html if you have any problems. Doesnt show how to do a strip and clean but if you get stuck with what goes where theres a handy reference for you

Post by **cargo** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 12:30 am

You should already have an inline fuel filter zxr400s have one as standard. It's between the tap and the fuel pump.

There is an other filter inside the tank on each of the fuel outlets. (inside the tank) Emptying the tank through the tap will not clean out the tank as any crap will get caught in the filters inside.

Post by **zimm** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 12:48 am

sounds to me like water in the fuel rather than material crap.. this can get sucked up into the jets and thanks to surface tension just sits there preventing fuel being pulled up, so you end up running on the pilot jets..

the good news is that you dont need the carbs off or apart to remedy this, take the tank off (but leave it connected, just swivel it out of the way and balance it over the battery/subframe) look at the bottom of the carbs and you'll find the drain plugs, usually an allen bolt shrouded in a little plastic cone shaped collar, undo these, let the fuel drain out of the carbs, then switch the fuel tap on, and turn the bike over for a few secs (disconnect the spark plugs, you dont want the bike to start - you can leave them on, but switch the engine off after 2-3 secs if it catches) whilst doing this more fuel will piss out.. nip up the drain plugs and re-assemble.. job done ..

if not, then its carbs off time, take em off, turn em upside down, remove the float bowls (be careful with the screws they are made of cheese), clean up whatever you find, and off you go.

tottyscorer · Post by **tottyscorer** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 4:29 pm

Thanks for all your help fellas. I gave the carbs a good soaking with cleaner and rebuilt using fresh fuel and hey presto seems to have done the trick. Again thanks for your help. Neil.

Gemini · Post by **Gemini** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 4:45 pm

seems strange for such a new bike to have crap at bottom of tank, but there again it only takes a tiny bit of toad to clog a jet

gem

Post by **cargo** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 5:34 am

No matter how new the bike it's very easy to fill it with crap/water in the fuel and not know

Post by **zimm** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 11:51 am

yeh, ive had water in the carbs twice thanks to the breather on my tank getting blocked, it rains, i run out of fuel, open the petrol cap and all the water that couldnt drain and was sitting around the cap goes sploosh into the tank ..

sux ..