I really want to like my zxr400 but it let me down again

[justdan]

ok, here is story of the zxr400 life and my bad luck.

If you guys have seen my other post, I have been have the idle problem in the last few days and I thought it was nothing but cold weather and thing took a turn to worse today, so here in my zxr story in the last 48 hours.

Yesterday (Friday), everything seems fine, I started the bike it run ok but when I stopped for petrol (1/2 mile from my workplace) after filling it, the bike wouldn't start but luckily there's was a biker there and helped me to just start the bike so I though it was the battery as the bike have been sitting around for a year from the last owner when I got it, so I charged the battery at work, the oxmiser didn't show it was a faulty battery and 9 hours later it was fully charged and started the bike fine right on the button and rode home.

Today (Saturday), when I try to start it to go to work, it didn't want to start but after try it for about 10 times, it kicked into life, so I thought it was the battery again and planning to get through the weekend and get a new one on Monday but no, it wouldn't let me off so easily. after 3 or 4 miles either me stalled it or engine cut off itself but hit the button it started so I carried on. 2 mins later, I stuck in the traffic and same thing happen but this time it won't start and I have to abandon it and find my way to work with public transport and joy oh joy, 1 day that I needed the public transport, the tube line I needed closed, the bus that go to my workplace stuck in the traffic because of the road closures and terminated earlier so it wouldn't take me to work, so after 2 hours and 30 mins I arrived and as a result I was late for 1hr 45mins and I NEVER late for work and I hate it.

so, here is the problems I notice in the last few days with my zxr:

1. idle rmp goes up and down
2. temp level seems lower than usual at least this is what was on display
3. engine cut out
4. when riding i can smell petrol and it come from the left hand side of the bike but can't see any petrol leaking

Now the bike is in central London and I will join the AA and get it take it to the usual garage to check it out, I just hope it is not something big and cost a arm and a leg to fix it. I brought one last year and it was so bad that I sold it after 2 day in half the price I paid, but this one is beautiful, and I really like it and spend some extra money on it like a new alarm and I really don't want to sell it, I always want a zxr400 that's way I brought it again.

Why does it always rain on me? I really want to love you (zxr400) but why won't you let me.

A very very sad and troubled zxr400 owner

Any idea why the engine cut off and the smell of petrol on the left hand side?

Thanks for reading and hopefully it won't be my last post in the site as the owner

Cheers

[KwakKwak]

Check the fuel tap, fuel lines, fuel filter, in fact unless they are obviously btand spank, replace them, all LHS too.
Get the tank off and check for a pinhole leak.
Biggest clue, you say the bike sat for a year, clean the carbs properly, and balance, check the air filter, and the one people don't seem to bother with, the plugs. Check all the O rings and gaskets to the fuel system and airbox.
I wouldn't fook about if you can smell petrol, check the petrol tank breather too RHS, and in the tank.
Something I noticed after working on mine, one of the carb drains was leaking slightly, a little tweak of the screw sorted it, if you are getting a strong smell of go juice don't be riding it until you know why, what, where.

[ross46]

You say it cuts out, and won't start, in what way? I've had my bike, splutter, , rev it's nuts off, try to pull wheelies, lock the wheel and just nothing before it dies, what it does is a good indication of where the problem is likely to be. If it starts ing and spluttering but keeps going for a bit then I would say fuel system. Why was the previous owner selling it? Did he mention a problem? How confident are you with mechanics? Or just at following instructions, you could pay an arm and a leg to get it fixed by a garage when it could be something simple. As kwakkwak said, give everything a good clean and service, if its been sitting for a year it could just be old petrol has gummed up the carbs. There are plenty of guides on here on how to clean carbs, clean the tank etc so just spend a bit of time on her if she's been left for a year. Love her and she'll love you back

[justdan]

Ok, Got a recovery man to rescue my lonely bike today and he first thought was I was playing too much with the idle adjust knob and throttle when I try to get the bike to start and eventually flooded the engine, so he did his things and the bike came back to life but he said it didn't sound quite right but then again he hasn't got a 400, however, just as we thought everything is ok and I was ready to ride away then I saw a pool of petrol on the floor, so here we are.

There's a problem with the fuel pipe, a split or something and we both think it was the reason why the bike running too lean and the idle rmp dropped and everything else. So, it seems that it was THE problem that created all the little problems. I am taking it to the garage tomorrow to get it sorted and have a service done and hopefully it will bring the bike to live.

[noodleface]

petrol on the floor might mean that your floats are damaged (so running out of the overflows) and you are flooding one or more cylinders and generally running rich.

-nf

[ross46]

Noodleface is right, its a possibility, have a look to see where the petrol is coming from, the pipe goes from the petrol tap to the fuel pump through a filter then to the carbs, so check them pipes and then start the engine and see if its coming from them or the overflows

[Vaughn]

An auxiliary fuel tank would be handy for you right about now
http://bit.ly/1c3ogYo
Cheap enough and you can get rid of your fuel tank and run the bike and dig deeper under the fuel tank and airbox

While your at it find a bolt the same size as the hole on the petrol pipe that was attached to the carbs and fit it in the hole and secure with a hose clamp, you can then turn on your fuel tap and inspect the tank and pipe for leaks, just remember to turn the tap to off before you remove the bolt and expect some fuel to come out.
Don't forget to connect the fuel pipe afterwards lol
The other day I was tinkering with my 125 and I took the fuel pipe off to remove the battery.
When I put it back together I bolted the tank down without connecting the fuel pipe, when I turned the tap on fuel gushed out all over the place lol, lesson learned

[justdan]

took the bike to a garage to get it fix as I am not very good with the terms but I was told it was a problem with the carburetor seal or some kind as a result it over flowed and leak petrol. hopefully i can get the bike back in a few days

[noodleface]

aye, what i said

this is the part they will fit:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kawasaki-ZXR4 ... 53e9ba7b7c

we could have shown you how to fit it, its a 1hr job if you dont know what you are doing, 20 minutes if you've done it before.

-nf

[justdan]

yep, you guys went right.

Got the bike back too and it need a new set of float valve and valve seal for the carb, it was the reason why the idle rmp going up and down, cut out and smell of petrol and leaking.

[ross46]

on one cylinder if it was just the one float valve then that means it was letting too much fuel into the cylinder then overflowing. also if you were riding depending on throttle openings you would be running rich, normal and lean

[justdan]

You guys would simply not believe it! After get the fuel leak problem and a day later something else gone wrong again. And this time gonna be battery, alternator or rectifier.

So here the few things that I noticed before the bike packed up

Yesterday 28th when I start the bike to go to work it didn,t want to start but after hold the start button for about 10 seconds it start and rode to work without problem and when I finished work, It started on the button no issue. But I noticed the light on the rmp went bright and low and not necessarily when I gas it.

But the alarm went off twice when I parked it and beacsue I was living with other people so I disarmed when I woke up I arm it again and this time it didn't go off.

Today 29th, when I tried to start the bike to work, it wouldn't start but I can hear the bike were try to turn over and I got a guy to help me just started it and I can still see the light on the rmp reader go bright and low.

Then suddenly when I stopped at the traffics light the same set of light I was last week, the engine just cut out and when I hit the start button nothing happened, not ever the sound of the engine try to turn over.

I also try arm and disarm the alarm (meta 357tv2) and something strange happened, when I arm it, it has the usual 2 blips but when I unarmed it, instead of the usual 1 blips, it had 4 blips. Downloaded the alarm owner manual and it says "If the bike battery is in a low state of charge, when you disarm the system will emit 4 fast “bips” and the machines indicators will not flash" I parked the bike and went to work so I didn't check about the indicators but there was 4 blips for sure.

I can't believe I have to call AA Again, what should I do? Sell it and stopped wasting money to fix it or this could be the final problem then everything will be OK. I know I make a decision to buy an old bike but didn't expect that bad or unlucky.

Very very sad and disappointed owner. I really love the bike and when it run like it should it is a dream but at the moment it is a nightmare.

I hope it is a battery issue just to get a new battery rather than the other two otherwise will be expensive to fix it.

[ross46]

Have you got a multimeter? If you haven't its a good investment, I got a small Draper one for £15 and all its lacking is a diode tester, go through the owners manual and check the voltages, 12.7ish for battery, if less, put it on charge, you said it didn't do anything, have you checked the fuses? One on the left side under the rear panel, its on the starter solenoid under the red plug, just follow the +be battery lead, if not check the fusebox under the seat, if all the above checks out and it starts, put the multimeter on the battery, if its charging it should show 13.5-14.2v, if it isn't, check the alternator leads, multimeter to ac voltage and check all three leads, should show about 43v then get back to us. Recap;
-check battery voltage, under 12.7V- charge
-check all fuses if bike doesn't try to turn over
-check battery voltage with engine running (13.5-14.2V)
-check voltage of three yellow leads from alternator (43V AC Voltage)

Good luck!

[justdan]

Thank you so much for the reply and tips but the problem is I am no good at all with this kind of things, so I don't know if I can do it. I am going to end up at the garage again. I suppose they will be able to check and fix it, right? They are regular garage not Kawasaki dealer.

I am really stressed with the bike. It is like the last one I brought all over again. It just won't work. I start thinking I made a wrong decision to buy a 21 years old bike and my stubbornness of wanting a 400cc bike. After this fix I could have brought something more moden with less problem. I hate to feel this way as I really and always wanted a 400. I really don't know what to do any more, all it cut the loses or fix it and hope for the best? I really making me sick thinking all the money I wasted chasing a silly dream.

Sorry sounding so depressing, you guys is the only people will understand all my friends think I was stupid to bike it bike and so far I am proofing they are right.

Cheers guys

[KwakKwak]

Don't take this the wrong way, it's kind of pointless asking these questions if you're not fixing the bike yourself, if the bike is going to a mechanic ask him, no shame at all in not knowing how to fix it.
ZXR is defo worth the effort, but you do need to start learning how to keep them happy.
Not really a bike to be bought without someone who knows them giving it a once over.
Have you considered avoiding that set of traffic lights

Seriously, there is a junction near me at which mine always cuts out, I am considering avoidance tactics, or saying lovely things to the bike on final approach.