'89 DOHC running issues, bad starter

[willem]

Do any of you also experience the carbs 'not exactly fitting', in the sense that when you mount them tightly against the engine side rubbers, they don't quite reach into the airfilter housing rubbers?

my carbs actually flowed over and there was gasoline leaking out the connection to the air intake rubbers..

 

[willem]

One more small question:

When dismounting my carbs I loosened the air filter box, basically two bolts at the top and one on the right hand side. The nut from one on the right hand side, (just below the battery) fell into the air filter box! Last time I took off the carbs it stayed in place and I could just screw the bolt back on, no problem. But now it fell in (I guess I'm not supposed to loosen this bolt). What do I do? Do I have to take off the entire air filter box in order to take it out?

 

[16VGTIDave]

Sounds like the floats may be set too high. The manual has detailed instructions for testing.

The airbox boots are a real pain to get re-installed. They are the reason I switched to pod filters.

Can you see the nut inside the airbox? It is welded to a long metal bracket that adds strength to the airbox to support the battery. It is required! You may be able to use a magnet on a stick to hold it in place and get the bolt started.

 

[willem]

What kind of pod filters do you use? And did you have to change your jets for those? I'm thinking about changing my airbox as well, both for looks and practicality.

 

[bentwrench]

Carb boots - mine fit poorly too, before I removed my air box.

Dropped bolts - if you can't see it, can't hear it, you may need to remove the box. Magnets can help too, sometimes.

Pod filters - yes, you will likely need to change the jets. MikesXS has cheap prices to pick up a selection, and then tune. Tuning jets isn't hard, it just takes time, testing, and a wide selection of jets. When I removed my air box, I went up 4 or 5 sizes on my mains...

 

[willem]

OK clear.

I'll have to look for a european supplier since MikesXS is a bit far away, although might have to resort to overseas shipping.

But perhaps I should try to get my XS running smoothly with the current setup first, before adding complications like carb tuning

 

[bentwrench]

Now that's wise.

 

[willem]

Well, been working on it again. Found out I put my float needles in upside down so the overflowing issue is resolved.

However, cleaning my carbs has resulted in electrical issues

my starter motor won't turn the engine around. My model ('89 DOHC) doesn't have a kickstarter, so I had to try to push it on. Didn't work either. This is what I checked:

- Spark plugs do seem to get a bit of gas (slightly damp with petrol)
- There's petrol in the tank, and it gets to the carbs
- Lights work
- killswitch is not engaged
- Engine is in neutral
- Sidestand is up (center stand too)
- When I press the ignition button, there is a slight buzzing sound, as if it is trying to work
- Battery is new (5 weeks old) and full, just charged it with my new CTEK MXS 5.0 charger
- Spark plugs are new and worked two weeks ago

Any ideas? I've checked optically for any wires hanging loose, but I don't own a little electricity measuring device (whats the word?), going to get one today. Anyone with similar issues? Where should I start looking?

Thanks!

 

[16VGTIDave]

Is the buzzing sound coming from the starter motor, from under the seat, or beside the battery?

I'd suggest touching everything on the bike that you touched since it was last running. Literally touch the parts. You may find something loose or not even connected.

 

[willem]

Turns out my battery is deceased, voltage was only 10.6 when not used, 8.7 with the lights on and 6.8 when pressing the ignition button.

Pretty weird it already died after 2 months, but at least I know what the problem is

 

[bentwrench]

You may have a short somewhere in the system, slowly draining the battery...

 

[willem]

I read that if the voltage drops that low (10.6) it's a short within the battery (one cell is basically MIA) so it should be a manufacturing error, I'm contacting the mechanic who placed it now

 

[willem]

Turns out the battery was in fact dead. Not a short, but just a crap battery. Bought a new one this weekend and now my XS RUNS! Not perfectly, but at least I can go places on it now.

It starts with quite a bit of choke (it's cold here in the Netherlands) and then takes its time, when it's warm I can get the revs down to decent levels. I've made a video of when it started and ran idle for about 3 minutes, you can find it here (sry dont have access to youtube at work cant give direct link):

www.youtube.com/willemus

It seems as if it sometimes misses one rev, as if there's no fire. Also the right exhaust puffs out more air than the left one. Can this be a valve issue? Or are the carbs just not in sync? Haven't gotten around to ajusting either of those yet.

Also a guy on a dutch forum said his xs400 dohc intake valve was not sealing and then his cilinders pressed air out towards the carbs sometimes, has anyone here had this as well?

I'm really glad it runs finally, since start of january I've been hoping to get it working properly and now it sort of is!

 

[bentwrench]

Whenever I hear someone having a really long time with the choke on, I always recommend checking your valve clearances. You may be seeing a slow warmup of the engine, which slowly brings the valves into some sort of clearance.

In any case, it's a quick check to remove the engine valve cover and get in there with some feeler gauges...