A Canadian lost overseas

[Scorpio1963]

Basicaly you should hear the starter turning the bike over which obviously it is since you your getting spark.IDK if you have access to any buddies or places that weld but that might be a cheaper and easier alternative to fixing that crack.When you run your compression your numbers should be in 130`s or higher.Let us know what the results are when you are able to have that done.

 

[16VGTIDave]

I am not sure if you are talking about the main jet, or what exactly. I have however blown air and carb cleaner through every hole and jet and it all goes through fine.

When you look at your carb bodies, the brass tube that extends into the float bowl is what is being discussed. I have no experience with your carbs, but on BS34's, there is a small hole in the side of that tube close to the float bowl mating surface. There is also an orifice in the float bowl where the tube is inserted that is often blocked. If either or both of these are blocked, you will have problems delivering enough fuel for starting.

 

[ryMY]

Basicaly you should hear the starter turning the bike over which obviously it is since you your getting spark.IDK if you have access to any buddies or places that weld but that might be a cheaper and easier alternative to fixing that crack.When you run your compression your numbers should be in 130`s or higher.Let us know what the results are when you are able to have that done.

I will try the compression test and let you guys know when possible.

When you look at your carb bodies, the brass tube that extends into the float bowl is what is being discussed. I have no experience with your carbs, but on BS34's, there is a small hole in the side of that tube close to the float bowl mating surface. There is also an orifice in the float bowl where the tube is inserted that is often blocked. If either or both of these are blocked, you will have problems delivering enough fuel for starting.

Ok thanks a lot, I get what you're talking about now. I will have to check it out again when I'm over there this week. I have another carburetor question:

The diaphragm is supposed to move when you are cranking or not? I would think it should move because otherwise it is pretty difficult to get the fuel through. Mine is not. If this is the problem then why would this be happening do you think?

 

[jmd_forest]

Dip Tube: Brass tube about 3/8th inch diameter and about 1.5 inches in length sticking down from the main carb body visible in lower right of carb in your 11th picture (of the set of carb pictures you provided in previous post)
Bowl: "cup" type piece you are holding in your 9th picture

The dip tube fits into a hole in the bowl when you assemble. That hole must allow gas thru from the bowl up and into the dip tube to feed the enrighment circuit (alternately known as the "choke" but not on these carbs). There is a TINY hole at the base of the dip tube by the carb body. Make sure it is clean. Make sure you can squirt cleaner thru center of dip tube and out the carb body.

 

[Recreateme]

The diaphragm shouldn't be moving on idle, from what i understand that only moves in the mid RPM range when the needle jet engages. On start up and idle your set up should be so the pilot jets are feeding the engine, the choke if on, and the idle mixture screws should be open enough to dribble that extra needed gas as well.

My understanding of the diaphragm is that when the butterfly valves open to an extent it causes enough suction to raise the needle and allow gas to spray through the needle jet, but at idle there shouldn't be much if anything coming through. I don't think thats your issue here, i would expect a bike with bad diaphragms to start and idle, however have issues making any power.

Have you checked your intake valve clearance yet ?

 

[ryMY]

Dip Tube: Brass tube about 3/8th inch diameter and about 1.5 inches in length sticking down from the main carb body visible in lower right of carb in your 11th picture (of the set of carb pictures you provided in previous post)
Bowl: "cup" type piece you are holding in your 9th picture

The dip tube fits into a hole in the bowl when you assemble. That hole must allow gas thru from the bowl up and into the dip tube to feed the enrighment circuit (alternately known as the "choke" but not on these carbs). There is a TINY hole at the base of the dip tube by the carb body. Make sure it is clean. Make sure you can squirt cleaner thru center of dip tube and out the carb body.

I'm going to get on that and make sure it isn't clogged.

The diaphragm shouldn't be moving on idle, from what i understand that only moves in the mid RPM range when the needle jet engages. On start up and idle your set up should be so the pilot jets are feeding the engine, the choke if on, and the idle mixture screws should be open enough to dribble that extra needed gas as well.

My understanding of the diaphragm is that when the butterfly valves open to an extent it causes enough suction to raise the needle and allow gas to spray through the needle jet, but at idle there shouldn't be much if anything coming through. I don't think thats your issue here, i would expect a bike with bad diaphragms to start and idle, however have issues making any power.

Have you checked your intake valve clearance yet ?

Boom thanks for that explanation, I completely understand it now.

 

[willem]

Hi and welcome! Nice to see someone close to home join the forum where are you in NL exactly? I'm in The Hague.

If you need any help language wise I can probably give you a hand

good looking bike you got there!

Have you tried spraying some type of combustible spray into the air intakes yet? That's the easiest way to check if your carbs are the culprits... you can even use something like air refreshening spray or deodorant, but brake cleaner also works great

 

[ryMY]

Hi and welcome! Nice to see someone close to home join the forum where are you in NL exactly? I'm in The Hague.

If you need any help language wise I can probably give you a hand

good looking bike you got there!

Have you tried spraying some type of combustible spray into the air intakes yet? That's the easiest way to check if your carbs are the culprits... you can even use something like air refreshening spray or deodorant, but brake cleaner also works great

Hey Willem! It's nice to see someone close by on the forum as well! I live in Breda, so not the closest but still pretty close haha.

I was going to try and find some starter fluid today, but you are saying I can use just brake cleaner? I have brake cleaner, that is for sure.

 

[willem]

yea pretty much any flammable spray will do the job, just take the air filter out and spray it straight into the intake

 

[ryMY]

OK, I have just tried to start the while spraying brake cleaner in the intake.

Result: Nothing at all

I then took the spark plugs out right away and they were just as dry as when I put them in. Why would this be!? Any ideas?

The plugs are Champion N9YC plugs and when I search this on their website database, these are the plugs that are compatible/recommended by Champion, for the xs360.

When looking through the intake with a flash light and cranking the engine, I can see the valves moving up and down, but they do have a lot of build up on the valves.

 

[willem]

Did you try to spark the plugs against the engine? So you take out the plugs, stick them onto your plug caps and hold them against the cooling fins and then you crank the engine. You should get a good 2-3 mm spark, nice and blue. If they don't work, get a set of new spark plugs and try again.

If they're still not sparking, twist the caps off the spark wires and cut about 3-4 mm or half an inch off the wires, twist the spark caps back on and try again. Report back after

oh and make sure you have a full battery at all times! charge it if you're not 100% sure it's full. I had a new (!) battery which was bad, it would just not produce enough juice to generate a good spark.

 

[ryMY]

Did you try to spark the plugs against the engine? So you take out the plugs, stick them onto your plug caps and hold them against the cooling fins and then you crank the engine. You should get a good 2-3 mm spark, nice and blue. If they don't work, get a set of new spark plugs and try again.

If they're still not sparking, twist the caps off the spark wires and cut about 3-4 mm or half an inch off the wires, twist the spark caps back on and try again. Report back after

oh and make sure you have a full battery at all times! charge it if you're not 100% sure it's full. I had a new (!) battery which was bad, it would just not produce enough juice to generate a good spark.

All of this is done and working. There is spark 100% and the battery is fully charged.

 

[willem]

Your brake fluid is flammable right? I've done it myself a few times and mine would always fire up straight away.. can you make a blowtorch out of it when you light it with a lighter or something?

I'm starting to think it's a compression issue now. Try setting your valve clearances, it's a bit more work but you'll need to do it at some point soon anyways. If that doesn't help you definitely have to get a compression gauge to make sure.

If after setting valve clearance your compression is still bad, you have a more serious problem.

 

[ryMY]

The fluid is very flammable and yes it turns into a torch if I hold a flame to the end.

I'm with you on thinking it is more a compression issue, now. I just need to get a compression tester, so hopefully I can find one to borrow from a friend.

I will dive into it tomorrow and set the valve clearance.

 

[jmd_forest]

Just for shits and grins, try swapping the coil wiring. It is not uncommon to get these swapped and possibly the PO was mucking around before you purchased. It will never run if the spark is 180 degrees out of phase.

 

[16VGTIDave]

While JMD is correct, if the plug wires are swapped I'd expect backfiring out the carbs when trying to start.

Low compression is a possibility, and I'd be inclined to check the valve adjustment before trying anything else. Bad spark plugs are another possibility, even though they work out of the engine.

 

[ryMY]

Just for shits and grins, try swapping the coil wiring. It is not uncommon to get these swapped and possibly the PO was mucking around before you purchased. It will never run if the spark is 180 degrees out of phase.

Oh I have done this a few days ago already. I traced the LH and RH cylinder wires back to the contact bracket and checked with the manual as well to see that they were set right. And just for shits and giggles (we had the same thought) I switched the wires this morning when I did the test again.

While JMD is correct, if the plug wires are swapped I'd expect backfiring out the carbs when trying to start.

Low compression is a possibility, and I'd be inclined to check the valve adjustment before trying anything else. Bad spark plugs are another possibility, even though they work out of the engine.

I will try and do the valve adjustment tomorrow, but I'm not sure how much time I have to work on the the bike. If I can do it, I will post some more info and photos up here.

 

[Scorpio1963]

What was the results of the compression test,if you notice low compression with all the crud on the valves its possible they are not setting cause the compression lost.

 

[ryMY]

I haven't been able to do a compression test just yet. I am waiting to borrow a gauge from a friend this week as I don't have the spare change hanging around to buy one for limited use. I'll post up the results when done.

 

[Recreateme]

I have heard of people suggesting just putting your thumb over the hole to make the best seal you can and when cranking it you should feel a burst of air force your thumb off. I have never done it, but if you are anxious you can give it a try and see, and at least you will know its either totally low or potentially good and then check it for real when you get a gauge to get a number.

Even so, if there isn't compression, I would think you're plugs should still be wet with fuel if you are getting fuel in the cylinders right?