wirehairs
XS400 Addict
The short version: I have an 82 Maxim 400 that I'm on the tail-end of restoring. This is my first XS400, and I just had to rebuild the head, putting in all the gaskets, rehoning (not cutting) the valve seats, and replacing the valve seals. I had to do all that because the head-to-cylinder gaskets had a leak, permitting oil to flow into my intake valve, thus foiling that (number 2) cylinder.
So, I get it all back together, and I had oil leaking out a head nut on the right hand side. Like an idiot, I hadn't torqued that nut hard enough. So, I torqued it down, checked the others for leaks (none), and started it up again. After a few minutes of running, the oil smoke finally went away, and no more oil on my spark plugs. Hurrah! However, the right cylinder is still not getting power. The right exhaust is cool compared to the left, nor does the pipe heat up like the left. I pulled right plug and grounded it to the cylinder, and confirm that it's sparking. I've also switched plugs between the cylinders and the plugs themselves are fine. Because the spark plug boot come off in my hand from the distributor cable at one point, I was thinking it could be an intermittent sparking. When I pull the right side plug after running it, it does come back wet with fuel. So how's that possible if it's sparking?
Because the carbs have been siting since I started the work in May, I've decided they could be gummed up a bit. The gas I'm running now comes from the previous October, so 10 months old or so; it had Stabil in it.
So, I'm thinking it's a fuel flow problem, and will do a cleaning of the carbs and try to see if that cures the problem.
Do I sound like I'm on the right track? I'll also replace the gas in the tank with fresh fuel just because (even though the left cylinder doesn't seem to have a problem with it!).
So, I get it all back together, and I had oil leaking out a head nut on the right hand side. Like an idiot, I hadn't torqued that nut hard enough. So, I torqued it down, checked the others for leaks (none), and started it up again. After a few minutes of running, the oil smoke finally went away, and no more oil on my spark plugs. Hurrah! However, the right cylinder is still not getting power. The right exhaust is cool compared to the left, nor does the pipe heat up like the left. I pulled right plug and grounded it to the cylinder, and confirm that it's sparking. I've also switched plugs between the cylinders and the plugs themselves are fine. Because the spark plug boot come off in my hand from the distributor cable at one point, I was thinking it could be an intermittent sparking. When I pull the right side plug after running it, it does come back wet with fuel. So how's that possible if it's sparking?
Because the carbs have been siting since I started the work in May, I've decided they could be gummed up a bit. The gas I'm running now comes from the previous October, so 10 months old or so; it had Stabil in it.
So, I'm thinking it's a fuel flow problem, and will do a cleaning of the carbs and try to see if that cures the problem.
Do I sound like I'm on the right track? I'll also replace the gas in the tank with fresh fuel just because (even though the left cylinder doesn't seem to have a problem with it!).
