Hi Guys, I have an Fzr250 3LN-3 and have had a lot of problems trying to get the bike started again. I think rain leaked into my fuel tank, because I drained the carbies and it was all cloudy and smelt plain and not of petrol. I get the starting noise when I press the start button but it is not turning over. I've taken the carbie reservoirs off and cleaned all the gunk in them with dry cloth. I then checked the spark plugs and cleaned them. They are only 500km old. I've also checked the coil packs for charge and they are working. I drained the carbies again and it was pure petrol, with no signs of the water problem. Also to check if the fuel pump was working, works fine. I also tried jump starting it, but it just pulls up almost instantly. I poured petrol into the pods and tried starting it again yesterday. I get back fire in the first two carbies and feel pressure over the pods. I then noticed water leaking from the extractors?? at the front of the bike and where it meets the linking end of the power valve, at the front. So I drained a lot of water out of there also. I'm going to take out the spark plugs and kicking it over a couple of times and reassemble. Any suggestions on what else I can do?? I only live near one mechanic, and he jibbed me last time good and proper, so I would rather try to figure it out myself. Also I'm learning about my bike.
Hi Shaneo, How long has it been since your bike last went. Did it turn over or not. Does the starter motor do anything. Buy a spark plug tester and test if your leads are working. Holding your spark plug close to the engine can destroy your CDI so I would not suggest checking it that way. 1. Get the engine to turn over (maybe gentle tap the starter motor with a lump of wood, this can free it up). 2. Throughly clean the carbies with carby cleaner, make sure your jets are not clogged. 3. Check that your leads are actually connected. 4. Check your exup valve and open it slightly to let the engine breath. 5. Buy new spark plugs. 6. Set carby needle to the middle position (the main needle running through the carby) 7. Adjust pilot screw to (2 7/8 turns out) not three. 8. make sure the carbies are seated to the intake manifold and tight. Best of luck this can be hard to track and fix.
Thanks for the advice Natas, It hasn't been going since about January. The spark plugs are 500klms old, or about 4 months old. I recently bought new leads also because one of the old ones was giving out not much spark. I've tested with a screwdriver and my finger, because I also go told that it could interfere with the bike electronically. It's only a little shock, but the important thing is that it arcs at about 1cm from the screwdriver on each. I think I'm definitely getting spark, because I'm getting a bit of backfire in the carbies and pressure in the exhaust. I've cleaned the carbies 4 times now. Everything that can be unscrewed or removed, has been except for the bracket connecting with the throttle cables & Choke. Cleaned with rags, brushes, pipe cleaners, carby cleaners and air pressure, and everything put back exactly the same way. The only sound I get is like in a car when you turn the key and it doesn't start. Which I've been told that it means it's turning over and that the starter motor is working and connected. And also the backfire with a hint of putting from the exhaust. Is the pilot screw the one underneath each carbie?? I'm not sure what an EXUP Valve is. I'm don't know how to adjust the needle. Is aerostart a good idea for motorbikes?? Thanks again for your reply!! Appreciated!!
Yes the pilot screw is the one under each carby adjust with a small flat head screw driver, lightly seat it all the way in and then turn it out the required amount. Not sure about areostart. Is the spark that you are getting a bright blue? The exup valve is in the exhaust, just past the headers, you will have to remove the left hand side fairing to get to it. The exup valve has 2 leads travelling to it from a step motor at the back of the bike on the left hand side. You should hear this motor working when you first turn the ignition key on, and the fuel pump activated at the same time. What you have done so far. 1. Cleaned and adjusted carbies. 2. Have a good spark that is the right lead to each spark plug for each cylinder. 3. New spark plugs and gapped. 4. Put a small amount of fuel down the carbies and tried to run it. Does the bike run at all with the problems or is it a no go? If so try and keep it running and see what it does. Next list of things to do. 1. Check the rubber intake manifolds for cracks. 2. Open exup valve up just a little bit. 3. Have a well earned beer. Get back to us on how you go this is a tricky one that may fix itself, as it did on my bike.
Thanks again Natas, I'll definitely give the beer a going over a few times. That's good advice!! The spark is orange not blue. So that is obviously not the right colour. Would you know why?? The exup valve you mentioned, I removed all the screws and that's where I found all the extra water that had somehow got in. There isn't any cracks on the intake manifold rubbers. I'm going to pull the bike apart this weekend, so I'll give your advice a go then. I'll remove the spark plugs again, because I love doing it, and check the colour again. I'll also try another push start, because I love the exercise. Thanks for help>
this will probly not help but it happened to me once. there is a cable that goes into the clutch lever that cut's of power to the bike if it is in gear when you are trying to start. it can be faulty from rusting internally, pull it out and bridge it with your fingers and try to start the bike again. Like i said it worked for me....
Hi Drewzor & Shaneo, Sounds good Drewzor, this is something to look at. All that water could be the cause of your problems. The colour of your spark should be ok as long as it is a nice strong spark. You said you got a shock so that should be strong enough. Next thing to check is the float levels in the carby. This could be part of the problem. Also check to see if your leads are pushed into the part that connects to the part that goes over the spark plug (not sure of the name). A part from that you should check out your CDI, but only if nothing else works. Reply and I will walk you through it, best of luck.
Hi guys, Here's what I did this weekend. Stripped carbies, again. I checked the needle grooves in the rear and they were on notch 3. I removed the screws in the front jet of each carbie. There is one with a slightly larger whole in it than the other. Where they screw into the jet, there is a large passageway and one with a thing? in it. I noted where they came from; large hole, large passageway and small hole, bit with the thing in it. Do these mean anything to you?? I also checked the floats. 10mm flat and 18-19mm raised. I read somewhere in this forum that 18mm is good. They were all the same. I also reconfigured the pilot screws to the 2&7/8 position again. I took the exhaust off the bike and found a lot of water in the pipes, especially around the EXUP Valve. I drained all water from the exhaust also took the EXUP Valve apart, cleaned and lubed. I also read somewhere in the Forum about setting the EXUP Valve and it now gives me a greater circumference. I have quadruple checked the spark plugs and leads and sockets. The plugs are very dry. Could I be using a too high octane fuel. I've always putting 95 into it. I also tried looking for the colour but I couldn't make out any colour, but it still gave me a shock. I've checked with a multi meter the voltage going to the CDI and on every wire it's giving me a reading. I've checked the fuses and they are all fine. Do they have to be a certain way or it doesn't matter?? I know on my car amp it would only work one way. Lastly, I tried..... push..... starting it...... but I..... pretty much..... got the same..... results. And had a beer. And got out of the 35oC heat. Thanks for giving me something to do this weekend.
It all sounds good, so lets approach it from another angle. 1. Float height flat 10.5 - 11 mm (I know this doesn't sound like much but if you are out it can affect fueling and cause problems). As this relates to the jets sucking fuel, and what you said is correct, one big and one small (primary small and secondary big jet) For example primary jet kicks in at 1/4 throttle to assist the pilot screw, then at say half throttle the secondary jet also kicks in because the bike needs more fuel. And suction is increased as the throttle butterflies open up. 2. Dry spark plugs can mean a couple of things. Bike is running lean (due to float height, pilot screws, clugged jets, wrong spark plugs). Put NGK CR8E spark plugs in it ($3.50-$4. group 2 spark plug). Keep in mind that if the bike is not running properly it is impossible to read spark pugs correctly. Spark plugs have to be tested from new with the bike running high RPM for about 10 minutes and quickly turned off, no warm up with new plugs or idling at traffic lights as this can give false readings. 3. Easy bits first, Turn pilot screws to 3.5 turns out try and run it (also put some fuel down the carbies with no choke. 4. Remove muffler, keep headers on and try to run it (exhaust could be clogged?). 5. Slightly open the exup valve via the cables and try and start it. 6. Dave has written about this before and think it was about the pickup coil, this could be causeing issues, but Dave will point you in the right direction. This is basically three white leads coming out of your stator housing, like I said Dave is the man. I use BP normal unleaded (91) but the ocatne reading should not be a problem as they use bumping agents in fuel. And apart from that I will have a think about some other possible causes, best of luck.
I can't help but think that your fuel is full of water. This could be the cause of your problems. Given that your bike is full of water from a possible flood or the like, maybe the surrounding fuel stations also have water in their fuels. There is not much more I can think of considering your bike was running not that long ago. Best of luck and update us with your progress.
Shaneo, back to basics, 3 things you need to make the engine run.. 1) compression - at least over 100psi on a compression test, approx 160psi for a perfect engine 2) spark - Make sure all the leads/plugs spark and are connected like this 3) fuel - drain the carbs, turn off the fuel tap, and throw a quantity of petrol down each carb and try to start with the throttle wide open. It should try to go for a few seconds. If so the problem lies with the carbs The exup can be wired fully open as it won't have much effect on starting. My bike had the exup wired fully open when I bought it (no cables) and it ran ok, and idled normal, but not a lot of torque at below 6000-8000rpm when riding.
Thanks Natas and Dave, The fuel that I've been fueling the carbs is not the same fuel that was in the tank when I found all the water. I use BP95 octane. The water, I think, could still be in the engine block and is slowly getting pushed up into the exhaust pipes by the compression, or it was always in the bottom near the EXUP valve, but I never noticed it until it started leaking. I'm going to replace the plugs this weekend and try to see if there is anything blocking the exhaust. If it has been the plugs all along, I think I'll learn to kick myself in the head. I feel confident that I have thoroughly cleaned the carbies and that they are working fine. I have tried dropping fuel into carbies but not with the fuel off and the carbies drained. All that happened then was whole lot of backfire, so I'll give that approach a go. I don't have anything to check compression, so that might have to wait until I get desperate and call a mechanic. I definitely feel pressure over the pods and from the exhaust. I've got nothing better to do than be with my baby this weekend. Thanks again guys, appreciated!!
Hi guys, Here's what I've done Changed spark plugs. Drained carbies, turned off fuel and dropped fuel down the throats. Took off exhaust, there was nothing blocked inside. I also turned the pilot screws further out by another half turn. It still backfires, but more often and a little louder. It backfires through both the exhaust and carbs. I'm also getting the occasional whhoooommmppppp sound coming from the exhaust. I also checked the fuel through the fuel filter and it shows no trace of water. I'm gonna try and jump start it again tomorrow. It sounds like it wants to start but I don't know. I think I found that stator. Is it under the fuel pump?? A metal surrounding with a soft encasement and 4plugs connecting the magneto?? Anyway I checked the connectors and they looked okay to me.
Hi Shaneo, I told you I would get back to you and this is the latest advice from my test bench. The needle running through your carbies may be getting stuck and therefore causing the thing to backfire through the carbies. You will need to pull the top off of your carbies again to get to it (you are a pro now). There should be a E clip holding the needle in its position (middle slot) followed by a washer and a nylon spacer. The problem that you may be facing is that the needle is getting stuck on the nylon spacer and therefore holding the needle up and causing excess fuel to travel through. On the needle where the spacer is there is a buch of letters or numbers (when you pull it out you will see them). Anyway get a fine bit of wet and dry sand paper and lightly sand the letters away until the nylon spacer runs freely up and down on the needle. Best of luck and we will get this bike running sweet again. Water in the system that you had could also be causing the needle to get stuck on the spacer. Get back to us about how you went and if this did anything.
Hi guys, Sorry I haven't given you an update for a while. I'm going to Switzerland in a month, so I'll worry about the bike after that. A friend of mine knows someone to look at the bike for me. I've failed the mission. Speak to you at the end of July, hopefully with the prognosis and a mobilecycle.
