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Fuel tap bolt spacings?

Discussion in 'Kawasaki 250cc In-line 4's' started by edwardo, Mar 3, 2015.

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  1. edwardo

    edwardo Well-Known Member Contributing Member

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    Hi everyone, bit of a long shot but does anyone know the bolt hole spacings for a zxr250a petcock? Manual doesn't say a whole lot about it.

    Perhaps if anyone had a tank floating about or had it off for servicing they'd be able to measure that would be great. I don't really want to disassemble the tap and have it **** itself as i'ts my daily atm.

    I've been riding daily and I'm pretty sure my fuel tap or filter is stuffing up. Bike runs/rides fine but after a 20 min ride or a thrashing or riding up hill the bike bogs down and does not rev cleanly, sometimes cutting out completely if I pull the clutch in after prolonged boggyness.

    There are some fuel taps floating around on ebay and my local store can get them in but only a certain bolt spacing.

    Thanks in advance guys.
     
    edwardo, Mar 3, 2015
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  2. Linkin

    Linkin The Mechanic Premium Member Contributing Member Dirty Wheel Club

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    Sounds like running rich are sure it's not the carbies? I can see a fuel tap leaking but putting too much fuel through? Doesn't seem like something that would happen

    EDIT: What may be happening is that after warming up, the worn needles and emulsion tubes expand and let more fuel through, flooding the cylinders. What do your plugs look like?

    You can test this, when it runs boggy turn off the fuel tap and try to rev it, if it starts clearing up faster than it normally would, the bike is running rich. Probably due to worn needles and emulsion tubes. Less fuel in the bowls means that they start running low and not as much gets through the needles/tubes and into the cylinder.

    My second guess would be overheating electrics.
     
    Linkin, Mar 3, 2015
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  3. edwardo

    edwardo Well-Known Member Contributing Member

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    So maybe needles and emulsion tubes? I have no idea what emulation tubes are lol. I adjusted float height to 11mm to allow for more fuel as I thought it was running lean. Plugs are new and the old ones were black. Haven't been riding long but the plugs might be fouling up due to rich issue as the problems do seem to have been getting worse.

    The only reason I thought of the fuel tap was that after I rode it bogging up hill it cut out and would not start, I thought this would be fuel starvation.

    Thanks for the reply man.
     
    edwardo, Mar 3, 2015
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  4. Linkin

    Linkin The Mechanic Premium Member Contributing Member Dirty Wheel Club

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    I would set the float height to stock, and do a plug chop at cruising speed to see how lean/rich you are.

    Carb needles

    [​IMG]

    Carb emulsion tubes

    [​IMG]

    Worn emulsion tubes, green circle super imposed so you can see the wear

    [​IMG]

    Worn needles

    [​IMG]
     
    Linkin, Mar 3, 2015
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  5. Th3_Huntsman

    Th3_Huntsman Senior Member Contributing Member

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    if it cuts out do you need the choke to start it or some throttle? If i get a chance to get to my shed i could let you know busy as though
     
    Th3_Huntsman, Mar 3, 2015
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  6. maelstrom

    maelstrom LiteTek Staff Member Premium Member 250cc Vendor Contributing Member

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    Most fuel taps don't have parts that are prone to wearing out and the Kawasaki seals are available separately.
    I sell a couple of them here http://litetek.co/Fuel_Tank_O-Rings_Kawasaki.html
    The problem is usually that they are blocked with rust and sediment and just need to be cleaned.
     
    maelstrom, Mar 3, 2015
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  7. edwardo

    edwardo Well-Known Member Contributing Member

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    I cant remember if it needed throttle or choke to start.. I'll take note next time it happens. Luckily I had an unused rebuild kit lying around so I threw that in also.

    I remember riding a while ago and the same bogging happened but after it cleared, riding was trouble free for a while after. Makes me thing the diaphragm in the tap has deteriorated further.

    http://2fiftycc.com/index.php?threads/bike-dies-after-20-minutes-riding-zxr250.3309/

    ^^^ this thread makes me think fuel tap
     
    edwardo, Mar 3, 2015
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  8. Murdo

    Murdo The Good Doctor Staff Member Contributing Member Ride and Events Crew

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    Start with the fuel tap and work your way down the fuel delivery path to the carbs.
     
    Murdo, Mar 4, 2015
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  9. edwardo

    edwardo Well-Known Member Contributing Member

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    Okies so I had the tank off, for future reference the zxr250 fuel tap bolt spacings are 35mm center to center.

    Cleaned the tap out, didn't look to be blocked, tank didn't have any silt in it, cleaned out the breather tube with some wire and the bike still runs crap at times.

    I mentioned in another post that I can get the bike to run crap on purpose, hovering around cracked throttle at med/high revs brings on boggyness and loss of power and revving through it bogs a bit and finally revs clear.

    Wonder if this could be something to do with vacuum effect on the fuel tap.

    Poor electrics could also be a culprit.
     
    edwardo, Mar 4, 2015
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  10. Linkin

    Linkin The Mechanic Premium Member Contributing Member Dirty Wheel Club

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    It does sound like you are running rich. Did you set the float height back to stock?

    What happens with FZR carbs is that it bogs down low, if you don't have enough revs and use too much clutch it will start bogging down and flood, and get really lumpy while still moving. If you cut the throttle it dies. Then you need to start with full throttle and slowly back off until the revs pick up. Turning the fuel tap off helps as fuel starts draining out of the bowls and doesn't get replaced.

    IMHO you have 3 things to do:

    Set the float height to stock
    Check spark plug colour
    Check the needles and emulsion tubes for signs of wear
     
    Linkin, Mar 4, 2015
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  11. Frankster

    Frankster Grey Pride...Adventure before Dementia Staff Member Premium Member Ride and Events Crew

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    Have you tried running the bike with the tap set on PRI? This eliminates the vacuum and just gravity feeds the fuel into the carbs.
     
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    Frankster, Mar 5, 2015
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  12. edwardo

    edwardo Well-Known Member Contributing Member

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    I'll chuck it on pri and see how we go, going for a ride in a minute. Will return with results :)
     
    edwardo, Mar 5, 2015
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  13. Joker

    Joker See "about me" for contact details. Contributing Member

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    Hmm. Sounds exactly like my little fizzer dude before I leaned her up. I'd second the thought you're running rich - I doubt it's the fuel tap. I'd be putting things back to stock (especially if you changed something) and start with the needle setting - move them all up a notch to lean up. See if it gets better. But change one thing at a time (back to stock, test, then lean up needles) so you're not dealing with too many variables.

    If your plugs are black probably a good sign you're running rich.

    I personally wouldn't be adjusting float heights, I'd be working with the needles first to adjust rich vs lean.
     
    Joker, Mar 5, 2015
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  14. maelstrom

    maelstrom LiteTek Staff Member Premium Member 250cc Vendor Contributing Member

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    Thanks Stu a good opening for me to have my favourite rant.
    Your carbs could already be set richer than standard. Why? Because many owners think that they have to fit big jets or raise the needles to make their bike go fast. Fitting bigger jets just changes the air/fuel ratio. It does not force more oxygen into the cylinders. Without an increase in oxygen you are choking the engine. Since your bike is making a lot less power you then use more throttle in an effort to compensate which in turn uses more fuel.

    As you go up in jet size everything gets more and more vague as the power slowly ebbs away.
    As you go down in jet size everything gets crisper and more precise until it suddenly falters, back up one size and you have the sweet spot. There is no sweet spot when you go richer just the slow death of both power and your engine as you destroy the internals with all that soot and unburnt gasoline.

    Just my two cents :)
     
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    maelstrom, Mar 5, 2015
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  15. Grasshopper

    Grasshopper Well-Known Member Dirty Wheel Club

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    Well said, Blair! (and Stu)
     
    Grasshopper, Mar 6, 2015
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  16. edwardo

    edwardo Well-Known Member Contributing Member

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    So all those who mentioned rich/float heights were pretty much right..

    Feeling like a noob but tbh, after the bike got stolen and returned, repainting stuff, valve clearances and all the other problems (headaches) I had with it, I guess I just wanted it to be a simple fix.

    If I couldn't fix this bike this one last time, it was going in the for sale section, that's how close I was haha.

    But I pulled the carbs again last night, reset floats to stock and she runs properly again. Up the same hill that used to give me trouble now runs great, with the tiniest bit of hesitation, like one millisecond of bog.

    Is this fixable with more float adjustment and screw settings, probably. But for the minute I'm happy with it!

    Thanks again guys for dealing with my noobness.
     
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    edwardo, Mar 6, 2015
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  17. Joker

    Joker See "about me" for contact details. Contributing Member

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    It's alright dude, everyone goes through a learning curve - glad to hear it's going well for you.

    If it's still a bit boggy and running rich I wouldn't be messing with screws - I'd be looking at the needles. In my opinion it's the simplest and least complicated way to test if leaning up your bike will make it run better, others may feel differently but I think the screws/jets are pretty sensitive so I wouldn't recommend messing with them unless you know you have to.
     
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    Joker, Mar 6, 2015
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  18. Linkin

    Linkin The Mechanic Premium Member Contributing Member Dirty Wheel Club

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    No worries... when in doubt, set everything to stock ;)
     
    Linkin, Mar 6, 2015
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  19. edwardo

    edwardo Well-Known Member Contributing Member

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    I just reread the whole thread, sorry Stu I didn't realise you already mentioned slide needles instead of mixture screws and float heights for finer tuning. I think that'll be my next port of call then, but not before I get some more kms down haha

    Thanks again everyone for helping me out :)
     
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    edwardo, Mar 6, 2015
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  20. edwardo

    edwardo Well-Known Member Contributing Member

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    Doing a bit of reading, I need to lower my needles to lean it out but my needles aren't adjustable.. Which isn't ideal haha
     
    edwardo, Mar 6, 2015
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