Trouble starting hot ...

on 6/22/03 5:39 PM, Graham wrote:

 > Hey,
 >
 > I've been having some trouble getting my bike started when it's hot
 > lately. It had always done that in the past but give it a bit of gas and it
 > would fire right up. It starts fine within about 3 minutes of being shut off
 > hot. But anything more than that and I have to give it full throttle and
 > crank it over 4-5 times for 5 seconds. When it does finally fire up it
 > hesitates the first few times I give it some gas ... feels like it's
 > starving for fuel. I'm thinking vapor lock. If I put the bike away in the
 > garage hot and come back a bit later the whole place reeks like gas. But
 > it's fine when I put it away cold. Is the fuel from the bowls evaporating ?
 > Is there anything I can do about it ? Thanx a bunch.
 >
 > Graham
 > 01' ZX7R
 >
 >

Sounds like it's flooding for some reason:

* you have to give it full throttle and crank a bit to start it
* once it fires over, throttle response is initially poor
* the garage reeks of gas

All of these things sound like flooding to me. Why it would be flooding
after being shut down hot, I don't know.

--
Jamin Kortegard
jkortegard.TakeThisOut@earthlink.net
2002 YZF-R1
2003 WRX

 >> Stay informed about: Trouble starting hot ... 

Right you are ! I pulled the carbs off and found a nice pool of gas sitting
in the head. Question is what am I going to do about it ? Needle and seat
are clean and in great shape. Float isn't leaking. And the only way to check
the float height is with a Kawi tool I don't have. Well ... looks like I
have about 4 hrs. to come up with the answer. I need the bike for work
tomorrow ! Time to search Google.

Graham
01' ZX7R

"Duane Attaway" wrote in message


 >
  > > I've been having some trouble getting my bike started when it's hot
  > > lately. It had always done that in the past but give it a bit of gas and
it
  > > would fire right up. It starts fine within about 3 minutes of being shut
off
  > > hot. But anything more than that and I have to give it full throttle and
  > > crank it over 4-5 times for 5 seconds. When it does finally fire up it
  > > hesitates the first few times I give it some gas ... feels like it's
  > > starving for fuel. I'm thinking vapor lock. If I put the bike away in
the
  > > garage hot and come back a bit later the whole place reeks like gas. But
  > > it's fine when I put it away cold. Is the fuel from the bowls
evaporating ?
  > > Is there anything I can do about it ? Thanx a bunch.
 >
 > I'm willing to bet if you pulled the spark plugs, you might find at
 > least one soaking wet with gasoline. That will indicate what
 > carburator/injector is leaking.
 >
 > That gas smell is not an indicator of a lean condition, but might be
 > related to hesitation problem. Its also a nice solvent to wash that oil
 > from the cylinder walls. Who needs those piston rings anyways?
 >
 > --
 > Why drive a car when you can ride a bike?
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 >> Stay informed about: Trouble starting hot ... 

In article , Graham wrote:

 > Right you are ! I pulled the carbs off and found a nice pool of gas
 > sitting in the head. Question is what am I going to do about it ?
 > Needle and seat are clean and in great shape. Float isn't leaking. And
 > the only way to check the float height is with a Kawi tool I don't
 > have. Well ... looks like I have about 4 hrs. to come up with the
 > answer. I need the bike for work tomorrow ! Time to search Google.

I'd run a line of gas to the carbs. When you have them out like that
and have a line run to them, you can play with them and may be able to
see the problem. It could even be a crack or a bad gasket.

You may have rust or something in your tank allowing the floats to leak
after you get done putting all back together! It only takes the tiniest
piece of debris to make a small leak. How old is your filter?

--
Why drive a car when you can ride a bike?
<a rel="nofollow" style='text-decoration: none;' href="http://dattaway.org" target="_blank">http://dattaway.org</a>
 >> Stay informed about: Trouble starting hot ... 

The filter is only a few months old and the tank was completely cleaned when
it was installed. The filter still looks clean and there wasn't a spec of
dirt in the carbs or inlet screens. I scrubbed the S%$T out of all the carbs
and raised the float a tiny bit in the cylinder that was flooding. I don't
want to test it because I drained my oil to see if it was full of gas (there
may have been a bit but it was still thick and I only got 3.8L out of it)
and I only had 2L of good quality oil around. I had to fill the rest with a
mix of 5/30, 10/40 and 10/30 car oils. I know ... bad idea but it's only a
10 mile drive to work and I can change it there. I just hope the Kawasaki
small engine filters we have in stock are the same as the motorcycle
filters. I think I'll just take the bike to a dealer and have everything
done properly. Thanx for your help !

Graham
01' ZX7R

"Duane Attaway" wrote in message


 >
  > > Right you are ! I pulled the carbs off and found a nice pool of gas
  > > sitting in the head. Question is what am I going to do about it ?
  > > Needle and seat are clean and in great shape. Float isn't leaking. And
  > > the only way to check the float height is with a Kawi tool I don't
  > > have. Well ... looks like I have about 4 hrs. to come up with the
  > > answer. I need the bike for work tomorrow ! Time to search Google.
 >
 > I'd run a line of gas to the carbs. When you have them out like that
 > and have a line run to them, you can play with them and may be able to
 > see the problem. It could even be a crack or a bad gasket.
 >
 > You may have rust or something in your tank allowing the floats to leak
 > after you get done putting all back together! It only takes the tiniest
 > piece of debris to make a small leak. How old is your filter?
 >
 > --
 > Why drive a car when you can ride a bike?
<font color=purple> > <a rel="nofollow" style='text-decoration: none;' href="http://dattaway.org</font" target="_blank">http://dattaway.org</font</a>>
 >> Stay informed about: Trouble starting hot ...