now it won't start?

[Big_Z]

OK, i dipped carbs and had problems with cold pipe on #4. I took the carbs off and redipped #4 last night. Got home and put it back together. put them back on the bike. also put brand new plugs in. now when I try to fire it up I get nothing... it won't fire up. I know I have gas flowing. i can smell it. so whats going on? i checked the gap on the plugs and all were under .03 per my clymer manual.

A

[chef1366]

Primed float bowls?
Gapped plugs
Right wires on right cylinders

Crank on it and right away pull a plug and see if you have gas.
While you're at it check for spark.
You can jolt wires while taking the tank on and off.

[Big_Z]

nevermind. posted to soon. went back out and turned down the main idle screw and it fired up with throttle. so that good. bad news is that #4 is still cold. I don't think its a carb thing at this point.

Should I start looking at electrical/ignition system?

[chef1366]

Make sure the spark plug cap is screwed into good wire.

[Pacman]

nevermind. posted to soon. went back out and turned down the main idle screw and it fired up with throttle. so that good. bad news is that #4 is still cold. I don't think its a carb thing at this point.

Should I start looking at electrical/ignition system?

Has #4 ever ran?

If you have a timing light you can hook it up to the #4 plug wire and watch the light while the bike is running. If the light doesn't light up then you don't have spark.

Have you tried pulling the plug to see if it has gas on it?

Chris

[Steve]

OK, i dipped carbs and had problems with cold pipe on #4. I took the carbs off and redipped #4 last night.

When you 'dipped' the carbs, can we presume that you took everything apart and only dipped the metallic parts?
Then cleaned all the holes in the jets with a copper wire strand, carb spray and compressed air?

nevermind. posted to soon. went back out and turned down the main idle screw and it fired up with throttle. so that good. bad news is that #4 is still cold. I don't think its a carb thing at this point. Should I start looking at electrical/ignition system?

At this point, it could still be either fuel or electrical system.

If you have a timing light you can hook it up to the #4 plug wire and watch the light while the bike is running.

Good idea, but if the plug cap is making poor connection, you will still see a good spark that triggers your timing light, but no fire at the plug. Try switching the plug wires between 1&4. If #1 stays cold, the problem is in the wire.

.

[Pacman]

Good idea, but if the plug cap is making poor connection, you will still see a good spark that triggers your timing light, but no fire at the plug. Try switching the plug wires between 1&4. If #1 stays cold, the problem is in the wire.

.

Actually you won't see the timing light activate unless the circuit is complete. The circuit can only complete if the plug fires or the coil wire/cap shorts to ground. So, it's true that the timing light doesn't always show spark at the plug but it will if the wires/cap are good and not shorting. But, the timing light will also show a false spark reading if the electrode on the plug is shorting across fouling on the end of the plug.

It isn't a perfect test but, with good plugs and good wires it is a helpful test.

Chris

[drhach]

The outer cylinders fire at the same time and the inner cylinders fire at the same time. Swap your #4 plug wire with #1 and see if the problem transfers to #1 (e.g. #1 now runs cold). It won't tell you exactly what the problem is, but it will narrow it to fuel or electrical. Do you have an ohmmeter?