Here's the run down. 1978 Kawasaki kz400b. Had bad piston rings. So I replaced them, everything is good as far as that goes. Heres the thing that's driving me nuts... The guy I bought it off had put pods on it. I can't get it to idle for sh!t. It runs rich. Which confuses me because wouldn't it run lean with the pods? So I can't get it to idle. It has stock jets in. I've also had the idle adjustment screw all the way in and still no idle. I even took the pods off to see if it would run better with open carbs, but it still does the same thing. Anyone have a theory? This is going to be the death of me...
I'm gonna lose my mind!!!
- Thread starter napalm666
- Start date
ILoveThumpers
Everywhere is thumpers!
Are the carbs clean?
Is the bike in time?
Are you getting good spark?
Start with the basics and for goodness sakes don't run with your carbs open.
-Deek
Is the bike in time?
Are you getting good spark?
Start with the basics and for goodness sakes don't run with your carbs open.
-Deek
Powderfinger
Been Around the Block
Rig up some clear hose to your drains and check your float levels.
Alright. So I checked te timing and points gap. All is well there. Float levels are good. Clean carbs. Put brand new plugs in. The left is black as sin. The right is white. I did get it to idle for about 5 minutes at about 1000 rpm. But that was with idle adjustment screw turned all the way in. Also, after riding it for a bit, I did notice my oil light come on any time it dropped under 2500 rpm. I think it's normal to come on under 1500. My oil levels are not low. I made sure to check it while it was on a center stand for a few days.
mlinder said:
So I figured it out. The other night I decided to double check my compression and my gage wouldnt even give me a reading for the left side. I couldnt figure it out why. So with a phone call to my brother, he suggested a leak down. Not having the equipment, I put her together and fired her up and rode her for a minute. I looked down and noticed that out of my left carb, what looked like gas, was being blown back out (I was lazy and didn't put the filters back on). So it got me thinking that a leak down usually tells you where a leak would be as far as compression and air and that if my motor is blowing air out where it should be sucking in, there might be a leak with my intake valves. So I adjusted my valves to spec and sure as shit, that was my problem. Now both cylinders are reading at 180 psi on a compression test. Took her around for a bit with not a hiccup and she idled perfect at every red light. Got her home, check the plugs and they were perfect. I am beyond relieved. Thanks for everyone's input and help. I am more appreciative than you know.
