why, Why, WHY??!! ... won't it stay running...??!!

My 95 VFR sat over the winter with a trickle charger and full stabil-ized tank. Looks like the stabil didn't work because the gas smelled varnished and looked a strange bright yellow color. Drained tank, new gas filter, new fuel petcock. Carb and choke cleaner'd the heck out of the carbs, poked the visible little jet holes with wire under the air cleaner. Almost starts with ether, but gas spits out of the visible jets on all 4 carbs, gas all over the garage floor. Poked the jets with wire again. Now no spilling fuel, and it will stay running if I keep spraying ether in the carbs. I stop spraying, it stops running. The fuel pump works, the lines all the way to the carbs pump gas. WHERE IS THE FUEL GOING?? WHY WON'T IT STAY RUNNING? Im pulling my hair out, I used to be good at this, I thought I was smart, I'm getting a complex... Is Obi-Wan Kanobi out there? Is he my only hope???

 

Clogged fuel jets

Clogged pilot jets and "choke" (start enrichment) jets. Alkyhol fuel forms a thick concrete-like sludge in the bowl that plugs the tiny orifice of the jets. Get a number 12 guitar string and rod them out, then carb cleaner and compressed air.

Those tiny jets under the air cleaner are the air jets that meter the air with the fuel from the fuel jets to create the "mixture". Your mixture screws may be clogged also.

A full carb cleaning is likely necessary, which means the entire carb rack needs to come off the bike to get the bowls opened and properly cleaned--no chemicals exist that will short-cut this task.

 

No location given but will guess you may be in California as fuel stabilizers do not work on our fuel very well. If you pluck the carbs off and clean the pilot jets it will run just fine as previously stated. Your gen is the very easiest to remove and install the carbs on so that is a bit of a bonus. Link.
http://vfrworld.com/forums/mechanics-garage/22449-cleaning-carbs.html

 

+1 on the carb cleaning. Maybe even a complete teardown and rebuild of the carbs. Next year DRAIN the carb bowls, cut off the fuel supply (via petcock or removing the vacuum line to it, depending on the type you have and shutting down the fuel pump), and run the remaining fuel out of the carbs by starting it a few times until it will no longer run. Carbs need to be DRY to be really winterized properly.

 

OK Why would fuel be spitting out of the holes and flooding the floor when I crank it, then stop? The fuel pump is still pumping, logically the fuel is still going through the bowls, all four carbs cant be flooding fuel out and then plug up suddenly when it is running just on ether... Am I crazy..?

 

Still learning to set up my profile! I'm in NC if that helps... What Gen is a 95? (doesn't look easy, pretty intimidating...)

 

I think I need to say Damn The Cold and just take a ride every few weeks , beats killing a weekend tearing down the bike!

 

Excess fuel flooding the area ?? Usually one or more float needles are leaking.

 

It had to be a pint or so of fuel puddling under the bike as I was cranking it with ether, poked the holes by the carbs under the air filter and cranked with ether again, no spillage...where is the gas be pumped to? Or are all the carbs clogged equally and stop the fuel in its tracks?

 

All the fuel jets are clogged!

Your carbs are totally clogged and useless without a proper cleaning. If you continue to refuse to accept this fact then you are indeed likely to be crazy, and you will drive yourself and all of us crazy as you try to use chemicals such as ether to solve that which chemicals have no power to fix.

The fuel pump will shut itself off when the back pressure reaches the set-point value, which is only a few psi. Your fuel inlet valve is not operating properly to shut off the fuel as the bowl fills, so you have a sticky inlet needle or heavy floats, etc. i.e. Symptoms of a clogged bowl.

Fuel coming up out of the air jets indicates total blockage of all fuel jets in the bowl--pilot, choke and main. The fuel is filling up the bowl to the uppermost level where the air vent is located, then fuel is travelling into the air vent line and back out the air jets into the plenum, and then onto the floor.

Your best bet would be to pull the carb rack and send them to squirrelman or one of the other carb experts on the forum for a proper cleaning. It will be cheapest and quickest in the long run, especially since you seem to have no clue about how carburetors actually function or operate. Education can be expensive.

 

That was pretty informative, makes sense...just trying to visualize what's happening and give as much detail of what I experienced to try to paint an accurate picture...thanks for the input...

 

I just LOVE them smelly old carbs i do !! And fixin' dem bitches !

 

I've just finished cleaning and sync'd my carbs on my 94. The bike has only been in my stable for a week and it was much easier than my first go-round with my ZX-11. Send them out and have them done if your not 110% sure of what your doing. The issue that i have with that is anyone capeable of removing them without damage should be talented enough to clean them.

 

Thanks, Carbidetech. What could be damaged upon removal?

 

Lots of things, just be sure to keept the carb bodies attached to the plenum manifold when you take them off and when you put them back on.
Once you do that you need to take compressed air and carb cleaner spray and wire to every orifice you can blow through.
That is about the only way to do it properly.

 

Squirrel - I love your float height gage! Care to share the details and measurements for how you made it?

 

Cool, thanks dukiedook

 

Carbs are off, easy. There is one screw out of three on each of the float bowls that is obstructed by another bowl, can't get a screwdriver or nut driver on it. A hair smaller than 5/16, must be 8mm which I don't have a wrench for. On the way to lowes...

 

BTW, any guides on best way to sync carbs?

 

Yes, the repair manual. Link: http://vfrworld.com/forums/specifications/3161-downloadable-parts-catalogs-service-manuals.html You will need a carburetor balancer. Can be had for around $100.

Don't bother with a carb sync until you've disassembled and dipped/cleaned all the components though, it won't do any good to tune dirty carbs. Repair manual should have a carburetor section with procedures for this also.