jkv45 (Regular)

Sun Dec 26, 2021 9:24 am

Fuel - or lack of it

LiL_RouD wrote:

Hi yall, I got a 2006 ninja. I bought it brand new in 2006 off the show room floor and it has about 8,000 miles on it. I let it sit over the past summer and it would start up and idle for the most part, even drove it around the block, It would die at stop signs if i had the chock off or didnt play with the throttle to keep it running so i decided to pull the carbs and clean them. I have done this same job atleast 2 other times since i owned the bike with no issues at all. This time it wont even start when I was done. I have pulled the carbs off more than 10 times to check my work, check the float adjustments, even pulled a carb off another working ninja 250 with the exact same results so i know its not the carb. Battery its 100% and new. When i try to start it it will sometimes have a sigle "quick" pop like a gunshot with a flash out of the exhaust and then nothing, just turning over non-stop. It sounded like it backfire on the intake side at one point but im not sure. I have pulled the plugs, checked for spark, even took valve cover off and checked the valve adjustments. I adjusted the valves at around 4000 miles for general service and it ran fine after that. Im about to lose my mind. The only thing I did different was I put silicone grease, very lightly, on the carb boots to aid my in sliding them back on, if this were I messed up??? Im wondering it silcone grease getting sucked into the intake valve is enough to ruin it or make it not seal? I really appreciate any help in advanced.

How old is the gas? Gas with ethanol can go bad quickly.

When cranking, back the choke off to about 3/4 if you hear any signs of life. It may be flooding. Sometimes opening the throttle slightly as you are cranking can help. Charge the battery between attempts.

If the gas is fresh, open the floatbowl drains and see if you have fuel in the bowls. You could have an issue with the petcock not opening. It does take some amount of cranking to produce enough vacuum to open the petcock, and they can go bad. You can check that it flows by manually putting vacuum to the petcock with the fuel line disconnected and see if it flows fuel.

I don't think the silicone would do anything unless there was a large amount between the plug and the boot, as it would act as an insulator.

Also, over-oiling the air filter can cause problems. If you've serviced the filter lately, you may want to check or temporarily remove it.

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• Pulled and cleaned carbs, now no start, sometimes backfires — LiL_RouD, Sun Dec 26, 2021 12:42 am

  • Check the valve adjustment and cam timing. — Leon, Mon Jan 03, 2022 8:21 pm

  • Fuel - or lack of it — jkv45, Sun Dec 26, 2021 9:24 am

    • reply — LiL_RouD, Sun Dec 26, 2021 2:44 pm

      • Fuel - too much? — jkv45, Mon Dec 27, 2021 9:24 am