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Uncle Champ

carb help (advice), I think

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Ok soooo, I ended up with a 225 in my garage that was advertised as ready to ride. It wont start, good crank but no start. I checked fuel, checked kickstand was down, drained bowl to check condition of fuel in carb, it stopped draining even with petcock in on position, I checked plug it was dry, checked spark it was good, put fuel in spark plug hole and it fired up for about a second, I thought maybe it had a vacuum actuated petcock so I took off the hose to the carb and fuel flows good but there was still no fuel coming from the bowl drain. I took a soft blow hammer and tapped the carb bowl firmly, still no fuel (that worked when I was 13 and my bike had fuel running all over), Ok so do I have to take the carb out of the bike? Can I take the bowl off where it is? Can I blow compressed air thru the fuel hose? Any tricks or time tested tips will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Uncle C

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I'd probably remove the carb, pull apart, and a couple of cans of K&W technician grade carb cleaner to flush all passages. The next part will cause most peoples red flags to come out, after unsticking the float valve needle from the seat use a Q-tip and finesse-it to polish the remaining varnish off the seat, this will give the bore of the float valve a glass smooth surface so the needle of the valve doesn't get stuck in the bore, flush with K&W and re-assemble. With carb re-assembled attach a clear tube to the open float bowl drain to set the fuel level/float height. Holding the carburetor in roughly the same position as it would be when installed use a safe fluid (water works) to confirm valve operation and float level, we wouldn't want flooding. One of those quirky things I do when it comes to the disassembly is to use a depth gauge on all mixture screws and jets so I can re-install them all in the exact same position they came out of. I know, overkill, but I've had success when I stick to this format. I'm probably overthinking it to be honest. Like my math teacher said, "If you got the correct answer the way you did it, then it wasn't the wrong way for you to do it. But that doesn't mean your way works for everybody else." So in short, I'd recommend rebuilding it. YMMV

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I'd start easy. Twist the carb in position, pull bowl. Pull pin for floats and remove them. Clean plunger and receiver. Reassemble. Open petcock and drain, confirm flow. Close drain. Start bike. Confirm it runs correctly. Open a beer and admire your handiwork.

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My guess is that if the float valve is stuck the rest of the carb is probably a mess as well particularly the pilot jet. If you have access to an ultrasonic cleaner pull the carb, dis-assemble it and clean the parts in an ultrasonic tank with 50\50 Simple Green and water for about 5 to 10 minutes. It will come out looking new.

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"new" bike start fresh, remove entire carb and clean it up, and or install a new float valve and maybe even change out all the brass. then you know exactly where your start point is.

A full service is the best thing to do so you (re)start at maintenance timeline zero.

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This was my bike..

A little history.. I fired it up and ran it just before I left for Alaska on July 23rd.

Was going to give it a good go over this weekend, but the shipper gave me 4 hours notice that he was picking it up the same day he called me so I didn't get a chance.

I don't think 2 months would be enough to gum up the carb at all, but anything is possible.

Super bummed to hear this, as I take a lot of pride in my bikes. Also super bummed I didn't get to give it a once over..

Please keep me/us posted on what it ends up being.

Bike ran perfect before I left for Alaska, so it HAS to be something simple.

Thanks

K

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float valve needle

pilot jet

Almost guarantee it's one or the other... pilot jet is cheaper to replace; float valve needle on the DRZ is $70! pilot jet is like $7. And, while it may be tempting to just clean it, you'll usually get better results with new parts.

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At the very least the float valve is stuck. How gummed up it is, you won't know until you get in there. Try cleaning it first. If the rest of the bowl is gummed up at all, remove carb and clean and clean again.

By the way. All good comments.

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This was my bike..

A little history.. I fired it up and ran it just before I left for Alaska on July 23rd.

Was going to give it a good go over this weekend, but the shipper gave me 4 hours notice that he was picking it up the same day he called me so I didn't get a chance.

I don't think 2 months would be enough to gum up the carb at all, but anything is possible.

Super bummed to hear this, as I take a lot of pride in my bikes. Also super bummed I didn't get to give it a once over..

Please keep me/us posted on what it ends up being.

Bike ran perfect before I left for Alaska, so it HAS to be something simple.

Thanks

K

Now that we know the history it's probably not all that bad. I'd just pull the carb and have a look. Probably stuck needle and maybe take a look at the pilot as well. My guess is given that it hasn't been sitting that long you can just clean them up and all will be good.

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Make sure ya ain't got a foxtail in the fuel line! They float up and shut the flow off. Then get stuck in the line . how the hell would anybody figure that out?

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float valve needle

pilot jet

Almost guarantee it's one or the other... pilot jet is cheaper to replace; float valve needle on the DRZ is $70! pilot jet is like $7. And, while it may be tempting to just clean it, you'll usually get better results with new parts.

100% agree with bikeslut. It's either the float valve needle or the pilot jet.

Easy fix, but take the carb out and give it a good once over. Won't be too hard.

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UPDATE:

So twisted it around but couldn't get one screw off the bowl, took carb out ,removed bowl and cleaned, finally got jet to move sprayed cleaned, whined. Put it back together, still had a little trouble, went and rode it. All good ! (I hope) Heavy feeling little bike but runs out good. Keeping fingers crossed

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