1979 MKii No workie...

I have cleaned the tank and sealed it. I rebuilt the petcock and there were no tubes in the tank other than some long skinny screen of sorts which I also cleaned.

Should there be tubes inside the gas tank?

As for the PRI position, is it safe to ride with it in that position?

Jason

Safe to ride in "prime", just shut it off when the engine isn't running. The rebuilt carbs should prevent any leaks anyway, but it's better to be safe.

Sorry, have to ask...you didn't seal the tank with the petcock installed did you? I've seen it before. :ohmy: Also seen the vent in the cap plugged by sealer, but we've already tested that.


I'd bet a DIME on the fuel supply :laugh: This one shouldn't be too hard to figure out. Hang in there - we're getting close now!!

No petcock or gas cap on during the sealing process. I rebuilt the petcock after before I reinstalled it.

I have one of the flatter in line filters and I also bought a longer tube shaped one form Z1. I thought they were both high flow, but I will investigate further.

Jason

Would assure ample fuel flow from petcock when in PRI position.

Would next assure ample fuel flow through in-line filter with petcock in PRI position.

PRI position is to avoid any possible issue with the petcock diaphram.

Good Luck!

OK... here's what it may be...

Between carbs 1 and 2 there is a hose
fitting that looks like a fuel inlet.

It's not...its a bowl vent line and should
not be plugged. Other wise...you seem to
run out of gas when you get above 40mph.

Same thing between carbs 3 and 4...

How do I know this....experience my friend,
experience...Been there..done that.

Bob...

What's the latest on the bike Monkonmonk?

Well, I had not had much time to work on the bike as my job is occupying a lot of my time. But, just to prevent any inclination about the battery I went and bought a new one. It is fully charged and ready to go in the bike today.

Also, bob I know what you are talking about and for me those vent back to the airbox.

Also, I switched out the other filter I had to a new one that specifically said "High-Flow." so that hopefully i cannot blame the fuel filter, which should be helping not hurting.

I did have one question though. Which carb holders are supposed to provide the vacuum for the fuel and which two are supposed to be plugged?

The two that are supposed to be plugged are currently connected by a hose, should they not be?

Monk

monkonmonk wrote:

...Which carb holders are supposed to
provide the vacuum for the fuel and which
two are supposed to be plugged? The two that
are supposed to be plugged are currently
connected by a hose, should they not be?....

Besides the usual 4 vacuum nipples
on the carb holders, there may be yet
another vacuum nipple for attaching
a hose to a vacuum operated petcock.
If using a manual petcock, such additional
nipple should also be capped (sealed).

When not engaged in synching, all vacuum
nipples should be sealed (usually with
rubber caps) except for whichever one
may be needed to supply vacuum to a
vacuum petcock.

Without enough good rubber caps available,
it's not unusual to see the nipples connected
with a hose, which effectivly functions as
capping the 2 hose-connected nipples.
IMO it's better to fit the individual rubber
caps onto the nipples, because using a hose
between nipples adds risk of a crack in the
hose (and sometimes more confusion about
proper connections among a plethora of
hoses, according to El Guapo).

Good Luck!

I didn't read your whole thread, but just a reminder.
Stick the the basic essentials 1st.
Pull all the plugs, reinstall them in the plug wires, hold ea. plug against the head and crank the engine from the button, makeing sure everyone of them are fireing.
A motor is supposed to be at operating tempature for a realistic compression reading, but while you have the plugs out, take a reading. Make sure all 4 cylinders are within 20 lbs. of each other.
Check your cam chain tensioner for operation, as well as base timing.
Check for vacuum leaks, specially in any dry rot cracks etc, that may be in the carb boots.
Assumeing the firing order is correct ? If you check the basics, and still can't find any issues.
I would give George a call. He's a great guy and has helped me out more than once.
Maybe I missed something from not reading all of your thread. But I am just trying to help. and the essentials, and basics always comes 1st with any problem.

Well, I had a chance to tinker with the bike a bit yesterday. I got the new battery installed and checked all my vitals, all was well. I proceeded to attempt to start the bike. Nothing. I check for spark on the #4 spark plug and found nothing. Hmmmmm.

I unplugged and replugged in the igniter, then tried to start and still nothing. I went and got some screwdrivers and came back tried to start it again and woohoo it started.

Because the bike left me stranded a couple of times prior I was reluctant to take it for a ride, so I let it idle for a while to see if it would shut off. And, it did. As soon as it died, I pulled a spark plug and checked for spark....nothing.

Then I tried all the various electrical connections on the bike, plugging and unplugging them. Still after every single one, nothing. then for some reason the bike started after a while while I was doing something else. this time I let it run and run and run. I revved the throttle a couple of times to check its response and all seemed well. It did not die even though I had checked both prime and run positions on the petcock.

I rode it around the block in the neighborhood with good results. Let it idle some more. Rode it around the block again. Let it idle some more. And did this a third time. All the while I am iding in second gear trying to get the rpms up to see if I can recreate what happened before. No luck. However, while it was idling the last time I started to notice some excessive smoke coming from the valve cover. It looks as though the valve cover gasket is leaking some oil on to the exhaust manifold. Upon closer inspection it looks as though the valve cover gasket is making little bubbles all around the valve cover gasket. What is this?

I went out this morning and moved the bike. While I did I thought I would try to see if I could start it and it sprang to life.

What the heck is going on? How do I know the bike will not just die on me again? I want to trust my KZ for that bigger biek ride or camping trip. Heck, I would like to be able to ride it the 3 miles to work.

Still frustrated, Monk.

If not already done, would assure good
solid connection where cable from battery
negative terminal attaches to ground on the
engine or frame.

Also double-check for tight cable
connections at the battery terminals.

Would then measure voltage across battery
terminals with engine at idle rpm --
look for 12-13 volts.

Again measure voltage across battery
terminals with engine at 3000-4000 rpm --
look for 14-16 volts.

Would sniff-test oil to assure no
fuel intrusion into crankcase.

Good Luck!

Patton, thanks for the response, I will look into all of those tonight.

I just want a bike I can trust to ride further than 0.5 miles.

Monk