Engine won't stay running; need help

Thanks everyone for the input. I really appreciate all of it. I drove down to my pop's place today to mess with it before work. Took the carbs off again and messed with them some more.

Something I noticed is that the idle adjuster doesn't even touch the throttle thingy. With no cables connected at all, it's completely ineffective. So, once I got the carbs back on, I kept the throttle on just a tad, then I was able to take the choke all the way off. But without modifying something, I have no way to adjust the idle up. Unless I can do it via the throttle cables themselves. Otherwise, I'll need to weld an extra quarter inch of adjuster to the end of the .... adjuster.

Thoughts?

Sounds like the carbs have been taken off before and played with, then not been set up correctly after, best thing you can do is get a manual and set up by the book after they have been properly cleaned, and don't use wire from anything as this is so amateur and can damage the drillings in the jets and carbs, if that happens it will get more expensive

I don't know. It's only got 11k miles on the bike and the only people to ever work on it was the Kawasaki shop in town. Then there was me. But all I did was disconnect the cables to get the carbs out to clean them. I never messed with the idle adjuster. I've gone over that entire area of the carbs and everything looks intact. Nothing looks bent or modified in any way. Unless the entire mechanism has rotated in some way. I didn't look for that. Just thought about it. Damn. Now I need to go back and check for that. Tomorrow.

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationThis is what it should look like although the thread looks badly worn on this one. But it gives you some scale. It adjusts by screwing into the holder. In increases idle, out decreases idle. Are you sure its not just unscrewed to the point of not touching the cable butterfly?

That's what it looks like. I screwed it completely in and it doesn't touch. if I removed the spring, it might touch. There's maybe a 1/16 inch to 1/32 in ch gap. Not much. But enough. Or ... not enough. Depending on whether you're a pessimist or optimist. lol

Set it in the center of it's travel then adjust the slides using a small drill bit or wire. It's called bench syncing.
Steve
Start it at 3:30

Can you please upload a pic of the carb set with the idle adjuster in.

Some of the info in this thread is good stuff. I would add to slmjim's list of to-dos to replace cables and lube them and replace brake lines with modern stuff and disassemble master cylinder(s) and rebuild as needed and replace brake fluid. Replace the pads as well. This stuff is often neglected.

A common reason for the idle adjust screw not contacting the bellcrank is the wrong (too long) spring OR someone attempted to bench sync the carbs and used the adjust screws to lower the sync assemblies too low. In this case, first bend back the washer things on the M5 hex head screws. Loosen the hex head screws with a 7mm socket. Then loosen the locknuts on the adjusting screws. Back all four out and then tighten them till the slides barely touch the venturi. You MUST do all four. Now tighten your idle adjust screw so it opens up the slides just a tad. Now use the sync adjust screws with flat screwdriver to tighten them to just closed. If you leave an eyelash opening and the same on all four slides you can now tighten the hex head screws first then then hold the adjuster screws with a flat blade screwdriver and lightly tighten the lock nut. Bend the washer thing back up over the hex head screw so it doesn't loosen.

Now open your slides and you will note the assembly is bench sync'd. Open about an 1/8" so the bike will idle high when started and you will have to throttle it down once warmed. Don't put your hand on the throttle when using the choke.

OK folks, sorry for the late reply. The gap at the idle adjuster was bugging me, so I took the carbs out and found a bolt that locks the throttle pulley to the rod that runs through the carbs. I loosened it and readjusted the pulley on that rod, reinstalled the carbs and .... it ran perfectly! With a little adjustment to the idle, which is now possible with the adjuster.

So ... I took it for a ride!!! AMAZING! I made it 9 miles and it stopped running. Electrical problem. Turned out to be a blown main fuse. Replaced it and was able to drive it home again.

So now the question is ... is there a problem somewhere that caused that fuse to blow or what? I haven't been able to get down there to mess with it anymore, but my plan is to just ride it and carry a bunch of fuses until I can figure out what might be causing fuses to blow. I found some troubleshooting guides in the Clymer manual, but haven't had a chance to run through them yet.

Anyway, just didn't want to leave anyone hanging with this topic. Also, for those asking for pictures, I haven't had a phone to take any with, so no new pictures. But I have received my phone in the mail since then and will take more the next time I'm down there.

Bad contacts or connections can make them run hot. Also check your main ground to the engine.
Steve

Will do. The box and fuses were in perfect shape as far as I could see. No corrosion or anything. I didn't check the ground though. Not yet anyway. I'll be riding with a pocket full of fuses though. lol

If you have a schematic look at the path from the main fuse to the several fused circuits after that. It can be rubbed through wire insulation causing a short to ground between the two. Less resistance with the same voltage causes increased current flow. A hot wire touching the frame is no resistance and will pop the fuse.