Cylinder 1 dead, will not fire

Follow up post to another one I stated about cylinder 1 not firing. I'm totally baffled as to why cylinder 1 will not go. 2,3 and 4 all fire great and bike will run on 3. Carbs cleaned, and bench synced, and I know cyl 1 is getting fuel...plug is wet when pulled. I'm getting great spark, compression is 150psi. (Got new compression tester since last time, old one had crack in the hose). The only way I have got cylinder 1 to fire is by spraying starter fluid into the respective carb. With my hand on the header, I can feel it warm up as it fires off the starter fluid. 

This screams fuel issue to me but the plug is getting wet, it doesn't seem oily to me (someone mentioned a bad valve seal being the culprit. I won't rule that out yet but I'd rather not do that job just yet). 

I've swapped sparkplug caps, trimmed the plug wires etc to rule out any of that stuff and 2,3, and 4 always start right up and cyl 1 is dead and will not go. 

I have not checked valve clearances, maybe stuck intake valve, but then again starter fluid is getting through and will fire the cylinder. 

a couple more notes, float heights all all set properly so I know the pilot is getting fuel.

cylinder 1 isnt just dead at idle, even revving the bike or increasing rpm will not get it to go. 

After about 5 mins of idle and the engine warming up, and a few squirts of started fluid into cyl 1, the header will seem to hold temperature. It doesn't get nearly as hot as the others (2,3 and 4 warm up right away when the bike is started and will leave a burn if there's a prolonged touched after running for approximately 1 minute). The cyl one header gets warm, I can hold my hand on it comfortably for a little while then have to pull it away, say it gets to maybe i 110-120 deg F. I don't have a way to measure temp to give an exact number. 

with all this mumbo jumbo, what are my options and what should I look into? Has anyone else experienced a problem like this and found a solution?




 

It must be a carb problem.  Maybe some internal passage plugged in the pilot circuit.  

If you shoot carb spray into the intake throat passage shown, you should see it come out the carb throat at the pilot fuel screw (4)

 

Which carbs do you have?do they have pilot airscrew, pilot fuel screws or both? 
What happens if you lift the plug cap on number one just a few millimeters so that the spark has to jump from the cap to the plug. 
What plugs and caps are you using? Do either or both have resistors in them? 
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Warren they are tk-22s. I removed the air screw caps but haven't touched the screws themselves. I ordered caps and wires from Z1 enterprises. I believe OEM is what's on the bike now 

Just pulled the bowl. Can confirm the port is clear by spraying carb cleaner

This diagram specific to the TK22.  Same idea as posted above.  Spray should come out at #1 and #3 

 

Update. Carbs reinstalled after verifying the pilot port is clean for carb 1, swapped pilot jet with number 2 as well because I know it's clean/will fire cyl 2. Same problem, 2,3 and 4 all fire but 1 is dead. 

If the cylinder fires on starting fluid, the problem is fuel supply, not ignition or mechanical, like valves.  It's concerning that you cleaned the carbs without removing the pilot screws (or did I read wrong?)  Incomplete carb cleaning is the number one mistake that people make when restoring a bike.

I cleaned the carbs in my ultrasonic cleaner awhile back. Had them all apart. Just now, to verify the pilot porting was clean, I removed the bowl off of carb 1, removed the pilot jet, and sprayed carb cleaner into where the purple arrow is on the diagram attached. Spray came out at spot 3 on the diagram. I then swapped the pilot jet itself with the one from carb 2, reinstalled, and same issue of cyl 1 not firing. I will take back apart and verify spray comes out at spot 1 since overlooked that. 

Nessism,

you saved the day and the last 5 weeks of me being baffled. that port labeled 1 in the diagram you sent for the TK-22 carbs ending up plugged up. I was able to get a small tip cleaner in there with it bent and pop it into the port from the inside of the carb, broke up whatever crud was in there and got carb cleaner to spray through. I would've never know that port existed or to even look there🤦‍♂️. She runs on 4 now! 

thanks for the info and quick responses!

 

jstry11 wrote:

Nessism,

you saved the day and the last 5 weeks of me being baffled. that port labeled 1 in the diagram you sent for the TK-22 carbs ending up plugged up. I was able to get a small tip cleaner in there with it bent and pop it into the port from the inside of the carb, broke up whatever crud was in there and got carb cleaner to spray through. I would've never know that port existed or to even look there🤦‍♂️. She runs on 4 now! 

thanks for the info and quick responses!


 

Glad you got it sorted!  I love those 550s!