kz550 carb troubles

hey everyone, i just finished cleaning the carbs on my 1983 kz550ltd. all went back together well. no extra pieces or anything. everything is run where it is supposed to. the problem i am having is that it won't suck gas. i can manually prime it and it will turn over for a few seconds but the gas won't pump. any ideas what would cause this.

You don't have any kind of pump for the fuel it is gravity fed. You might want to pull your petcock off the tank and make sure the screen is not clogged. After doing that try turning the petcock to prime and make sure you have fuel flowing from the tank. If you have fuel flow just follow the line and make sure you dont have a blockage in the fuel rail that feeds all the carbs. When you cleaned the carbs did you go through the needles and seats to make sure they are not stuck? It really is a pretty simple system there is not a whole lot that could be wrong.

Make sure you have the vacuum line to the petcock in the right place. the #4 carb has a port built into it that the other carbs don't have. That port is connected to the petcock to open it up when the engine starts. It goes to the upper pipe on the petcock.

i'd suggest double checking the vacuum and gas lines like just mentioned.

the picture in my OEM shop manual of the vacuum and gas lines is a bit misleading.

the picture has the vacuum and gas lines sitting side by side (A beside B ), but the explanation underneath reverses the order (B beside A). the picture is correct if you study it closely. but if you just glance at it quickly, it's easy to confuse the two.....which i did last weekend....:pinch: :whistle:

Post edited by: duncan, at: 2007/05/13 07:20

Do you mean that gas does not flow from the tank to the carb when the engine is running when the petcock is not on prime? Does the engine shut of from that? If it does prime, you may not need to follow Gringo's advise (sorry G), its now at the vacuum connection or the vacuum diaphragm and lines like the last 2 guys advised!

well i have done all that you guys have suggested with no luck. i still can't get the fuel to be fed into the carbs. maybe it is time to take it to a mechanic. thanks for all the advice.