KZ440 carb help

[babee_huey]

Hi,

I just recently bought an 81 Kawasaki kz440. One of the overflows on the carb was dripping so i attempted to take the carb out of the bike. I had quite the time trying to get it out, but finally it did come out.

I looked at the floats....seemed good....check the needles...they looked good. After doing all of this, I used some carb cleaner...cleaned it a bit...then put it back on the bike.

Took several mins but finally the bike started....i had to readjust the idle, but it ran good for a while. Overflow was still dripping gas though.

I turned the bike off, came back 10 mins later...and tried to start it again. I had a heck of a time getting it restarted, but finally it did; however, the idle was messed up...and i lost a lot of throttle response. It ook several secs to build up an rpm.

So the next day i took the carb back out...and checked everything. I took the float bowl apart again and noticed some little rust flakes......later i traced that back to the gas tank. So i cleaned the inside with carb cleaner again. Put it all back together and back on the bike. This time I put a fuel filter inline...and replaced one of the hoses. The problem is...the hose i'm not sure what it does...but it doesn't seem to carry any gas, so i'm guessing it's a vacuum hose. The new hose i got to go around it didn't fit very tight...but i went ahead and put it on there.

Got everything together again and it took me forever to get the bike to start, but finally it did. it was idling ruff, and again the throttle response was HOrrible. If i chock the carb the engine will have good throttle response, but soon it almost dies (probably from being flooded).

Anyone have any ideas why the carb is acting up now? I just cleaned it...and checked the floats...and now i have 3 problems instead of just dripping gas:

1. sluggish throttle response
2. ruff idle
3. dripping gas


I would appreciate ANY help. I am new to bikes and honestly i don't know too much mechanically, but usually i can work through stuff. This bike i bought was just a recreation thing...i thought it would be fun to ride, and make it a hobby to work on it. :S Thanks

Kevin

[Dr. Feelgood]

This may or may not help but I noticed that if one of the overflow tubes has any blockage or build-up of pressure the bike will start VERY hard if at all and gas leak out the filters or what not. If the gas tank is rusting its very possible some gunk that carb cleaner won't necessarily clean out is blocking up the system somewhere. Check and flush every hose the runs to the gas tank or carb in lieu of a better plan or more info.

[babee_huey]

thanks for the reply!

I don't have problems with blockage from the overflows.....they leak gas pretty good...or at least one of them does.

I appreciate your fast reponse though! If you have any more info...i'd appreciate any help.

[Dr. Feelgood]

I guess the vacuum leaks you hinted at would be my next plan of attack. I'm sort of new to bikes and carbs myself....most of my work being with FI cars. I'd check that vaccum line....and any others for that matter, maybe spray some carb cleaner around to check connections. I'm going to throw this one out but maybe your just running super rich, can you lean the air/fuel mixture out?

[woundwort]

Hit the rear of the carb with carb cleaner while running, Air cleaner side.

Those small passages at the rear are usually the idle circuit.

Ideally you would take the carb apart. romove all rubber parts and soak it in carb and parts cleaner for 30 mins to 1 hour then blow clean with compressed air.

[babee_huey]

Thanks for all replys!

I took the carb out....threw the jets, needles and such in some carb cleaner....and then took thin wire and cleaned out the jets.....put everything back together....adjusted the carb....and looked over at the table and forgot to put those plugs back in the carb....so i took everything apart again...put it back together..this time switching the floats....and then put the carb back in the motorcycle. checked the spark plugs and from 2 days of trying to start and get it tuned...the plugs weren't too great...so i got some new ones

She's running great now! Throttle response is better than it ever has been...the rpm's from 1K to 6K fly and the idle is perfect...1300rpms...best thing yet....no gas throwing up out of the overflows.

Off of ebay i found a used good carb for my style motorcycle for $75 (including shipping) so i jumped on it....just to have for parts and replacement.

I also decided to put a fuel filter inline with the tank to stop some of the rust flakes coming through. It seems to help, when i get a chance i'm going to get some of the inner tank coating (i don't remember the name of it) but it puts a coating inside the tank. I heard it works well.

Anyways i'm proud....I knew nothing about motorcycle till this week....and for a controls/electrical engineer i was able to fix the prob! (Well with everyone's help Thanks

Kevin

[Tony Beare]

well thats good, but i was just gonna say..im having the exact same problem with my bike, sounds like flooding while driving, idles to high and rough and stalls, ive done everything everyone said here, except the hoses from the gas tank guess ill try this now...thanks

[eric the red]

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