225dx wont stay running

[85burbanator]

ive been tinkering on an off with my 83 or 84 225dx for alittle bit now and cant get it to stay running. here's a run down of whats been going on with this thing.

i got the bike from a buddy for hella cheap as it was in a field for a few years. said it ran when they parked it then it gradually found its way into the lawnmower graveyard he had goin on.

i started by cleaning the carb and replacing a few jets and o-rings with the proper replacement. put a new plug and battery in it and it turned over great but wouldnt start. it had great spark and what felt like good compression (dont have a tester). fast forward to about a month ago. we got it run after pouring some gas into the carb. it took some coaxing and at first would only run for a few seconds then die. it would then take a few minutes before it would run again. we finaly got it to run for about a minute or 2 by playing with the throttle. then it died and wouldnt restart. while it was running i noticed oil coming from the crankcase breather hose that came loose from the air box.

today i changed the oil and tried to start it via the elctric starter and it wouldnt start. i got it to start by pouring alittle gas in the carb and using the recoil start (same way we got it running before). it ran for about 1 minute then died and wouldnt restart. i decided to check the valve timing but the book (clymers) was very vague. im assuming the little groove in the threads on the flywheel sight screw hole deal is what the flywheel timing mark should line up with but again it didnt say in the manual. i looked at the timing gear and the mark on the gear was at about the 1o'clock position with the stationary mark at the 12o'clock position. both whould line up with the perspective marks correct?

im sure the carb needs some adjusting and posibly the timing needs to be reset but why wont it start with the electric start? it turns the motor over just fine and its getting spark with both the electronic and recoil starters. i want to get this dude up and running for the misses this winter so i can ride my bike and she can ride this. im kinda selfish i guess

any ideas would be greatly apprecieated as i cant really afford to take the bike in and have a shop look at it.

thanks
mike

[trizilla]

start by checking fuel flow to the carb. pull the line off the carb and turn the petcock to the on position, if you have good flow turn it to the reserve position and check that also. if there's no or very little flow remove the petcock from the tank and thoroughly clean it. once you've done this go back through that carb and double check everything, be sure to set your pilot adjust screw at the proper setting. once these are done go back to the airbox and check your filter out, im betting that this will be no good if its been sitting for a while. if your fortunate enough to have this filter be good make sure its clean and re-oiled. i think will get you going.

[85burbanator]

i already cleaned the petcock and al lthat. it has full flow to the carb. i should have stated that already, sorry. im gunna take the carb apart again am check it over to see if anything is clogged again. it doesnt have an airfilter on it. there were any hoses on the airfilter box to the carb. there was a cap on the carb when i got the bike so im not sure if anything got into the motor but it didnt sound like it.

mike

[Lukeatc185]

i think i read on here a while ago that if you have bad rings you can get blowback into the crank case. this would be why you seen oil comming out of the crank case vent maybe? and it would explain the hard time starting. im not 100% sure im remembering right some on else on here will correct me if im wrong.

[trizilla]

if your dumping gas into anything ( plug hole or carb) to get this to fire, your obviously not getting gas into the cylinder. how many turns out are you on the pilot?

[85burbanator]

what ever it specified in the manual. im gunna take the carb back apart to make sure it isnt plugged or anything. im gunna get some clear tubing also to check the fuel level in the float bowl.

[Lukeatc185]

compression would still make sence to me. without good compression the piston cant really pull in the fuel and air as well. so if he put gas into the back of the carb it is pulled into the cylinder alot easyer. and if he goes right to the spark plug hole its the same idea. im pretty sure the oil comming from the crank case means there is a compression issue or something along those lines.

[85burbanator]

that why im trying to adjust the valves or valve timing before i tear it open and put a new piston or rings in it. arent both marks on the flywheel and timing gear supposed to line up with the perspective stationary marks at the same time?

[Lukeatc185]

im not 100% sure on yamaha's but on hondas its. the T lines up with a marking on the cam gear that is supose to line up to a mark on the rocker cover. at this time there should be no force on your valves. they should be both closed. then you move the flywheel a little further to "F" and thats where you line up spark timing.

[85burbanator]

the is only a little hash mark on the for the flywheel. no f or t as it states in the manual.

[MonroeMike]

Before you start messing with the timing, clean the jets again.

Make sure you can see light through them, the long way.

[85burbanator]

i checked the jets and they were good and clean. i set the carb to stock specs as described in the manual (clymers) and reinstalled it. i got some clear tubing to check the fuel level and it was good. i then attempted to start the bike for about 15 minutes with no luck. she's still getting spark and i dumped some gas into her but nothing worked. i tried with both the recoil and electric starr with the same result. think the rings might need to be changed? maybe freshen up the top end and see where thats goes?

[MonroeMike]

You need to get your hands on a compression tester. Harbor Freight has a cheap one, if you can't borrow one from somebody.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=95187

[85burbanator]

well I got the hf comp tester and the highest it read was 30psi. No good, now it has a shrader valve in the tip that inserts in the plug hole. Should I remove that and try again or is that just to hold pressure at the gauge

[MonroeMike]

The valve belongs there.

Did you hold the throttle open during the compression test?