185s has me stumped

[rdlsz24]

Working on an 83 185s my brother picked up last week. He bought it with no spark so I went over the usual no spark suspects. Figured out the stator and flywheel were nasty so I cleaned them up and had spark again. It started on the 3rd pull and ran for 5 seconds or so before sputtering out. I thought I had won the battle. That was Friday night.

I spent another 6 hours or so over the course of the weekend trying to get it to run again. No luck. I went over the basics. Fresh gas, cleaned carb several times, adjusted valves, verified timing and air gap, compression is decent, etc. I can't think of anything else to check. Never had a Honduh give me such a hard time. Hell I bought my 200x with a broken piston and it still ran. At this point I would settle for any sign of life from this pos.

What am I missing?

Rob

[briano]

Try towing it and popping it in gear. I had a 185 a couple years back that would not start with the recoil after it sat for a long time, drag it around in gear it would start and run fine. Then it would start with one or two pulls, leave it for a month or so and had to drag it around again.

[Vealmonkey]

Fresh Sparkplug? Clean petcock fuel strainer? Fresh oil and clean oil strainer? ( Not necessary, but good idea). Not sure of your carb cleaning method, but maybe a more thorough cleaning needed. Check and clean all electrical connections. Make sure you have a good ground. Try jumping out the on/off switch and see what happens.

[rdlsz24]

It's a new plug. For cleaning the carb I use Gum-Out and compressed air, making sure I can see daylight through openings and jets. I can see gas going into the carb through my clear line, and I am running a new inline fuel filter in addition to the filter in the tank. I agree it does seem like a fuel issue, like a plugged pilot jet, but it's not

If I have spark can't I rule out electrical gremlins?

Rob

[xman2rman]

Did you check the CDI? Clean and gap the pulse generator? Might be worth checking.

[rdlsz24]

I didn't test the CDI but I did clean and gap the generator. If I have spark does that mean the CDI is ok or could it still be bad? I'm new to electrical problems on Hondas. I always buy them not running but usually it's a gunked carb or it runs but smokes and needs a new top end. I just want to see this thing run for a few minutes at least so I can see if it smokes.

Rob

[Vealmonkey]

If you still have spark, which you didn't mention in your original post, then I would try this to see if it helps. Get some "Sea Foam" and dump some in the fuel tank. Then try some starting fluid and see what happens. Don't forget to open up the thumb throttle when squirting the starting fluid. Also check and clean the air filter. If it runs with the starting fluid, then a fuel problem for sure. Maybe the sea foam will help a little. I don't like using compressed air on carbs, it can force dirt into small spaces. Make sure the float needle isn't all clogged up.

[rdlsz24]

Sorry, yes it does still have spark. I keep checking every so often just to be sure lol

Rob

[atc007]

See if your spark " jumps" 1/2 inch or so. I suspect good ol Weak spark. Generally after you've cleaned them and got them running,you end up needing shiny new components in there. Try ANOTHER ,,brand new plug,,if it sputters or trys at ALL,it's spark. A new plug takes much less to fire than one that has been run ,even a few seconds.

[200xman123]

buy a carb kit for it change the plug and put fresh oil and gas in it

[shortline10]

Did you do a compression check ? You need 100 psi for it to fire up , might also be a piece of carbon not seating the valve correctly , common after a bike sits a long time !!!!

[rdlsz24]

See if your spark " jumps" 1/2 inch or so. I suspect good ol Weak spark. Generally after you've cleaned them and got them running,you end up needing shiny new components in there. Try ANOTHER ,,brand new plug,,if it sputters or trys at ALL,it's spark. A new plug takes much less to fire than one that has been run ,even a few seconds.

Bingo, it was weak spark. I remembered I had a parts stator from a running 200x so I chopped the primary coil off that and wired it into the 185s stator. It started up after a couple pulls. Smokes pretty good, made my garage stink really quick. Thanks for the suggestions

Rob