[titan23]

I have a 2004 Vstar it will only start and idle when the choke is fully on, but immediately dies when I turn down the choke or turn the throttle? I've changed out the fuel, replaced the fuel filter, replaced the spark plugs and removed the air filter. Still no luck? I've attempted to clean the carb and run some Gumout carb cleaner through it, But must admit I don't know what I'm doing with the carbs? Any suggestion on what to do or look for? (Thanks!)

 

[Easy Rider]

removed the air filter.
I've attempted to clean the carb and run some Gumout carb cleaner through it,

Except for removing the air filter (exactly the wrong thing to do), you are on the right track. May require a professional carb. cleaning.

There are a couple of things left that you can do. A vacume leak can cause this kind of problem.......too much air is as bad as too little gas.

Check the rubber boots from carb. to engine to be sure you don't have a vacume leak. Also check the vacume line from carb. to petcock.

If that doesn't pan out, nursing it through a 5-10 minute idle to get things nice and warm.....and the carb cleaner circulating, may yield an improvement after it sits a while.

Good luck!

 

[bzippi]

+1 on what Easy Rider said.

You also might want to check the pilot jets.

 

[wis_bow_huntr]

Have you made any changes to your bike such as exhaust? If you changed out your exhaust you may need to rejet your carbs, actually I recomend it. If you only drilled out your exhaust or made no changes, you may have a carb related issue. These are cold blooded machines and sometimes mine takes time before I can remove from full choke on a cold start, then move it to half choke for a couple mins and then close it. If your running it with the choke on too long you may burn out a cylinder. Im leaning towards a good carb cleaning and maybe new jets on this one.

 

[Easy Rider]

Im leaning towards a good carb cleaning and maybe new jets on this one.

Hopefully in the intervening 3 years he has solved the problem........or given up and sold it. :mrgreen:

And if operating the choke, an enricher actually, gives it the right amount of fuel to run smoothly, it is HIGHLY unlikely that any damage will be done. :bluethum:

 

[ohyeah29]

I am having the exact same issue with mine, except my VStar is a '99 model. It ran great before winter, it has set up and now will not run outside of choke. This is my first bike and I am not really familiar with cleaning the jets and ect.

 

[Ironjoey]

Try running some seafoam cleaner through there. Probably got gummed up over the winter...
Did you put any stabilizer in the tank before it sat?

Sent by middle finger express

 

[ohyeah29]

I did not. I know now, though. I will try running some seafoam cleaner through it. Where would I pick it up? Just an auto parts store?

 

[Ironjoey]

Its available at most auto parts places, O'Reilly, Napa, etc.


http://www.seafoamsales.com/where-to-buy/

Sent by middle finger express

 

[Easy Rider]

I will try running some seafoam cleaner through it.

There are better carb cleaners than Seafoam.....which was originallly formulated to be a stabilizer for marine fuel.

Berrymans B12 Chemtool and Gumout both should give better results......and at about 1/3 the price.
Available at any parts store and most WalMarts.

Use 2X the recommended dose (2 oz. per gallon of fuel) and let it idle until hot.
Cool down and repeat. Should see some results after the second hot/cold cycle.

If not, manual cleaning will be required and that often is best left to a shop......if you don't know someone who has done it before.

 

[ohyeah29]

Alright. Cleaned the carbs and jets. Wasn't too tough. Replaced the fuel, fuel filter and fuel line. Nothing has changed. Same problem exists. Any other suggestions?

 

[ohyeah29]

Spoke too soon. Left it running in choke mode for a few minutes. Throttled it while gently pushing the choke in. It worked, but will not idle for very long without the choke on. but, it will crank now and if I give it gas, it is not dying...

 

[Easy Rider]

Spoke too soon. Left it running in choke mode for a few minutes. Throttled it while gently pushing the choke in. It worked, but will not idle for very long without the choke on. but, it will crank now and if I give it gas, it is not dying...

Your experience is typical.
In your cleaning, you probably missed the pilot "jets" which are tiny passages and it takes special care to get them cleaned.
It is possible that your idle speed is just set too low now.
You do know that the engine needs to warm up a while on partial choke before you should expect it to run and idle good......right ??
That condition will be even worse if you are testing without a stock air filter in place.

Then re-read post #10 above.
A healthy dose of a good cleaner and a couple of hot/cold engine cycles might fix you right up.

 

[ohyeah29]

I set the idle speed a little higher. It'll crank and idle ok now. But, it is running like crap. I drove it down the road, but when opening it up, it acts as if it has very little power. And, the noise from the pipes is different...can't explain it, but it kinda sounds like there is resistance somewhere. Might just have to take this problem to a mechanic.

 

[Easy Rider]

I set the idle speed a little higher. It'll crank and idle ok now. But, it is running like crap. I drove it down the road, but when opening it up, it acts as if it has very little power. And, the noise from the pipes is different...can't explain it, but it kinda sounds like there is resistance somewhere. Might just have to take this problem to a mechanic.

Yes, if you aren't going to listen to ALL of the parts of the advice you get here.......why continue to post ??
By that, I mean making sure you have stock air filters in place (yes, that can make a BIG difference) and putting some good carb cleaner in the gas.

You could, of course have other troubles.....like only firing on one cylinder but given your history and symptoms, the above things have fixed a lot of similar problems without a mechanics visit. It's all a matter of which is more important to you, the time or the money.

 

[ohyeah29]

I continue to post because I have done EVERYTHING that has been listed. Do you think I took the old filter out and not replace it?? Come on man! (In the voice of Mike Ditka) And, after I pulled and cleaned the carbs AND the jets, replaced the gasoline in the tank, I added the SEAFOAM as instructed. Is there anything else that I am leaving off that was posted???

 

[Easy Rider]

I continue to post because I have done EVERYTHING that has been listed.

I'm done.
How am I supposed to KNOW that.
In your last post, you only addressed ONE of the THREE things I suggested.
That makes me believe that you ignored the other two things.
SIGH.

P.S. Seafoam is NOT a really good carb cleaner.

 

[ohyeah29]

Seafoam is what was suggested. That's why I used it. If anyone else has any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[ohyeah29]

Bringing this back up, I have been told by someone else that the carbs have adjustment screws...that I might be letting in too much air or too little gas. Is there anyone here that can instruct me on where this adjustment screw is and how to adjust it? Thanks!

 

[slozomby]

stuff on the following link should helpCarb sync - 650CCnD.com