dont want to start

[dirtking]

well here it is the other day it was like 35 degrees out and when i went to start my 400ex(stock) it would only turn over if you kept craking on it for a little while. Is it a typical cold blooded honda or is something wrong??????

[RoadRage77]

did u check your plug?
do you have fuel?
fuel switch on?
red button in the middle on the bars?
did u put the choke on ur carb on?
do you leave your bike inside or out ?

[rocky_mtn_honda]

i dont know why everyone says these things are so cold blooded...mine fires first time everytime, even before i completely rebuilt it...at any rate, pull the plug, check for spark, pull the fuel line and make sure the petcock isnt clogged...might have to take the carb off and clean it...drain the gas in the fuel bowl, and put some nice fresh gas in it...pull the air filter and make sure she's clean...remember you only need three things for that engine to fire up, fuel, air, and ignition...check all those, and you should be up and running if everything is up to par.

[dirtking]

well the thing runs great when it gets warmed up but when you turn on the key and push the starter it will just sit there for a minute or two trying to turn over and when it finally does turn over it will stall and you have to keep cranking on it to start it will start after 5 or 6 times of this and when it does finally start i have the choke the whole way up and you have to push on the throttle i dont know if the pilot jet is not correct or what it is, or should i turn the idle screw to get it too idle higher IDK IDEAS????????

[rocky_mtn_honda]

^^did you take the carb apart and clean it as i suggested? know what jets are in there? was the petcock flowing ok? air filter clean? everything mentioned above checked out ok? or did you just spend your saturday riding instead? :D maybe thats what everyone means with the cold blooded thing...mines just never ran like that.

[matt14c]

Mine wouldnt start the other day either. Couldnt figure it out. Took all apart, cleaned carb, cleaned fuel screen in tank, swapped plugs, did compression check, checked for spark and still nothing. Got some starting fluid and took air filter off sprayed just a little bit into the intake and fired right up. I have been checking everyday since and that was tuesday and it has started right up like it used just fine. I have no idea what the problem was. Just wasnt cooperating!

[rocky_mtn_honda]

yea, ether right down its throat is always a good last option...:)

[matt14c]

Originally posted by rocky_mtn_honda
yea, ether right down its throat is always a good last option...:)

That was my last option the stubborn sob just didnt want to be ridden I guess! :devil:

[wrekd]

Originally posted by dirtking
well the thing runs great when it gets warmed up but when you turn on the key and push the starter it will just sit there for a minute or two trying to turn over and when it finally does turn over it will stall and you have to keep cranking on it to start it will start after 5 or 6 times of this and when it does finally start i have the choke the whole way up and you have to push on the throttle i dont know if the pilot jet is not correct or what it is, or should i turn the idle screw to get it too idle higher IDK IDEAS????????


Mine does the same damn thing. I think mine is too rich on the pilot. I want to bump it down to a 40. I think the 42 is too rich. Try it with the choke off and see if it starts any easier. Mine seems even harder to start when the choke is on.

Plus once I get it started and warmed up, it'll blow black smoke when I crack the throttle, let it idle a little more, crack the throttle and black smoke again. Not a real lot but enough to notice. Tomorrow I'm gonna turn the mixture screw in a little more before I start it and see if it helps. I'll post results tomorrow.

I shouldn't even bother because I'm going with a 450 carb, but curiosity gets the best of me...lol