I have a 1999, ETON XTL 50.

The bike ran very good at the beginning of the summer. I drained the tank and put new fuel, the plug was checked and I have a very good spark. I put a new battery, cleaned the carb and it will only run if I hold my hand over the intake. I can ride the bike and it will run very good with my hand over the intkae of the carb.

I check the solenoid wiring, I get 13 VAC when I crank the engine. I removed the solenoid on the carb to test if the plunger moves when I get the 13 VAC. I do not see it move. I really do not what the solenoid does. I never had a bike with one.

Can anyone tell me if this is my isse?

Please help!

Does anyone have a service manual?

 

I can't help you with a specic answer, but consider this:
Engines need approximately a 13/1 air/fuel ratio to run properly. If you have to hold your hand over the carb inlet for it to run, you are restricting the air flow to compensate for a lack of proper fuel quantity.

I know that you already cleaned the carb, but I would suggest doing it again very throughly. Another thought would be to check the fuel filter for proper flow.

 

Good info IdahoVinnie!! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Thank you. Thank you very much. (Elvis) [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

either that or it's lean due to an intake leak (Or it's sucking wind somewhere else)

 

Another update:

Well I took the carb down again. I cleaned it again with carb cleaner. I did check the float to see if it was working. I did notice one jet with some trash. I ran compressed air through all jets, etc.. I also, check to see if the intake maniflod had cracks and it look brand new.

FYI - I did learn more about the carb. It has a very small line going to the carb. It is use for oil injections. The bike has a small oil tank under the seat.

I also call a local shop and find somone who knew a little about the Etons. They claim the solenoid is for a electronic choke. The also know that you can buy a manual choke kit for the carb. That tell me the electronic must give problems or they issues withe the solenoid.

They also wanted to sell me a new complete carb. At this point, I might give in and just buy a new one. I'm from the old school, I want to fix it, not replace it.


After all of the cleaning, I put it back together and I got the same thing.

What are your thoughts at this point? My wife wants me to buy a new ATV. I really new a manual at his point.

The new carb is starting to sound good at this point.

Can it be a restriction in the muffler?

 

I have had a pipe bad from residue in it. I heat em up cherry red and blow compressed air thru. Won't hurt to try that.

 

I think I'd clean out the gas tank, and put a new filter on it, also. One thing about the eton's is when they get low on gas they don't run very well. We use to run ours on reserve all the time. When I rebuilt the quad I found a strainer in the reserve nozzle of the tank. I removed the strainer and ran a bigger line to the carb.

 

it definitely wants more fuel (running lean)

btw, the machine will not run properly without the very restrictive stock airbox. when you do your tests, completely reinstall it. fyi, when running a low restriction k&n type aircleaner on this machine, the main jetting requirement goes from a stock 75 size to about a 100.

try some simple stuff first-
drain gas and replace to make sure you dont have water in it.
replace your plug. (lean mixtures are harder to ignite)
check fuel strainer on gas tank petcock.

if it's gotten alot colder and thats when the problem started, i would not be surprised if it wants a bigger main jet.

as far as the electrical thingy on the carburetor, its an electronic choke. the way it works is when the engine starts, electrical power is fed to a tiny electrical heater element in the top of the black solenoid looking thing. the heater warms a copper element that slowly expands, pushing a spring loaded needle against a seat, and thereby shutting off fuel enrichment. by that time the engine is thought to be warmed up. it's unlikely this is your problem if the issue persists after the engine has warmed, if you could even get it started to begin with.

 

Hey guys,

Thanks for trying to help. A lot of good info.

I will drain the tank again and check the strainer and the petcock.

I will get a new plug and fill the tank with fresh gas to rule out the basics stuff.

By the way, the temp here is about mid 70's during the day.

I agree, I need to try running the bike with the restricted air box. But, with the air box installed it will not even pop. I will run down the battery trying to get it to start. You have a good point, maybe I have some water in the fuel. But, I used the same tank to fill up my sons Honda 70 and it runs great. But I will still go and gets some fresh fuel to rule it out.

In the pass, I had to take the air box off on cold starts and hold my hand over the intake to choke it. Once it started, it ran great. I only had to do that on a "first cold start", after that it always started all day long with the airbox inplace.

Again, thanks for the help