I was riding my 04 Z400 last weekend for the first time. IT was great except for the fact that it kept stalling. The only way i could start it again was to move the gas switch to Prime start it and move back to run. Then i could ride for a couple mins until it stalled again. Anyone heard of this? I ended up leaving it ion Prime and didn't have any more problems. Is this a good idea to run this machine on Prime when it is very cold outside?


Thanks,
Rafiki

 

Probably need to adjust your idle up a little. It's not a good idea to run on prime either.

 

If you're still under warranty and a dealership is nearby have them fix it.

It could very well be that the carburetor float is set improperly.

Are you sure you had enough gas in your tank and that you weren't actually
supposed to be running on reserve?

 

Yes,
It was the first time i rode the bike so it was full of gas. I was thinking that maybe the float just needed a little time to adjust?



Rafiki

 

My tank wasn't full when I first got it.

 

The float? No. Rarely does the float need to be adjusted. This is probably something as simple as an unplugged vacuum line from the petcock to the carb, or a faulty petcock.

It's pretty obvious fuel isn't flowing when it should since putting it in reserve gets it running again.

 

Well I'm gonna take a stab at this because this happened to me...

It looked like I had a decent amount of gas left in my tank, but I just kept stalling and couldn't figure out why, so I switched to the reserve and had no problems. The thing is, even though it looks like there is still gas left in the tank, it is actually in the reserve. So if your tank was COMPLETELY full when this happened, then you need to start checking lines etc., but if it wasn't full, and it will run on reserve, then fill it back up and your problem is solved.

 

ok here is the reason it is doing this. The fuel petcock is faulty its vacuum operated and when you have the gas turned to the on position it opens the line the same way that is is when in the prime position. Ive seen these fail before its not commen but ive seen it at the dealership before. It should be covered under warrenty id think im not in service so I wouldent know for sure but when you turn it to prime it eleminates this vacuum line that opens the gas line and if you will by passes the vacuum part of it. It does not hurt it to run it like this in the prime position but you should go and get it fixed. You im sure would want everything to work correctly on you new machine or at least I would if it was mine. The float has nothing to do with the lack of gas in the fuel lines and neither does the idle. This is more then likelly the cas of what it is and im sure that its the petcock if this is true about your symptom.

 

OK thanks for the info z838mx. I will have that looked at!

 

Ummm.. isn't that what I said? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

Also, make sure the choke cable at the carb isn't binding.. that happens way to easy. Start it up, let it idle. Turn the bars full to the left, then to the right... if it dies or revs up, then you've got a cable problem.