I have an 04 Suzuki Eiger LTF400. I bought it new and have not had the time to ride that I thought I would. I let the bike sit for almost 2 years untouched. (Only 130 miles in 4 years). I didn't drain the gas, and when I tried to get this thing going again, I couldn't. (Yeah - I'm an idiot!)

I took the bike to one guy who got it running with carb cleaner, but didn't diassemble the carb, and within a month I couldn't get it going again. Then - I took it into the dealer, and they charged me $180 for labor, and $4.50 for a can of carb cleaner. I brought the bike home, and ran it for a couple miles. I tried to start it again 2 weeks later, and I can't get it to run again.

I think that it needs a better cleaning than it got, so I want to pull the carb, and clean it thoroughly. I've ordered a rebuild kit, and have started tearing the bike apart. I got the gas tank off, and was looking around and found oil in the air filter box. The filter is soaked with oil, and there is about 1/2 cup in the bottom. I have 2 questions for the mechanics here...

1. I can't figure out how to get the carb off the bike. Is there a guide somewhere that tells how to do this? Online would be GREAT! I am at a loss as to how to get the carb off the bike from here.

2. How does oil get in the air filter box? Can it be bad valves after only 130 miles?

Please - I'm desperate guys....Can anyone help?

 

Could it just be oil from the air filter. When I re oil mine it always seems to leave a bunch in the bottom of the air box.

As for the carb when I did it I pulled the plastic of the sides and was able to wiggle it out the left side. Just make sure you have everything unhooked.Throttle cable,vent hoses,fuel lines,choke(I forgot the choke cable) it took a bit of doing the first time but now I can do it in about 10 min.

hope this helps

 

I don't know about oil for the air filter. It seems like a lot...I mean - when I squeeze the filter, it runs out. I have no idea on how to see which one is in there.

Well - I'm done with the carb. I fought with that dang thing for a while, but not bad. I got everything off EXCEPT for the chock cable. (I was worried that if I unscrewed it, I would be doing something bad inside the carb.) Basically, I set a box on the foot well, and had enough slack in the choke cable to set and work on the carb right there. I drained the bowl, then I double checked my idle needle. (I read here that it should be run all the way in and then pulled back 1.5 turns. This thing was out ... must have been 5 turns.) I then removed the bowl, and all the jets and soaked them in carb cleaner for 3 hours, then dried them off and put them back together. I installed an in-line fuel filter just in case that was part of the problem, and it seemed like a good easy thing to do.

As for why it wouldn't start - I found something. Where the carb vent tube goes under the front seat, it was kinked 90 degrees (completely closed off). Everything is back together, and the hose is unkinked. I want to see if it will start, but the dang battery is dead. I'm charging the battery now. I'm curious if I can get the bike to start. I hope that kink was largely responsible for the problem. Do you think that hose being completely shut off would cause the bike not to start?

(ps- GreenEiger - thanks for the reply. I appreciate it!!)

 

The idle jet was probably the reason for the no start. It would take a few minutes of running for a kinked hose to stop the motor.
When you had the idle jet out for a soak...did you look thru it like looking down a telescope....to see if the center hole was clean. Its a very tiny hole, and is always the first thing to plug up in the carb. If it still wont start, make sure the center hole is clear thru. If its still plugged, just replace it, because it can be a real problem trying to clean it out, and a new one is about 5 bucks.
I think the mixture screw should be closer to 2 to 2.5 turns out to start, and fine tune from there.
Heres a good article on carb jetting, and how to adjust the mixture screw.
http://www.motorcyclecruiser.c...carburetion/index.html
What color was the oil in th eair box? If it was red or blue or green, it was just filter oil, and maybe the dealership reoiled it, and used too much, but if it isnt black, I wouldnt worry about it. Just clean it good,get all the old oil and dirt out of it...... dry it out good,at least 24 hours,.... and then reoil the foam.

 

Can you not use the pull start rather than waiting to charge/replace the battery?

 

use seafoam. its a gas addative and imo the best. i run it in every tank and have never had an issue with my carb. and when i added my new pipe i had to rejet and my carb was as clean as new. i have never heard a bad review of seafoam. it will keep this problem from happening again. its also a fuel stabilizer

 

Shoot fire rango726 you beat me to the punch !

The best thing to invest in any atv, motorcycle or automobile is a good O.E.M. Service and Repair Shop Manual ; i've heard you can get them on CD download in PDF form from ebay !

But the best place to get a good O.E.M. Manual is www.repairmanuals.com These are Official Factory Service And Repair Shop Manual's , The one that cover's 2002 - 2007 Suzuki Eiger LTA400/400F is $67.00 US i think it was $2.95 shipping for where i live in GA ; are check with your local dealer for their price first !

The only way i chean a dirty Carb is to remove it from whatever brand i work on , and tear down the carb removing all rubber or plastic part's (the Chem Dip will eat Rubber or Plastic and don't get it on your hand's) and soak them in Berryman Chem Dip ; the one gallon size can is perfect for an atv it comes with a parts basket to soak the carb , jet's , seat's and needle's !

It's the strongest cleaner on the market today , where you would take 30 minutes to an hour with most part's cleaner's ; it take's 30 to 60 second's to clean the same carb !

I just take the carb apart and put the carb and part's into the cleaning basket and dunk it in 5 to 10 second interval's , you will see it eating the gunk from the carb and part's in the first 1 to 3 dunk's ; then i use water to wash the Chem Dip from the carb and part's !

And as for drying out the water , you can use compressed air or like i do ; is pour the water from the pan or a cut off milk jug you used to rinsh the Chem Dip from the carb and part's and pour some Acetone into the same pan or jug for drying out the water ; then remove from Acetone and let air dry !

The Acetone will air dry water from carb and part's in second's , i use Acetone when i have to pour dead or contaminated fuel from fuel tank's it's the fastest way to dry out a fuel tank as well ; and you can find it at any hardware store and once you've cleaned the carb and reinstall everything get a can of Seafoam to mix with your gas !

You can find Sea Foam at most all Auto Parts Stores , i get mine at O'Reillys for $5.99 + tax for a 16 oz can that will treat up to 25 gallons of Gas or Deisel and it's safe on 2 and 4 stroke engine's both Gas and Deisel ; Sea Foam is a fuel Cleaner/Stabilizer that will clean the entire fuel system and it also clean's the combustion chamber of built up carbon deposit's !

I highly reccormend Sea Foam and Deep Creep , Deep Creep is the same product as Sea Foam only it comes in a spray can ; i had to let my 88' GMC S1500 Jimmy 4x4 MPV sit up for a year with a full tank of gas treated with a full 16 oz can of Sea Foam while saving up for part's to replace the timing chain and gearset and the fuel was still good when i fixed the Jimmy and i wouldn't trust any other fuel treatment to work this well !

I was in the Small Engine Service And Repair Industry for over 20 yrs. and have tried every brand on the market , and the Sea Foam is by far the very best product on the market ; and it's been around since 1942 my only regret is i didn't try it sooner !........

 

hey duxrok

it's a goos idea to put some kind of filter on that vent tube. It goes direct to the fuel bowl and stuff can go right down and clog it all up.

No problems

 

The color of the oil was red. I am going to pull it out, and ring it so it isn't so soaked. I'll also soak up the half cup of oil in the bottom of the box. Then I will know if it is getting more by watching it. It wasn't dark, so it probably isn't engine oil. I hadn't thought of that. That was a good point!

I've heard of the SeaFoam - I had read someone on here talking about it, and getting it from Walmart. Of course, the one I went to didn't have it, so I skipped it. I will stop on the way home and get some.

I probably could have tried pull starting it, but with the luck I have been having getting is started, I was afraid I would just be pulling my arm off in vain. I was literally trying to get it started for a minute at a time before I had given up on it all together. I don't think that my bike could be pull started. What the heck - maybe I'll give that a try when I get home too.

I've ordered a rebuild kit off ebay for the carb the other day, but haven't received it yet. I got ahead of myself, and jsut cleaned it up good, and soaked the parts I could get out of it. I didn't soak the whole thing because I didn't take the choke cable off of it. Instead, I went ahead and cleaned it out really well. I checked the fuel from the bowl for contaminates - I didn't see anything suspicious.

I read somone said they replaced the vent tube with a stronger fuel cable, and then used a make shift filter on the end of it to keep junk out of it. I plan to do the same thing.

Thanks for the carb link. Being I am going to have to become more familiar with this stuff - its a good place to start.

I really appreciate all the help guys!!!!!!!


I was really hoping that the kinked hose would be my problem.

 

When you removed the pilot jet from the carb body..was the center hole clear, all the way thru it? Thats the most important step in cleaning the carb.
Careful when you wring the foam filter, they say to not do that, becasue it can cause tears and openings, for dirt to come thru. Just press it betwen two paper towels, and the excess will come out