I've been piecing this bike together since summer. A few days after I bought it(rough shape) it showed signs of life. Basically used a choke plunger from another suzuki and tinkered. Over the past few months I got numerous parts for it, and its too the point it seems worse. Only recent changes have been choke cable, throttle cable, intake tube, header pipe, and used coil but tested with good spark on universal spark tester. The old one was arcing to everything in arcing distance through plug wire.

Now it starts with choke, runs a few seconds, then idles down and stalls. trying to throttle it results in stalling. Seriously no more than 10 seconds after initial start, then it gets worse every other time. Its like the rebuild kit for the carb made no difference, if any worse. I've replaced head, head gasket, rebuilt carb, D7EA plug .024-.030". Ngk plugs are hotter plug lower the number correct? Calls for D8EA.

After head, and gasket, bike got better compression and seem to idle smoother. One thing I realized when doing the head gasket was slack in the timing chain. Didn't check timing marks though. Keep the original cam timing. But once I rebuilt the carb, it seems not to idle as long as it used to, that might be due to the choke cable or plunger though(cable and plunger from 92 lt250 4x4).

If anybody has any advice or troubleshooting advice, it would be appreciated dearly. thanx

I am to the point of having a bon fire with the quadrunner as the bonfire center.

 

hey welcome to the forum!

it seems to me like youre having some sort of fuel delivery issue. it is also very possible that your timing got messed up when you changed the chain. check this out:

Timing Marks (Suzuki LT230S Vault)

also note that the indexing pin needs to be around 11 o clock.

and yes, ngk plugs are hotter with lower numbers, and champion is the opposite.

good luck!

 

when I pull the stator case, does it have timing marks there that should coincide with the cam timing? When I pulled the old head, the chain had slack in it, due to the adjuster not being tensioned up or what not.

It may have got out of time. I just used the chain that was in it due to I was going to tear it down in winter and rebuilt it. I was trying to get it running and take it out a few times before the snow flies. I thought maybe I had an oil pump issue, but when I pulled the head to retorque the head bolts, I had fresh oil in it, unless its not sending enough volume.

Crank rotates twice to one rotation of the cam, or is it the other way around? I miss two strokes, carbs are finicky but definitely easier to **** with the top end.

I checked the compression yesterday and I was getting around 90 to 100 psi but that was with a press in style tester. That should still be enough to run, not great but runnable I would think.

Thanx for the advice lt230sman, I'll have to check the timing and let you know. later.

 

hey when you pull the stator side cover, youll see a score mark on the flywheel which will line up with a little pointer type thing thats cast into the center case. when the flywheel is lined up with it, that is when the cam should have the two score marks level with the top of the head and the indexing pin should be at around 11 o clock. and yes 2 crank rotations = 1 cam rotation.

good luck!

 

I didn't have to pull the stator cover, there was an inspection plug on top of the case with a plug in it. And the flywheel had a T with a vertical line beside it that lined up with a arrow on the case. Wasn't out of time but alot of slack in the chain. Retenisioned it and its snug now. Then the one female spade connector for the negative side of the coil was falling apart on the harness. Put another connector on and pulled the carb apart again and double checked stuff.

Once I did that and pissed with it, it actually revs without breaking up once its warm. Still needs a some more tuning for the carb but its way better than what it was. Only issue is the idle sticks sometimes(think it might be the throttle valve/slide(the gold color is worn off), believe thats the name) and when I turn the bars sometimes it idles up, like a cable is tightening/pulling. You think if I tie the throttle cable along the back bone it might stop that problem?

Thanx for all the help and advice. If it keeps consistent running, might have to put the plastics back on it. She still has a way to go yet. On your 230, can u lock your frt brakes up. I've bled mine with the bottle method, but it will still roll with the lever squeezed tight w/little throttle. I think the frt master cylinder on the bike is from a ltz400, if I recall correctly. Unless its just the rust on the front rotors.

would you happen to have a wiring diagram for the electric start. There are a few cut wires back by the solenoid and under the tank. Would you happen to have the wiring diagram. Looking for hookup at battery, solenoid, and starter switch(button) even colors will work. thanx

 

wow, i dont know how i missed this thread! i know its been a long time, but if you still need help im here.

i know that for the wiring diagram, im still in the process of trying to find one (thats actually how i came across this thread). theres a real nice one for the 230s, but i havent found one for the 230e yet.

for the front brakes, yes, mine are insanely strong. i can lock up the front on any surface, including dry pavement (if i lean back), with two fingers effortlessly. my bike originally came with a master cylinder from a streetbike with a much too large bore on it. so my brakes were super weak, nearly useless. then i switched to a caliper i had laying around from a quadrunner 250 utility. that fixed it. in fact, im pretty sure its the same exact part number and everything for the 230. but anyways, i'd check the bore diameter of the master cylinder, its stamped on there somewhere. ill go check mine. also, is your lever squishy or firm? It may be time for braided lines, they can make a HUGE difference in many cases.

 

I wrenched on it a little bit during the last two months and made some progress. I zip tied the throttle and choke cables to the back bone, replaced the fuel line with a urethane fuel line, changed the oil etc...

I also broke down and got a factory suzuki service manual for the bike and got my electrical straightened out, replaced the reverse and neutral sensors, bought and installed a battery, got the electric start to work.

Got the front brakes to work a lil better than they were. It was a couple of issues: 1) the brake pad retainer clip was on wrong and let the front pads on the right side shift and was only using about an inch of friction area on the inner and outer pad to stop 2) the left side caliper slide was froze up and bent.

Once I addressed those issues it got better, but still not great. I am bidding on some ebc pads for the fronts. I think the pads could be to blame, I can see the calipers move when I when I squeeze the lever. I believe the stamped number is 7/8th but can't be sure. I'll let you know when I work on it next. I might rebuild the one that was on the bike and try to find a lid for it. I'll have to check the bore size on it.

Eventually I'll have to replace 2 tie rods a ball joint or two. Also have 2 adjust the clutch up to grab harder. Thanx for the help and advice, next thing on the list is rear tires when I get some money put away.