Fd620 99 conquest issues at 47hrs.

[sofob0909]

Hey guys. I am having some trouble with my conquest. Bought this a year ago and when I got it I replaced the entire fuel system and lines. Rebuild the carb.

Thing ran great but the tires sucked. I just bought 8 Kendra bearclaws. And today I went to drive the machine into the shop to pull the wheels and swap.

The agro wouldn't start... Just spin and spin. No popping at all.
Had been sitting on rock pile for 3 weeks. About 30 degree slope nose up.
First tried some fuel down the throttle... Nothing. Then drained bowl and pumped up fresh gas. Nothing. Pulled plugs and they were wet. Cranked it over with plugs out and let it sit. Reinstall plugs and tried with no avail.

So now I break out the spark inline tester. But plugs had spark.

So pushed machine inside and put on lift.

Compression tested... 120 reached pretty fast. If I bump the starter I can get it up to 155ish... Wtf? Manual says 170 min.

Machine ran great when parked. I have been trying to get it to run Bette with pilot screw but it was perfect when I parked it.

Even tried tweaking it in and out to no avail.

What could cause this loss of compression? I did notice dip stick was about 3/4". High( thinking fuel in oil). Which is common.

So. What are my options... Do I need to pull the motor out? Can I do anything else with it in the machine...

[ARGOJIM]

If your oil is high and smells like gas I'd change it.
With the machine sitting outside you want to try some wd40 in the key switch, disconnect the battery and cycle the switch a whole bunch with the wd40 sprayed directly in key slot, it could be corroded contacts in switch.

[sofob0909]

Well now i have different symptoms...
it is backfirng like crazy when I operate the throttle
I put some oil in the cylinders to help build some compression.

My thought is maybe it jumped out of timing? Would explain lower compression whichbis same in both cylinders and backfiring. How can I check this in the machine?

[sofob0909]

And now I need to pull the motor... Was changing oil with vacuum pump in dip stick tube and part of the plastic tube broke off in the motor. I just invented some colorful words.

[ARGOJIM]

Check valve adjustment. My guess, pull valve covers, lube valve stems with wd40 while pushing them up and down by hand, re install pushrods and try it again. Valves could be gummed up, if they are too stiff use a small plastic/rubber hammer. Check valve adjustment

You can try and pull the dipstick tube out to get to the hose.

[sofob0909]

I pulled all the valve covers and all valves felt normal. Slight movement when off cam. All valves appear to travel in and out fully. What can I do about the plastic tube in the bottom of the motor?

[sofob0909]

I will soak the valves in seafoam and see if it helps

[ARGOJIM]

That sucks about the hose, again perhaps removing the dipstick tube could help get to it depending where it is, if no you could try the lower drain hole for access. I would not use seafoam on the valves as I would not want that in my engine crankcase.

I'm going to back away from this as the symptoms and issues have changed, I'm too far away to be helpful. May be best to bring it to a Kawasaki dealer, valve lash and a clean carb are very important to Kawasaki to run proper and either will cause back firing through carb.

[sofob0909]

Thanks Argo jim.

I plan to drain the oil again one I get her running again so I am not worried about a little seafoam in the case.

Good idea on removing the drain tube...I'll give that a try.

Once I get the hose out I will lash the valves and clean the carb again.

I am hoping the old girl can get going again without a major rebuild. Would really like to put that money into a winch and tubing for a roof/roll bar.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

[dirtdobber]

sofob0909,

Let's go back to the compression test:

Compression tested... 120 reached pretty fast. If I bump the starter I can get it up to 155ish... Wtf? Manual says 170 min

It has been my experience an automotive compression test is conducted on a free spinning engine (no compression - spark plugs removed) by spinning it over several turns with the starter. I'm not sure how you did your test, but you just "bumped" the starter and got 155. My quick online research indicates your engine should have a max compression of 170 with no more that 14 psi difference between cylinders. In other words, if one cylinder were reaching the max of 170, the other could reach only 156 and be within spec of the max. What you describe in your original post is flooding (the plugs were wet). Too much fuel in the combustion chamber can wash the oil away, and a lack of oil can affect the way the rings seal against the cylinder wall. If you are still concerned about compression, put a little engine oil (tablespoon) in the combustion chamber, whirl the engine over a few times, and then rerun your compression test. But still, at 155 it should run unless there really is some other problem.

If it were my engine, I would take another look at the carb and be absolutely sure it is clean and everything within spec. Eliminate the easiest things first. For that matter, make sure the spark is passing through the plug, not just a spark at the plug wire. I have seen good looking plugs that are totally worthless due to some internal failure.

On another note, how much of the tube broke off? I don't know this engine, but IF the dipstick tube is a straight shot to the crankcase, and the broke piece of tube is long enough that it might still be standing in the dipstick tube, perhaps you could reach down the dipstick tube and grab the broken piece. Maybe something with a very slender and slight taper that if you could hit the piece of tube it would wedge in and grab enough to pull it out.

Keep us posted.