Is there something stuck/broken in my carbs?

[madskids]

Hello,

Some background: I bought my 2004 ninja 250 last summer with around 8000 miles, and it came with a muzzy exhaust and pod filters. Over the rest of the year I put on 2000 miles without any issues. Over the winter, I decided not to winterize it because I wanted to still ride on the weekends weather permitting, but ended up not starting it up 2 or 3 weeks at a time.

Most of the time it ran fine, until a few weeks ago when it didnt wanna hold idle, and I foolishly took it on the road hoping it would warm up on the way. Almost immediately I experienced a huge power loss, which caused me to only go about 30mph at max throttle and major backfiring. Ultimately it died on me when i pulled in the clutch and I was stuck on the side of the road for about 15 minutes. I was able to fire it back up, and BARELY got it home struggling to go the speed limit.

I pulled the carbs thinking they needed a cleaning. After reinstalling, it still ran like crap giving me very slow and hanging revs. I re-cleaned and sprayed with air all the jets once again, and reset the mixture screws to 2.5 turns (I had them out a bit more before). this time, instead of hanging revs it just died when i would give it throttle.

I opened the carbs up again, and began inspecting all the jets and passages and noticed something strange in one of the holes that the pilot jets go in. In the pics included, it seems to me like something is off on one side beneath where the pilot jet would sit, and am wondering if this could be the source of my problems. I blasted those passages with air and carb cleaner and nothing is rattling around there. I also tried to dislodge whatever is down there with a thin allen wrench, with no success.



Any insight is appreciated!

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by madskids

....... Any insight is appreciated!

Welcome, Tom !!!

It is hard to see what there is inside that well.

In order to clean the carbs properly, you should remove the main and pilot jets and clean the orifice with a copper wire.
The idle mixture screws should be also removed for cleaning the passages.

The enricher jets cannot be removed, but they should be cleaned in place with a thin copper wire as well.

The problem that you describe has the characteristics of an intermittent electrical connection.
Maybe in the ignition coils?

[agentbad]

When is the last time you had a valve adjustment?

[csmith12]

Welcome Tom!

Check your air filter, airbox and battery connections.
Ensure the spark plug is tight and the wire is fully seated on the plug tip.
Check the coils for any visible damage.
Ensure your petcock is working properly.
Got a fuel filter? Might want to check that too.

Hope it's an easy fix.

[madskids]

First of all thank you for the warm welcome!

So just to clarify, nobody thinks the object(?) that looks like a needle or something at the bottom of the pilot hole in the pic ending in 336 could be a problem? its just so strange to me.

One thing I did find is that it turns out I didnt place the diaphragm back in completely correctly this last time, but my problem was persisting before I had done that anyway. I also know the bikes overdue for a valve adjustment, but I was hoping I could get it running reasonable well before I do that. The gas in my gas tank is also kinda old so ill be replacing that as well. Spark plugs are on my list as well.

cheers.

[RickM]

The needle you see is not in the Pilot jet hole.

That's the main jet hole and the (jet )needle is supposed to be there and very important.

[2fiddy-trackpair]

A little late to the party but that is the main jet needle, it is supposed to be there.