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Old August 12th, 2017, 04:32 PM   #1
Edhead
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Thumbs up 08 ninja will not start

Hey guys, newish to the forums, looking for some guidance. I've only recently started doing my own oil changes(last-2-3 times ). This gave me a bit of confidence to fool around and maybe learn something about my bike and hopefully get it running.

Bike wont start, one day was working two days later will not start.

I watched a couple youtube videos and did some googling to try and troubleshoot basic stuff.

Battery is @ 12.8v. It cranks, but wont start.

Replaced spark plugs just to see if maybe that was the problem, haven't
changed them since I got the bike(20,000 miles now). Both plugs have spark. The left one looked old but the on on the right hand side of the bike was down right nasty(black gunk). I tried to start after new plugs and no luck still. I checked the connections to the coils to make sure they weren't corroded or anything, and they looked fine.

I drive my bike to work most days so the gas doesn't really have time to get old, but I thought maybe since I leave it to the elements (Florida humidity + rain) maybe some water found it's way into the tank somehow. So I drained the carb bowls(?) to see if there was water in there. Gas was gas-colored(no green funk or anything, so I think the carbs okay), and there was a bit of water but just barely. Tried starting it again, same deal.

I checked the air filter and it seems wet (oil??), not like the light little bit you put on after you clean it, but damp. I'm not sure if I should have done this, but I took the air filter out and tried to start it like that and still no luck.

I'm pretty sure that it's not a spark problems. And I assume that since there was gas in the carb bowls that it's not a clogged fuel line problem(?)

So wet air filter + fouled spark plug = ??
I'm guessing it has something to do with oil but I'm not sure how it got there. Are these two things connected, or just coincidence? Could improper oil filter installation cause something like this?
I last changed the oil like 1500~ miles ago and put in a new oil filter, would it take this long for a problem to surface if I had done something wrong? Could old oil be the culprit?

Sorry for newb questions, all help appreciated guys + gals.
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Old August 14th, 2017, 06:42 AM   #2
taz
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the next thing i would check is the jets on the carbs and make sure there clean and not clogged for some reason.
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Old August 14th, 2017, 06:56 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Edhead View Post
Hey guys, newish to the forums, looking for some guidance. I've only recently started doing my own oil changes(last-2-3 times ). This gave me a bit of confidence to fool around and maybe learn something about my bike and hopefully get it running.

Bike wont start, one day was working two days later will not start.

I watched a couple youtube videos and did some googling to try and troubleshoot basic stuff.

Battery is @ 12.8v. It cranks, but wont start.

Replaced spark plugs just to see if maybe that was the problem, haven't
changed them since I got the bike(20,000 miles now). Both plugs have spark. The left one looked old but the on on the right hand side of the bike was down right nasty(black gunk). I tried to start after new plugs and no luck still. I checked the connections to the coils to make sure they weren't corroded or anything, and they looked fine.

I drive my bike to work most days so the gas doesn't really have time to get old, but I thought maybe since I leave it to the elements (Florida humidity + rain) maybe some water found it's way into the tank somehow. So I drained the carb bowls(?) to see if there was water in there. Gas was gas-colored(no green funk or anything, so I think the carbs okay), and there was a bit of water but just barely. Tried starting it again, same deal.

I checked the air filter and it seems wet (oil??), not like the light little bit you put on after you clean it, but damp. I'm not sure if I should have done this, but I took the air filter out and tried to start it like that and still no luck.

I'm pretty sure that it's not a spark problems. And I assume that since there was gas in the carb bowls that it's not a clogged fuel line problem(?)


So wet air filter + fouled spark plug = ??
I'm guessing it has something to do with oil but I'm not sure how it got there. Are these two things connected, or just coincidence? Could improper oil filter installation cause something like this?
I last changed the oil like 1500~ miles ago and put in a new oil filter, would it take this long for a problem to surface if I had done something wrong? Could old oil be the culprit?

Sorry for newb questions, all help appreciated guys + gals.
I'd completely drain the tank and floatbowls before ripping things apart. Any water in the floatbowls signals a problem. Figure out why the water got in there. Is it condensation or is the filler cap leaking?

The air filter should be cleaned and lightly oiled. Just enough so you can feel it, but not enough to be wet.
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Old August 14th, 2017, 07:01 AM   #4
Triple Jim
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Welcome to the board, Ed!

To get an idea whether the problem is fuel or ignition, you can take the spark plugs out and lay them on the top of the engine so their bodies are grounded, and then crank to see if they spark. It's not likely that a problem related to the oil you see would suddenly make both cylinders stop firing.
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Old August 14th, 2017, 05:48 PM   #5
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As a test, turn the petcock to PRI position and see if it'll start.
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Old August 14th, 2017, 07:33 PM   #6
highvoltj
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Cool re: no start

Depending on the mileage and the fact that your filter is wet and fouled plugs...have you considered a blown head gasket? Pull the plugs and turn engine over....if any mist or fluid comes out of either spark plug hole, then you will know.
Hopefully not.
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Old August 15th, 2017, 04:27 PM   #7
Edhead
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jkv45 View Post
I'd completely drain the tank and floatbowls before ripping things apart. Any water in the floatbowls signals a problem. Figure out why the water got in there. Is it condensation or is the filler cap leaking?

The air filter should be cleaned and lightly oiled. Just enough so you can feel it, but not enough to be wet.
I think this ended up being the issue. I figured that a little bit of water would be ok but at least 0.5 oz came out of the carb float bowls when I drained them a few days ago. Per your suggestion I drained the entire tank, and then emptied out the float bowls again. Put some new gas in there stuck her on prime and she fired right up. WOOOOOOO And then she died again. So I checked the spark plugs again and I had gapped one way larger than the other one. Fixed that and she's good as new now. Rechecked the air filter too and I might have been doing the motorcycle equivalent of "Web-MDing" It was oiled lightly but not too much. Thanks for your help.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Triple Jim View Post
Welcome to the board, Ed!

To get an idea whether the problem is fuel or ignition, you can take the spark plugs out and lay them on the top of the engine so their bodies are grounded, and then crank to see if they spark. It's not likely that a problem related to the oil you see would suddenly make both cylinders stop firing.
After I emptied the fuel and replaced it, I checked the spark again cause it was sounding like it wanted to fire but wasn't. I used your method to check spark. I had spark to both but somehow had one gapped too big. Thanks for the help.

Quote:
Originally Posted by JacRyann View Post
As a test, turn the petcock to PRI position and see if it'll start.
Did this when I put the new gas in and it worked. Switched it over to ON after I had it running and it continued to work. Thank you!

Quote:
Originally Posted by highvoltj View Post
Depending on the mileage and the fact that your filter is wet and fouled plugs...have you considered a blown head gasket? Pull the plugs and turn engine over....if any mist or fluid comes out of either spark plug hole, then you will know.
Hopefully not.
When I did the spark test again I didn't see anything of the sort, so that's good news. I had a few beers while I was trying to figure out what was going and may have over-exaggerated how wet the filter was, I looked at it again today and it was okay. Thanks.

Quote:
Originally Posted by taz View Post
the next thing i would check is the jets on the carbs and make sure there clean and not clogged for some reason.
Thankfully it didn't come to this. Appreciate the info.

Thanks all!
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Old August 15th, 2017, 05:45 PM   #8
highvoltj
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Thumbs up re: no start

EXCELLENT!!!! I Luv my little grn 08 ninja! However, now that I have a 636, the 250r doesn't get out much....
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