HELP ! Wont start. Im bloody jinxed.

[andyb1962]

This morning kicked her up and it went solid in the kick start.
I kicked through it with more force and it cleared.
Now it wont start. Electric start spins over fine bit no ignition.
The plugs spark and the valves move (ive looked) so i dont think its the cam chain. it runs dyno S ignition which looks Ok but i dont know the settings.
Could the cam chain have "moved" ?
I dont want to destroy my engine so im very wary!

apprecitions in advance.

[z1bman]

1st thing to do is compression test

[Pigford]

Assuming it kicks over OK as normal......

Whip the plugs out - then spin her over on "electric boot" and put your thumb over plug hole as you turn engine over to feel for compression, keep plugs in HT leads and earth them on cylinder head & you can watch for sparks too

Cam chain can jump a tooth and not wreck the engine.

[hillbilly]

if the cam chain has jumped a tooth,before spinning the engine with electric start button,mybe a good idea to line the timing marks up first and check it ,then check weather or not the cam chain tentioner is slack,if it has jumped once,it could do it again and do serius damage.

[PAULJAC47]

Not fuel locked by any chance???

[andyb1962]

deffinatly not fuel

i have four sparks and compression appears normal.
hope fully no serious damage done as bike has not fired yet.
cam chain tensioner WAS slack. i have nipped it up on the lock nut.

i need an idiots guide to checking timing marks please

[kev edwards]

Hi Andy, the last compression test i done on the bike was at 36,000 miles and i got 150psi across all four, if the last owner gave you the haynes manual i gave to him the timing will be in that, but here is the picture from the clymer manual, the ignition timing should not have moved as the dyna is the one i put on and was static timed to start with and also done with a strobe.

[Steve Cooke]

It sounds like you may have bent a valve (I hope not) but if your camchain adjuster was slack as you say and you kicked through a lock up it's a distinct possibility, a compression test may confirm this but it's not always obvious it depends on the extent of damage if any.
Fingers crossed!

PS. The valves can still move even when bent, it might pay to measure the shim clearances to see if there is any that are on the large side which would indicate a bent valve.

[andyb1962]

Done a compression test and no3 is way down compared to the rest.
DAMN! So weekend will cause for serious investigations.








At least its winter so time is on my side before 'the summer' arrives

[Pigford]

Could be a sticky valve (sticking in guide) or bent valve or a tight shim - lack of clearance ?

Maybe rings sticking - can free after a few miles running.

Leaky head gasket - cracked cylinder head (not unknown near plug thread.

Compression testing should be done on a HOT engine

[andyb1962]

Could be a sticky valve (sticking in guide) or bent valve or a tight shim - lack of clearance ?

Maybe rings sticking - can free after a few miles running.

Leaky head gasket - cracked cylinder head (not unknown near plug thread.

Compression testing should be done on a HOT engine

I realise it should be done on a hot engine but it wont fire
So i thought i could do one for comparison purposes.

I will know more by weekend. Thanks anyway its appreciated

[Garn 1]

That locking of kick- start, could be a shim that has never seated and was waiting for a bit more clearance to pop half way out and jam. When you forced harder it either popped back, broke in half or is laying in there!

Worth while having an inspection under the rocker cover.... Not easy to see!

RegardZ

[Pigford]

That locking of kick- start, could be a shim that has never seated and was waiting for a bit more clearance to pop half way out and jam. When you forced harder it either popped back, broke in half or is laying in there!

Worth while having an inspection under the rocker cover.... Not easy to see!

RegardZ

Good point Garn1 - Although I'm sure Andy did do it - its always good to double check clearances once shims have been swapped, and shim seating - before putting the cam cover back on

[kev edwards]

I last measured the shims in jan 2011 and always aim at halfway between the min and max measurements, unless the next owner has changed shims the gaps should be ok, if the tensioner came loose you may have bent a valve, the head was last off about six years ago when i had the valve seats and valves recut at Dartford rebore and put the studs in for the cam caps at that time, they are the first set i made, i found the second set a couple of months ago, i hope it's not to serious.

[garyd]

This may not be of much help, but I did have a Z1000A1 that jumped a tooth on the exhaust cam. It appeared to run fine but just seemed a little flat.
It was only when I decided to fully investigate, did I find out what had happed and the exhaust valves were just ever-so -slightly bent.

Unstressed engines eh?