Need help, hard starting

[spcdlee02]

I recently bought an 88 blaster from my wife's cousin. He said the top end had just been rebuilt and it is bored out .060.
Now, on to the problems I'm having. It takes FOREVER to start (20 minutes of kicking away), plug is wet. I have changed plugs, completely disassembled carb and cleaned it out, adjusted air screw (out 1 3/4 turns).
I have taken all electrical connections apart and cleaned them, had to rebuild some due to corrosion.
When it starts, it runs great, but it has a slapping/pinging noise at steady throttle that goes away with acceleration but returns when throttling back.
Running premix with Yamalube at 32:1 with regular unleaded.
Where should I start to get this thing right?

 

[007blaster]

Have good blue spark? Coil could be going out and working intermittently.

 

[Awk08]

those noises you hear sound like piston slap, coupled with the hard starting point towards out of spec piston to cylinder clearence/worn rings and low compression
possibly never bored/new piston, or done poorly with too much clearence ?

do a compression check and report back.
remember to hold throttle wide open and kick till the compression tester needle stops moving.

the other cause of internal slap/ping noise is detonation, either from an airleak, poor jetting or low octane fuel.
try running 93 octane to see if it helps
it should also be leakdown tested for airleaks

 

[spcdlee02]

spark seems weak to me. I will be getting a new coil for it very soon because everything seems to have been exposed to the elements. I have spent tons of time cleaning grounds and connections.

I tend to agree that it seems like a compression issue or an airleak issue. I just got back from a good ride on it and it runs really good, once it gets warmed up and going. It's just getting the darn thing to start.

I don't know if the proper break in was done after the bore and top end rebuild. I will check the torque on all the cylinder head bolts after it cools down.

Would it be worth it to just tear it down and give it a good cleaning and put new gaskets in place and make sure it's done right?

 

[gizzy2014]

if it were me yes id take it apart and check it out at least alittle bit

 

[007blaster]

Take ur time diagnosing it now, it may be something small. Instead of burning your top end or doing worse damage. Try to use oem gaskets and seals if replacing. Triple check everything do a proper break in and jet for mods and temp. Plug chop and you'll be set for a while!

 

[skylined05]

+2 on 007blaster... diagnosing rather than tearing apart... a 25 year old bottom end is going to be noisy unless the bearings were replaced anyways... so I wouldn't be overly concerned with "noise"... pick up a compression tester if u don't have one hold the throttle open and kick away.. should be over 110 psi... but over 90 should run... if your compression is ok.. then leak down test... they make specialty leak testers, and people sell home brew ones.. but the cheapest is just to make sure the piston is at the top... use a straw or something to tell when it gets to the top while turning crank, grab your air compressor with a blower tip, and set your air regulator to about 7psi, and seal it around the spark plug hole and blow while spraying soapy water around gaskets.. usually the base gasket leaks.. if you are unlucky.. the crank seal around the generator can leak and u have to remove the flywheel to spray it, if your clutch side crank seal was leaking that bad it'd smoke pretty good.

 

[Blaaster]

Leak testing can be done at the plug hole but a common place that leaks cannot be tested as the reeds block the pressure to the carb boot.

The piston needs to be BDC to open the transfer ports, the exhaust port has to be sealed off too.

The best way to leak test is

 

[spcdlee02]

Compression and leak tests were good. Also replaced coil.

I am running rich. Tore carb down and cleaned good.

Running a 280 main, 32.5 pilot jet and I dropped needle to top position to lean it out. It was in running in the middle position.

Now I have gas coming out of overflow tube after adjusting float height(didn't happen before).

Elevation is 547 feet. I believe my main is too rich still. Am I on the right path to getting this thing fixed?

Starting problem still exists.

Don't now know if starting will be an issue. Had another set of hands putting it back together and the main jet ring was installed upside down. Fixed today and will update

 

[spcdlee02]

Hey to all that gave advice. I got the starting problem fixed. 1-3 kicks on cold start and it fires right up. Running like a beast now.
Now I can get to work on the cosmetics.
Thanks again!!!

 

[Wifesblaster]

What was the problem? Did you get the float adjusted right? What pipe are you running? I'm assuming it's an FMF????

 

[Larry's Shee]

So what was the problem of hard starting?

Unless the needle clip was the problem (which I doubt) you should drop the clip back to middle notch. You actually ride more at half throttle than you realize. The way you are tuned now, you will be running lean = bad

 

[Blaaster]

Hey to all that gave advice. I got the starting problem fixed. 1-3 kicks on cold start and it fires right up. Running like a beast now.
Now I can get to work on the cosmetics.
Thanks again!!!

Be pleased to share how you fixed the starting problem, it may just help someone that has a similar problem.I:II:I

 

[spcdlee02]

The starting issue was electrical. Spark was weak. With upgraded coil, and basically replacing all the electrical connections, and cleaning the grounds throughout the entire bike, it has fixed the problem.
As to the lean running suggestions, I did move the needle back to its original position and we are in business.

 

[Wifesblaster]

The starting issue was electrical. Spark was weak. With upgraded coil, and basically replacing all the electrical connections, and cleaning the grounds throughout the entire bike, it has fixed the problem.
As to the lean running suggestions, I did move the needle back to its original position and we are in business.

Glad you got her figured out. For future reference please update all posts that involve troubleshooting. People who use the search key use this info.

 

[Blaaster]

The starting issue was electrical. Spark was weak. With upgraded coil, and basically replacing all the electrical connections, and cleaning the grounds throughout the entire bike, it has fixed the problem.
As to the lean running suggestions, I did move the needle back to its original position and we are in business.

Many thanks for the feedback.

Deserving of a little green.