baja 90 quad wont start. spark plug is not getting wet.

[kickerfanatic]

i have a 90 cc baja quad. i picked it p from craigslist for $100 the other day and it wont start.

guy put a brand new battery and a brand new starter and spark plug.

i get good spark when tested, and fuel is making it into the carb when i check by draining the float bowl,

but it seems like no matter how long i crank the engine it wont turn over and the spark plug is never wet with gas when i pull it out to check.

i just took the carb off, opened it, took out the jets, and float, cleaned it all with carb cleaner, put it all together and im still not getting any gas into the engine to wet the spark plug,

i have done carb cleanings numerous times, im not a newbie. i put it all back together right after cleaning every passage way in the carb.


shouldnt the spark plug be getting wet with fuel if im not mistaken ?

why would it not be ? i could see perfect thru the jets after i cleaned them. i even blew thru all the passage ways with my air compressor.

and it still wont get fuel to the spark plug.

should i put a new carburetor or is it another issue ?


please help. dont want to start dumping money into it if the motor is bad, but im stumped why no fuel is getting past the carb into the motor to wet the spark plug..


any help would be greatly appericated. thanks

[MICRider]

How's the compression?

[kickerfanatic]

dont have a compression testor, but i can feel alot of pressure with my finger completly over the spark plug hole.

[MICRider]

If it blows your thumb off the spark plug hole it should be ok. If it doesn't blow your finger off the hole you have compression problems. My reasoning was that if it has very low compression it could be firing but not have enough oomph to keep turning over under it's own power, causing the dry plug. How does the intake look? I'm guessing it's a metal tube feeding a horizontal honda type engine? Are the gaskets/o rings in good shape? A vacumn leak could cause it to not draw in the fuel air mixture as well. I'm by no means an expert on these things, just some simple troubleshooting stuff. Hopefully someone else will have an idea and post.

[FLASHLIGHTBOY]

If the plug is dry .. then there is no fuel being drawn into the engine.. VACUUM leak at the carb housing to pipe..... do a quick test to check this... spray so either into the carb... close the choke... crank it over... if the spark systme is good.. it will fire the either.. then you know you have a fuel vacuum leak.. check the oring and black plastic gasket... I knwo we have all done this before saying that I put it together right.. but that is the problem .. the motor would rather suck air inafter the carb rather than before the carb if there is a vacuum leak... I have fixed this problem many times.. people are amazed how fast I detect this... alot of the times if you can get it to run and then you open the choke it stalls out... or you have to have the air adjustment screw closed to have it run..... then you have the vacuum leak between the carb & fuel intake pipe.. try this and you will have it running in no time

[kickerfanatic]

i dont have either, but carb cleaner shold work right ?

and also the only spark plug the auto part store had was autolite. so i tried it. spark is good. i also tried a good ngk plug from a baja 70cc dirt bike i have. and still nothing.

so i will try the carb cleaner in the intake and see what happens.

[FLASHLIGHTBOY]

take the sparkplug out.... spray alittle gas into the cylinder.... or pour a SMALL amount into the sparkplug hole... put the plug back in ... and try it... it should fire up for a second or two

[kickerfanatic]

ok motor has enough compression to blow my finger off the hole.

but when i use a squirt bottle to squirt gas into the cylinder thru the spark plug hole it still wont even start at all, not even try to start.

when i spray gas into the intake while trying to start it it does nothing either...


im stumped now. im getting plenty of good spark, i can hear the starter cranking the engine with enough power that it should start, and i took apart and completly cleaned the carb.

could it be a bad float in the carb even tho i cleaned it ?

i mean im getting gas to the carb, just not into the engine where the spark plug is. i even put a rolled up tissue in the spark plug hole while cranking the engine and the tissue did not even get wet with gas..

and the one thing i hate is that the gas shut off vlave is on the carb itself and not the gas tank so every time i want to take the carb off i have to drain the entire gas tank..


any ideas on what to do now ?

[kens]

Do the either trick and see if it will flash up.

I had one that quad I bought off craigs list that would not run as it was left outside for a cold winter and water in the carb froze and cause a hairline crack damaging the carb.the carb would not work after that as it was damaged. Just a thought incase all else fails.

Use a set of brake hose plyers to stop the fuel instead of draining the tank to save time.

[Weldangrind]

You can also install an inline valve like I did on my Gio Beast.

I'd adjust the valves. Even if it doesn't fix it, that step will be behind you.

[FLASHLIGHTBOY]

ok, you are getting a good spark.... does not matter if there is no fuel in the cylinder ./... FOR NOW... do what weldgrind says... adjust the valves.. they maybe tight... and will nto seal the cylinder for compression to ignite the fuel.. either is the best to use for TRYING to start the motor.. there has to be fire if you have spark... and the valves are adjusted properly.. I have run alot of motors on either... it really will not hurt to do this for starting problem situations... to adjust valves... it really only takes a little bit of time to do so.. and then you know.

[kickerfanatic]

is there a video to adjusting the valves on a baja 90cc ? and where can i buy either ?

[FastDoc]

Ether is just starting fluid from any autoparts or hardware store. Usually 50%. BE VERY CAREFUL don't use too much you'll blow up.

As far as videos go check You Tube for Honda motors of the same size, likely identical.

[FastDoc]

Also check out the troubleshooting articles on www.dansmc.com. VERY helpful. :wink:

[Weldangrind]

Here's the vid I used: