engine surging, won't stay running

[Spike]

Hey folks,

My wife's ninja 250, which admittedly hasn't been started since November, won't stay running. If I get it to stay running with some choke on it will surge from 1000-3500rpm. If I so much as breathe on the thottle it dies.

I am thinking either gas or battery. Any thoughts? I am thinking of running and getting some Stabil. Will that help after the fact?

Thanks a bunch,
Mark

 

[Busaman5000]

Check the air filter. My VFR exhibited similar problems last week. Come to find out the air filter was clogged.

 

[Spike]

Thanks BusaMan. I just went out and checked that and it was pretty clean. Also I ended getting some Sta-bil and that didn't seem to help things either. Of course if it is already bad then it may not help. I may just drain the tank and then put a full tank of fresh in there to see what happens

Thanks, I will keep plugging away.

 

[Spike]

Ok, so on choke I am not using the pilot circuit, right? Maybe my carburetor is clogged? Now this I think I can handle. I might tear it down tomorrow.

 

[heykenny]

Bad gas and now, probably plugged pilot jets.. change the fuel, flush the carbs and check plugs.. maybe you'll get lucky and it doesn't have dirty carbs.. and no, Stabil does nothing to help with gas that's already old

 

[TIMMYDUCK]

You just need to clean your carbs.

Upon removal and inspection you will see that the gas has turned into a sticky varnish inside them.

They would probably be a good canidate for an actual carb dip.

 

[Procharger]

your carbs are varnished ..drain the fuel tank put fresh fuel in and go get a can of sea foam.. run it with the choke 1/2 way on for a while.. it might clean the varnish out of the jets.. if that doent work.. drop the bowls and clean the jets.. and put new plugs in..

 

[Shibumi]

My Busa did the same when a vacuum line got left off after removing the air box for maintenance...

 

[Spike]

Thanks everyone, all fixed.

I ended up taking the carbs apart (first time on the ninja),
emptying out the gas tank,
disassembling everything,
cleaning everything thoroughly,
and finding nothing out of the ordinary.

I do have to say though it is now all fixed and running like a bat outta hell. I always thought it ran lean so I tuned it a bit while I was tinkering. Not only does it now run perfect but it now runs 200% better than when I first bought the darned thing.

I am guessing a pilot jet was plugged or something. MAN does it run good now though.

Thanks for the ideas folks!

 

[99'busa]

 

[Lycan]

SLAPPA99!

 

[razorshark]

My wife had the same problem w/ her 250 the last few days, just cold weather and bad gas...works fine now.