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Help with a bike that won't start

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So I bought a '94 Virago 750 about a week ago and it worked great. I rode it about 200 miles yesterday with no problem. This morning I went to start her up and I saw there was a a puddle below my bike and a milky white liquid coming out of what the Clymer's says is the "mixture control valve case".

I tried to start the bike, it clicked, turned over, popped, and then stopped. Since then, it'll click (I believe that's the starter solenoid), but won't turn over.

I came back a couple hours later, and there was no leak, but the same (lack of) response when I try to start. I moved the fuel switch to what the Off position, but found out later was the Prime position.

A few hours later I came back to see something else dripping out of the cover. This smelled like fuel. I took the cover off and saw that it was coming from some tube. (See picture)

Reading more of the service and owners manuals, I think because I had the switch on Prime for a couple hours, there's two much fuel in the carbs, and that may be where its dripping out of ... but really I'm just theorizing as I don't really have any idea. It still just clicks but doesn't turn. Fuel tank is about half full, and the battery should be fine (Headlight looks okay, I'll check actual voltage tomorrow) and all the switches were set right .....

If anyone can help point me in a direction to get this working again, that would be awesome ....

Thanks .....
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So I bought a '94 Virago 750 about a week ago and it worked great. I rode it about 200 miles yesterday with no problem. This morning I went to start her up and I saw there was a a puddle below my bike and a milky white liquid coming out of what the Clymer's says is the "mixture control valve case".

I tried to start the bike, it clicked, turned over, popped, and then stopped. Since then, it'll click (I believe that's the starter solenoid), but won't turn over.

I came back a couple hours later, and there was no leak, but the same (lack of) response when I try to start. I moved the fuel switch to what the Off position, but found out later was the Prime position.

A few hours later I came back to see something else dripping out of the cover. This smelled like fuel. I took the cover off and saw that it was coming from some tube. (See picture)

Reading more of the service and owners manuals, I think because I had the switch on Prime for a couple hours, there's two much fuel in the carbs, and that may be where its dripping out of ... but really I'm just theorizing as I don't really have any idea. It still just clicks but doesn't turn. Fuel tank is about half full, and the battery should be fine (Headlight looks okay, I'll check actual voltage tomorrow) and all the switches were set right .....

If anyone can help point me in a direction to get this working again, that would be awesome ....

Thanks .....



Milky white is usually water/oil mixture.

May have a bad contact somewhere, or a dead battery, its engaging the solenoid, yet not kicking the engine over.

I dont know much about bikes in specific, but the engines are the same theory of operations.

Good luck
"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
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you could try to run start it....that would let you know if it was just the battery. either find a decent hill or simply run with the bike (holding clutch, bike in 1st) and when you get it going good let the clutch go and jump on...should start. Think of push starting an older manual transmition car. It works, but takes practice to get right, and you might look stupid pushing/jumping onto the bike.....but it works

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Not familiar with your bike, and not sure what caused the initial milky liquid, but it sounds like when you left it on prime the needle/seat kept leaking slowly, causing fuel to leak out the vent, as well as flood the engine. This is why it will not turn over. Put the bike in 3rd gear or so, and push it backwards, clutch out. This should help clear the cylinders, but if it doesn't want to crank don't keep trying! The best way is to remove the spark plugs, and disconnect the primary (Small wire, not the plug wire) side ignition coil wires and then crank the engine over for a bit to clear it out. Watch your eyes.

As for the milky liquid, I would indeed check out your oil and coolant to make sure the 2 aren't mixing, but it seems odd for it to be leaking from part of the carburetor. Keep reading the manual, and look for hose routing diagrams etc to figure out what the part does, and what the liquid might be and why it is leaking.

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i must have skipped a bit of your post. If you did flood the engine (leaving it on prime, gas leaking, etc) then yes, you want to clear that before push starting your bike to prevent further damage. The milky fluid would worry me the most. If you dont know what you are looking at, i'd get it to a shop...may be expensive, but it's probably better than working on it yourself and causing more damage.[:/]

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I agree, the milky fluid has me concerned.
Check out the picture on the bottom of this link:
http://www.viragotech.com/fixit/mixturecontrolvalve.html

It looks like that device is right on top of the valve cover. There shouldn't be anything in the mixture control valve itself, so it doesn't explain the fluid. Check the oil, and check the coolant, let us know what they look like.

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Serves you right for not buying British:)

yeah gotta love brit built bikes, they're SOOO reliable:D:D:D
You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

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Looking at more diagrams, it looked like it was a drain pipe in between the air filter and carburetor. I checked this morning and and it was still leaking gas, and the fuel seemed low too, so I might have messed something else up in the process.

Since I don't really have a full set of tools yet, nor a garage I can work in, and I barely know this bike as it is, and the last place that tuned up the bike (just before I bought it) has really bad reviews on Yelp ... I figure I'm better off taking it to a shop and getting a full look over rather than taking it apart piece by piece and jacking it up even more.

So that's what I'm gonna do ... I'll post here whatever happens for future reference ....

Thanks folks. ...
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Looking at more diagrams, it looked like it was a drain pipe in between the air filter and carburetor. I checked this morning and and it was still leaking gas, and the fuel seemed low too, so I might have messed something else up in the process.

Since I don't really have a full set of tools yet, nor a garage I can work in, and I barely know this bike as it is, and the last place that tuned up the bike (just before I bought it) has really bad reviews on Yelp ... I figure I'm better off taking it to a shop and getting a full look over rather than taking it apart piece by piece and jacking it up even more.

So that's what I'm gonna do ... I'll post here whatever happens for future reference ....

Thanks folks. ...

if they need to replace any parts get them to hold them for you so you can inspect them
You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

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The "prime" setting means that the fuel petcock will allow fuel to flow into the carbs without the engine running, normally it needs the engine's vacuum to allow fuel to run. It is possible your needle and seat have junk in them, but it would only be a big deal if you left it on prime like you did. Try switching the fuel petcock to the off position, and see if it still leaks.

Before you take it to the shop, at least pull the plugs and crank it over (if you dont want to mess with the ignition, you can simple push the bike while in 2nd or 3rd gear, with the key out or ignition switch off). I bet you can get the bike running after without much of an issue, at least you can ride the bike to the shop and they won't charge you as much to pull the plugs etc.

Personally, I think you should buy some basic tools instead of letting a shop do everything. Some stuff like doing oil changes, plug changes, coolant, batteries, etc save you a LOT of money after awhile.

Common, you can do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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The milky white liquid has possibly come from the engine breather ...check your manual to confirm what pipe that is .. oil / condensation tends to build up in the breather pipe and because it can be a bit sludgy it can block up ... with you taking the bike on a long run the heat might have made it fluid again ...

It defo sounds like the engine is flooded ... if it turns over ( cranks ) ... switch the fuel off ... open the throttle fully and try to start it ... i find this is a pretty good way of clearing it ... as an other poster said ... if it dosnt crank ... pull the plugs and spin it with them out ...

if you find that the carbs are constantly drawing fuel as the bike sits without the engine running .... try tapping the side of the carbs with the handle of a screw driver ... its often the floats sticking that can cause this problem ....

Hope this helps

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I do intend on buying all the tools I'll need. I've owned a bike before and did all the maintenance an repair myself. I've since moved to a new city and don't have any of my tools, nor a place to take everything apart. (I'm in an apartment with street parking.) So, for this time one .... I'm going to have them check it out. And then start rebuying everything I'll need.
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Looking at more diagrams, it looked like it was a drain pipe in between the air filter and carburetor. I checked this morning and and it was still leaking gas, and the fuel seemed low too, so I might have messed something else up in the process.

Since I don't really have a full set of tools yet, nor a garage I can work in, and I barely know this bike as it is, and the last place that tuned up the bike (just before I bought it) has really bad reviews on Yelp ... I figure I'm better off taking it to a shop and getting a full look over rather than taking it apart piece by piece and jacking it up even more.

So that's what I'm gonna do ... I'll post here whatever happens for future reference ....

Thanks folks. ...


Sounds liek the right call was made earlier, Hydralic Lock! Cure, first pull the plugs , Tap over or hold th ecoil wires so they can no accidentally spark! hit the starter(stay clear of the plug holes, they are going to spray!

Now that ya fuxed the problem, You still need to fix the cause.....either the floats are set too high, or you have a bad float seat...

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Please be careful if you remove the spark plugs and spin the engine over. If there is gas in the cylinders, it will shoot out and can catch on fire from the spark plugs or wires.


BINGO!
You flooded the engine and the air filter.
The milky stuff is the gass+shmuts+oil on your air filter.

Step one take off gass tank!
Step two take out spark plugs and buy new ones.
Step three new oil and oil filter.
Step quatro while bike is on center stand and bike in gear spin the rear tire to get all that gas out. You can also try and push the bike aroudn while it's in gear to do the same.
Step 5 clean mess which resulting gas has made.
Step 6 install new plugs and change oil and air filter.
Step 7 >VERY IMPORTANT< push bike outside of garage near neighbor you don't like and turn it on.
Large ammounts of smoke will be produced for about 10 minutes and then she will be ok.
If you really want you could maybe spray some WD-40 or soem light lubricant into the cylinder chaimbers since they may be a bit dry to help with the restart but you don't have to.
But in the mean time
DO NOT TRY TO START HER OR YOU WILL DAMAGE YOUR ENGINE!
Life through good thoughts, good words, and good deeds is necessary to ensure happiness and to keep chaos at bay.

The only thing that falls from the sky is birdshit and fools!

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Please be careful if you remove the spark plugs and spin the engine over. If there is gas in the cylinders, it will shoot out and can catch on fire from the spark plugs or wires.


BINGO!
You flooded the engine and the air filter.
The milky stuff is the gass+shmuts+oil on your air filter.

Step one take off gass tank!
Step two take out spark plugs and buy new ones.
Step three new oil and oil filter.
Step quatro while bike is on center stand and bike in gear spin the rear tire to get all that gas out. You can also try and push the bike aroudn while it's in gear to do the same.
Step 5 clean mess which resulting gas has made.
Step 6 install new plugs and change oil and air filter.
Step 7 >VERY IMPORTANTLarge ammounts of smoke will be produced for about 10 minutes and then she will be ok.
If you really want you could maybe spray some WD-40 or soem light lubricant into the cylinder chaimbers since they may be a bit dry to help with the restart but you don't have to.
But in the mean time
DO NOT TRY TO START HER OR YOU WILL DAMAGE YOUR ENGINE!

Your wordier than me, and left out all the typo's!:ph34r: But the same message!

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I did it once on my GPZ-1100
Happens, you get off the bike and accidentally something gets caught and you put the petcock (insert joke) into prime. Nex day...bike smells funny and won't start......you then either drive your car to work or call off.
The good part.....and yeah there is actually a good part is that odds are he cleaned out all the carbon and so the bike may actually ride better! :)

Life through good thoughts, good words, and good deeds is necessary to ensure happiness and to keep chaos at bay.

The only thing that falls from the sky is birdshit and fools!

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I did it once on my GPZ-1100
Happens, you get off the bike and accidentally something gets caught and you put the petcock (insert joke) into prime. Nex day...bike smells funny and won't start......you then either drive your car to work or call off.
The good part.....and yeah there is actually a good part is that odds are he cleaned out all the carbon and so the bike may actually ride better! :)



Well, with any luck the GPZ will catch fire when you flush the fuel, and your problems are solved, the insurance money can be spent buying a real bike!:ph34r:

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The GPZ?AKA The Fraight Train? AKA Big Black? AKA The Battlestar Blacktica! AKA The Fat Black?
Come on she's a graet bike! lots of room for a cute size < 8 girl on the back and is super stable at any speed for hours and hours and hours!
And she was only $3k and has 26k miles on her.
She's not perfect but she's my baby for now.
Life through good thoughts, good words, and good deeds is necessary to ensure happiness and to keep chaos at bay.

The only thing that falls from the sky is birdshit and fools!

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The GPZ?AKA The Fraight Train? AKA Big Black? AKA The Battlestar Blacktica! AKA The Fat Black?
Come on she's a graet bike! lots of room for a cute size And she was only $3k and has 26k miles on her.
She's not perfect but she's my baby for now.




But...but...But, what is soemone I knew saw me riding it?

Like getting a blowjob from a faggot, feels good until someone you know see's it!:ph34r:





(Did I cross the line mods?):$

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Nah it's ok....HD guys and ST guys hae a lot in common. But yeah, now that I'm single I almost bought a HD. The ladies do love the HD's.
Maybe when I have more money.....
Life through good thoughts, good words, and good deeds is necessary to ensure happiness and to keep chaos at bay.

The only thing that falls from the sky is birdshit and fools!

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