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-   -   Promblem. 71 harley not starting. (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthread.php?t=161620)

  • Dec 11, 2007, 12:19 PM
    chuzter
    Promblem. 71 harley not starting.
    We took off the cover yesterday revealing about 2qts of oil reeking of gas. We checked the oil tank- still full. Hasn't moved. Would cleaning out the gassy oil and replacing it with clean fresh oil help the bike start? We get spark from the plugs, and the engine turns, but doesn't start. The mechanic that had the bike left the carb valve open to let gas through into the cover.. but we fixed that, plus the carb was cloged, and we fixed that too.. does anyone have any ideas out there that can help us? We're just so tight on money right now and this is such a big problem.. I hope its not costly. Thanks everyone!
  • Dec 11, 2007, 12:38 PM
    TxGreaseMonkey
    This is one of those situations that's dicy to diagnose from afar. Here are several things I would check:

    . Battery--remove it and ensure it's fully charged.
    . Battery terminals and cables--clean.
    . Spark plugs--remove and clean or replace.
    . Gas--ensure it's fresh and there's no rust in tank. Ensure hoses don't leak.

    Does the engine at least "pop" when you try to kick start it? On my old Honda cyles, problems tended to involve the battery, spark plugs, or points. If you know the spark is solid, focus on fuel. You need to figure out and correct fuel getting into the oil, which is a very dangerous situation.
  • Dec 11, 2007, 01:14 PM
    chuzter
    Those are the problems we first tried. At first we thought it was the battery, so we checked it and it was bad, so we got a new one, and ran tests on it, and its solid and charged.

    The entire bike ended up being re-wired and their was 2 shorts found. So those are taken care of.

    We were told about the battery cables, and we checked them out and they were bad, so we got new ones.

    Can't tell you how many spark plugs we have in the garage. Their all good. We get spark from them, but when we take them out they smell like gas and have gunk on them. That's why we decied to go into the cover and find out what's up.

    The old tank that was on the bike was completely rusted out and gross. So we got a new gas tank, got it lined and got brand new gas into it. We checked all the valves and replaces the hoses that had the rust in them.

    The valve was left open for gas to seep into the cover (thats probably where it came from) the carburator wasn't tightly fascened the way it was suppost to be, so that's where we think the gas came from.. and since the gas wennt down through the piston walls and took all that oil with it. And that's how we think it ended up in the cover. And another reason why it won't satrt. ( its flooded with oil and gas that's not suppost to be in there)

    We also found a washer.. when we took the cover off that was just eaten up badly. And a little silver roll pin (it looks like?) that was floating in the oil. So we're going to get a new washer, and using the manual find out where that little pin goes to and figure out why it came out.

    Yes the bike pops.. a couple times but it won't fully roar to a start. I know we're so close.. but working with all this gas and oil is making us worried the next time it tries 2 start its going to go up in flames. The times it would pop, we would check the carb, and the gas wasn't flowing right ( later found out the carb was clogged. Its clean now)

    So today.. we're going to clean up the gas and oil in the cover, and put fresh oil into it and try it out.. all the valves are re-corrected and their at what their suppost to be so nothing leaks now.

    We're just hoping this is the answer.. the bike hasn't run for 2 months and my boyfriend has been working on it 24/7.. $$ is getting really tight and we need to figure out why the heck this thing won't start! The flooding makes sense.. so we're praying this is the answer..

    Fire extinguiser is always near by... just in case..

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