1981 honda 185s wont start

[mike65201]

first off hello to everyone havent posted here in a long time. bought a 81 atc 185s guy said it just stopped running. has compression has spark rebuilt carb. and nothing, anyone have any insight for me? please let me know i am trying to get this running for my sons birthday coming up soon and i dont have alot of cash. thank you very much.

[fabiodriven]

If you're positively sure it has compression and ignition, there's only one thing left- fuel. I would give it a little whiff of ether and see if it fires up. Don't go blowing up your engine by using too much, just enough to see if it fires. If it fires off the ether, then you know it's a fuel problem. If it doesn't, then you know it's not fuel. That's usually where I start.

[mike65201]

i put a little starting fluid in the head and it did not fire off so what next?

[3wheelrider]

well, its a good chance the exciter /stator coil went out on it.from what he said. but first pull the sparkplug & inspect/clean/ check/replace with proper ngk only d8es or dr8es. give it a several pulls with choke on /then off. if still nothing, pull back out the plug -see if it looks wet (gas) if it is wet, try if you can to check for spark if you know how or check at black/red wire out of stator cover.- also flush the tank if you havent already. look up the manuals on this site. - i'm sure there others will chime in for more help.:p

[fabiodriven]

Only two things left- compression or ignition. If you're sure it has compression, and sure it has ignition, then maybe your timing is off? I'm just kinda guessing here, so don't quote me. Like I said before, you need compression, ignition, and fuel. If you've ruled out fuel, and you can feel the compression and see a spark, all I can figure is maybe it's not sparking at the right time. In order for it to do nothing though the timing would have to be wayyy out. If it were close, you would at least have some backfires. Are you sure your spark plug is good? Is the exhaust plugged?

[Macs]

Does it have a nice blue spark? Does the plug get wet with turning it over? What is the compression at? Petcock free flowing?

[mike65201]

okay it has a good blue spark i checked the timing lined up the t and the o , i havent checked the compression with a tester but it blows my finger off the hole. mabee thats not enough. my question is if the stator is bad would i still have spark?

[mike65201]

would it help any if the compression is low to pour a little oil in the head and see if it fires like that?

[Yamaha_Rules69]

If the stator was bad, you would likely have no spark at all. Pouring oil in the cylinder might work for a couple minutes to bring the compression up while testing, but it wont fix the low compression problem if thats what it is. Have you checked the valve clearance at the rocker arms? They could be too loose or tight, and sometimes it wont run that way. Good luck.

[mike65201]

any insight on how to check valve clearance

[mike65201]

poured a little oil in the cylinder head and i couldnt hardly pull the rope i dont know whats happening man this is frustrating

[rdlsz24]

Have you checked the airbox to make sure the filter is there and there is no mouse nest? lol I've had that on 2 I bought now. How long has it been sitting with gas in it?

Rob

[MonroeMike]

any insight on how to check valve clearance

PM'd you some manual links.

[mike65201]

now carb is spitting gas out of the back side

[charger]

if the gas has been sitting in it for a while dump some seafoam in it and mix it up. it will help the gas burn.

[Gearheadtom]

If you pull it and it blows your finger of the whole, you should have enough compression, I had a Honda 200e running on only one compression ring.