Low Compression or Crap

[jmoles95]

I have a 2002 kat 600. It has been broken down for some timenow with carb problems. When I would try to start it it would just turn overwith no fire then a couple minutes later i would look down and it would bedraining gas out the tubes that come out below the foot pegs one the rightside. I had it at a shop before i got it home to check it out and they told methat I had a whole in my overflow line that runs through the tank and that iwould need a new tank. I didnt really see how this would not let it runcorrectly. I do not have the facities totear down carbs myself the parents would not be happy if they came home withcarb parts all over the kitchen table. So I found a local shop to take a lookat it and rebuild my carbs. But the problem is when I went to pick it up itwould not start and then the owner of the shop started goin on about how Iprobably have low compression and that it would entail more to fix. My concernwas that he had it running to sync my carbs. So I am just getting fed a line orcould it actually be. My kat sat over the winter tarped but when it got ridingweather started right up then after about 50 miles problems started happening. Ohand to beat all my tank is still leaking even though we put an air house to thebottom of the tank on the overflow line and covered the top and it heldpressure. So not sure why that is happening either. I guess I just have crapluck

Sorry for the extensive read just want to make sure I got all the details

[Maverick.Marq]

as long as you drain the gas first I'm sure your parents can only get so mad about a carb rebuild on the kitchen table.

on another note; a compression tester only costs around 20 dollars for a cheap one from harbour freight or similar store. just make sure it's got the right adaptor for the spark plug hole. (service manual has good instructions for this)

as for your tank, if you have fuel coming straight from the vent tubes you got some crazy problems there. I can't imagine why what would happen other then the breather tubes in the tank are completely rusted away. a good flashlight and you should be able to see how rusty we are talking here.

If your tank checks out ok. I would be dollars to doughnuts that the shop did a piss poor job on the carbs

[Kreylyn]

I would be extremely surprised to find that your bike has a massive engine issue.

It's more likely you have other, simpler, and less expensive issues going on, but the engines are pretty rock solid.

Your admittedly concerned about working on the bike yourself due to limitations about where to do the work and knowledge or even available tools. I get that. Unfortunately... the reality of the situation is, at this point... the bike is either going to cost you more to fix than a replacement bike will cost by having someone else do it, or your going to need to work out how to fix it yourself.

By learning to work on it your self, your not only saving significantly in labor costs... you also will learn enough to stop shops from ripping you off when they say stupid stuff like I personally think is going on now.

If your not going to work on it your self though... there isn't much we can say that will give you enough understanding to argue with the shop. I would suggest getting a second opinion though. Jus sayn.

Krey

[loneraider]

Krey is right,, and I couldn't say it better . find some way of working on it yourself and you will learn a lot about motorbikes & save $$$ too..
maybe a friends house/ and there's nothing wrong with a good kitchen table
repair job..lol

[Stumpy]

I agree with Krey - there are telling you something that doesn't sound quite right.

If your tank IS leaking - fix that first of all. However, I seriously doubt the tank itself is leaking. Check your lines, clamps and petcock, especially the parts of hoses that have any sort of junction or bend. I would replace all the fuel lines and fuel filter with it having sat for any length of time. It's more likely to be leaking fuel from the carbs than the tank itself. Double check by opening the oil filler and having a good sniff.

Check inside the tank itself for rust. If you can see any crap inside there from down the filler cap - tank cleaning for you!

Take the fuel bowls off the carbs. Any big rust deposits in there? If so - carb cleaning for you!

If you don't see any rust anywhere - and you've got a charged battery, and you are pretty sure you are not leaking fuel anywhere - try a bump start.

Find a hill, face downhill. Get on the bike, ignition on, sit it in 2nd gear, clutch in. Start moving, pick up speed, when you get to about 10 or 15 mph - release the clutch. It will try to start, and if all works well - it will! If not - you get a nasty clattering sound, and a lovely walk uphill.

[Wild-Bill]

Krey is right...

Krey is almost always right.

...and the shop, like just about every shop out there, is full of crap. That's why we do our own work. Read through carbs 102 (in the wiki). Take a look inside your tank. Proceed from there.

Do we have anyone local that could help this guy out?

[jmoles95]

thanks alot guys. I am gonna work on making a small shop or find someones garage I can barrow for a bit. so I can work on my kat and other things. I will have some other things that I want to do to it so I am sure that I will be on here like mad researching haha.