Will not idle when cold choke fully on or fully off. 2000 IS

[wtatham]

I have owned for about 10 years has never done well when cold. So this year i tore it down to find problem. There was a single wire connector unplugged in front of the battery box. It turns over twice as fast now when cranking so it will start up quickly while i hold throttle open slightly. it will idle when it warms up. When i depress the choke fully the idle will go up temporarily then drop slowly until the engine shuts down. After the engine is warmed up i can depress the choke and the idle will go up and stay.

[Chrisj CMA]

What RPM is the idle set to?

[wtatham]

around 8 or 900

[Pete]

Sounds like the choke enrichner is not working.
Or you are not fully pressing the choke lever.

[Chrisj CMA]

around 8 or 900

Try bumping it up a little it may make a difference.

[gordonv]

Sounds like the choke enrichner is not working.
Or you are not fully pressing the choke lever.

You press the lever until there is resistance, then press it some more. You're moving 6 carbs, it takes a lot of force.

[John Schmidt]

If it speeds up a bit then drops off and dies, sounds to me like you don't need to use the choke. How does it start without using it, I can't remember the last time I used the choke on my bike....hot or cold.

[wtatham]

im positive the choke is fully depressed and it will not idle off choke either not until it warms up a little. what about this choke enricher is it on each carb?

[northernvalk]

im positive the choke is fully depressed and it will not idle off choke either not until it warms up a little. what about this choke enricher is it on each carb?

I thought so too....until I pushed hard enough that I thought I was going to snap the lever off....Then it worked.  I was VERY surprised at the amount of force needed to get it the last 1/2". My Magna choke was hard to pull as it was operating 4 carbs, the valk is moving 6 but it feels like double!!!!

[Paladin528]

do you have the Dan-Marc shutoff valve installed?
If you use the recommended one the orifice is small and could be partially plugged causing the fuel to take a bit to get to the bowls. This can cause it to lug a bit at idle.
The other issue could be a pinhole in the Petcock diaphragm which may need a twist of the throttle to get enough vacuum to keep it open.

[Cracker Jack]

do you have the Dan-Marc shutoff valve installed?
If you use the recommended one the orifice is small and could be partially plugged causing the fuel to take a bit to get to the bowls. This can cause it to lug a bit at idle.
The other issue could be a pinhole in the Petcock diaphragm which may need a twist of the throttle to get enough vacuum to keep it open.

That seems strange. On my bike, the more I twist, the less vacuum I get.

[Pete]

There is one enrichner on each carb, strange that all 6 would fail?
Usually the cable or the operator.

[The emperor has no clothes]

im positive the choke is fully depressed and it will not idle off choke either not until it warms up a little. what about this choke enricher is it on each carb?

The lever engages a cable which engages a bracket for each carb. There is a 99% chance you are not engaging it fully. Try removing the flat chrome covers and lubing the mechanism. And then press the lever down till it will go no further. I had my Standard a full year before I actually engaged the choke ALL the way.

[wtatham]

It will idle fine as soon as it warms up a little. The choke is fully opened im sure. i just put they chrome covers back on.

[Roidfingers]

It will idle fine as soon as it warms up a little. The choke is fully opened im sure. i just put they chrome covers back on.

With chrome covers off, Verify that when choke is on that all the brass plungers to the enricher valves are closing. Hand some that stuck one time. Just move the choke and you will see the tabs push them in.

[wtatham]

Im still having problem with idle. Here are the facts 1-The timing has been advanced with plate 6 deg.
2-Bike runs very smooth and very strong no hesitations. 3-Will not idle when cold. 4-Choke is 100 % full on. 5-will idle as low as 500 once warmed up. 6-Mixture screws out 2 turns. the exhaust does not smell rich at all. 7-HELP

[RonW]

With chrome covers off, Verify that when choke is on that all the brass plungers to the enricher valves are closing. Hand some that stuck one time......

On my other bike, the choke plunger got hung up too. I think that's was from never using the choke so it's a good practice to every now and then push the choke lever on and off, to prevent the plungers from sticking.

[Steel cowboy]

Here's some more "fuel" for thought, are the carb's sync'd, (sync'd carb's idel better when cold), are the plugs of the correct heat range and gapped properly, are the manifold to head o-rings in good shape, (as the engine heats up old o-rings will seal better, have you checked all vacumm hoses including the rubber plugs on some of the capped off manifold's. Old rubber hoses and caps can get hard and when heated will seal better too.

[Paladin528]

You dont mention the idle setting.
Once the bike is nicely warmed up (fan has come on) what is the idle?  It should be 900 +- 100 I keep mine at 1000.
If it is "as low as 500" then you need to adjust the IDLE screw (knob) on the right side carb bank until you see 900.
This will help the starting and idle issues.
you pilot screws should be out 2 1/4 turns I believe but more than 2 for sure

[Jims99]

Sounds like it's running lean to me. I would have mixture screws at 2 1/2 and agree with steel cowboy, check everywhere for vacuum leaks. A quick shot of starting fluid up around any vacuum lines, including pecock, intake gaskets, vacuum plugs or carbs themselves. Any increase in idol will indicate leak.