Crossfire 150 r not starting
 

Hello all, I've been working on this buggy for some time and can't get it to start. I've cleaned the carb and replace the stator, cdi and coil. It has great spark and 150 psi compression. It will not even fire on starting fluid. But twice I have hit the key and it started but I can't get it to go now. Any suggestions? I'm goin to check the key in the flywheel and check the valve clearances but after that I don't know what to do. Thanks in advance.

Since you have good compression and it has fired a couple of times, the first and easiest thing to check it the key and or kill switch. One or the other may be going bad and cause intermittent spark. If you have a stand alone kill button, disconnect the wires from it and put some tape on the wire ends so they can not touch. Then try and start it. If that doesn't work, pull the wires off of the key switch. Then using a piece of bailing wire or something similar, connect the wires together and try again.

Thanks for the reply. I have checked the spark while rolling it over and it has continuous spark(I put a plug in the plug boot and cranked it over with another plug in the motor). I'll try that suggestion though. It has a small kill switch right next to the key switch so that's where I'll start.

Yup bypass the killswitch. Also if you have a safety switch on ur brake pedal bypass it by putting the wires together.

sounds to me like you may have a valve sticking open most of the time.

I tried the switch bypass and no luck. It has really good compression. Im really at a loss here. it has spark,fuel and compression. Any other thoughts? Thanks again for the responses.

The only thing you haven't ruled out is air. Although unlikely, you may have a plugged muffler or clogged air filter, pop either one of those off and see what happens. You have good compression, you have constant spark, you have tried alternative fuel sources, the only thing left is air. I do feel I need to ask, what color is the spark? It should be a nice thick blue arc with a *snap* sound, yellow spark won't perform well under compression.

I have the air box removed right now. I put my hand over the carb while cranking and my hand will be wet with gas. I've tried gas down the cyl as well and nothing. I know it's something minute but as of now lol...it got me by the boo boo's. Sorry for that,all I can do is laugh at this point.

If your hand is wet with fuel, then you might be dumping too much in the cylinder, and flooding it. Remove the plug and check to see if it is wet, while apart, turn the engine over a couple times to push the excess fuel out the plug hole. Clean plug and reinstall, might need a new plug though if it fouled.

Sorry I meant that I block the mouth of the carb to make sure it is getting fuel. Like choking an old snowmobile with your hand. What gets me is that it won't even fire on ether. Just don't get it.

I am pretty sure yota knows what you mean. Do like he says and check the plug to see if it is wet. While you have the plug out, crank the engine over 3 or 4 times for a few seconds each time to dry the cylinder out. You may have the cylinder flooded from your attempts to start it.

Ok, I took the plug out and cranked the motor over several times although the plug didn't seem to be wet. I then gave a quick shot of ether down the plug hole and put the plug back and.....nothing. Not a pop or back fire or anything. I'm almost to the point of giving up and returning this disaster to its owner. Thanks for all the suggestions.

sounds like the timing may be the only thing left to check.

also ether, aka starting fluid is not good for these types of engines. carb. cleaner is a lot safer to use. not as flammable as ether ,but should work fine.

Seems like starting fluid isn't good for anything these days lol. I've checked the key way on the crank/flywheel and it's not sheared and the trigger coil is new. I don't like to bash on stuff but these things kinda suck lol. I'm sure they are great when running though. I'm not sure that I'm wanting to put anymore time into it though. I really appreciate the suggestions. Thanks again.

When checking for spark do not check at wire. Pull plug, connect to wire and ground plug then check. You could have a bad plug. How did you clean your carb? If it has been sitting for a while you may need to dip the carb over night in carb dip solution to get the crud out of the small carb orifices.

I soaked jets for about 10hrs dip tank then used carb clean to remove the dip. I used compressed sir on the carb body and there seems to be no blockages. I just can't understand why it won't fire with starting aid directly into the cyl. I took and used a screwdriver inserted into the plug boot and put near ground and it jumped about a 1/16 gap. Off I had enough hair is be pulling it out lol.

Your check for spark is telling you that you have spark at the wire, this is why I say pull the plug, connect to wire, ground the plug to the valve cover and see if the plug has spark. Lately I have found a half dozen bad plugs.

Ive checked that as well. A brand new plug,the old plug and just for fun one outa my sled and it has great spark. I havent had a chance to check and make sure the crank/flywheel key arent damaged but ive had the flywheel off a couple times and didnt see anything wrong.Thanks again guys.

are any of the valves stuck closed? I had a kawi 22hp on a zero turn recently that had seemingly good compression, good spark etc and when I went to check the valve lash I found a bent pushrod. I also once had a honda gc160 that the camshaft had deteriorated on that did the same thing.