Kickstarter gets stuck/blocked?

[electric!sheep]

On my 1989 XT600, the kickstarter is getting "stuck" every few kicks. Here is what happens. I'll kick it through and WHAM it's like I hit TDC with no decompression. If I hit it mid-stroke, I need to let the kickstarter return before resuming. If I hit it at the top of the stroke, I need to sit on it for a while before it slips past.

1. I figured it was the decompression cable so I adjusted it, to no avail.
2. I then put pliers on the decompression lever and pulled it close as I kicked through. No improvement.
3. I then put a wrench on the rotor bolt and rotated counterclockwise while holding the decompression lever. Turns over just fine. Smooth when decompressed, hard when not, just as it should be.
4. I get the kickstarter stuck, turn over the engine as described above, and then retry the kickstarter. Still stuck.
5. Not sure about this, but sometimes it seems to turn over without a problem?

WTF is going on!?

[electric!sheep]

I did some more observation, and it seems like it's getting hung up on the intake stroke. As the intake valves open, it's working just a bit too hard and doesn't want to proceed. My TT600 labors slightly at the same time, but it slides right by. The XT is not having it. Why?

[electric!sheep]

Looks like the intake valves were a bit tight, so I put them on the looser end of spec. As soon as my side gasket comes in, I'll find out if that fixed it. Any other ideas what else might be causing this? FWIW, the balancer shaft can be rotated directly with little resistance.

[Walkabout]

Hi ElectricSheep,
First I have to say that I am no expert in any engines, much less your particular one.
I know how you feel though when one of these strange "happenings" comes along; can you think of what has changed recently that might be the cause of this?

The symptoms that you describe remind me of a problem that I had with my bike (TT600R).
My symptom was the kickstart was very stiff and "grating at the bottom" of the kick action.
The cause was that the timing chain was way out of correct adjustment.
The cause of this was that I had taken the top of the engine to bits and had allowed the timing chain to slip around the bottom, driving, cog without even realising at the time.
The solution was to get the chain back onto the cog and adjust the timing.

I hope this is of some help in identifying "what has changed" in your case,

Cheers,

Dave

[electric!sheep]

Dave, you might be right. I found your old thread (http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...em-not-27049-5) and this sounds JUST like your problem. Time to pull off another side cover, too bad I don't have an impact wrench anymore for the rotor. That will be interesting!

[tt600thumpin]

Originally Posted by electric!sheep

On my 1989 XT600, the kickstarter is getting "stuck" every few kicks. Here is what happens. I'll kick it through and WHAM it's like I hit TDC with no decompression. If I hit it mid-stroke, I need to let the kickstarter return before resuming. If I hit it at the top of the stroke, I need to sit on it for a while before it slips past.

1. I figured it was the decompression cable so I adjusted it, to no avail.
2. I then put pliers on the decompression lever and pulled it close as I kicked through. No improvement.
3. I then put a wrench on the rotor bolt and rotated counterclockwise while holding the decompression lever. Turns over just fine. Smooth when decompressed, hard when not, just as it should be.
4. I get the kickstarter stuck, turn over the engine as described above, and then retry the kickstarter. Still stuck.
5. Not sure about this, but sometimes it seems to turn over without a problem?

WTF is going on!?

my 85 tt 600 is doing the same thing did u figure out what causes this to happen?

[Sjoerd Bakker]

The problem may have nothing to do with cam chains and valves being too tight.
If the kickstart lever comes to a hard abrupt stop before the end of its stroke there is a good possibility that the drive pawls inside the ring which drives the gearshaft through its start rotation are worn and not engaging properly , then jamming up .
This will require some serious investigation, dismantling of the kickstart mechanism. If not corrected you may wind up with a jam-up, broken shaft etc. if you ever have a piston kick back during the start procedure.