DRZ400S intermittent starting issue
For the last two and a half months since I entered India my DRZ has been going through streaks of being very difficult to start. Starter turns fine but it doesn't ignite. If I pull out the choke and twist the throttle hard it'll eventually start chugging and catch with a puff of black smoke, and then I have to leave the throttle on or it dies immediately. I seem to be flooding the engine with my attempts to get it going, but just pressing the button doesn't start it.
Things that make it worse
- Cold engine
- Bad petrol (and in India it can get very bad)
- Cold weather/higher altitude (the only places it's been cold have been 2000m so I'm not sure which it is)
But other times it starts right on the button, and will be fine for weeks. Sometimes it'll come and go in the same day.
Cleaning the carb seemed to help for a while but now it's back. Plug when checked were black with carbon and cleaned. I haven't tried cleaning the tank/fuel screen yet. Valves were checked back in malaysia (so maybe 8000 km ago?). I've taken it to a (good) shop who did the carb cleaning but since nobody's familiar with the bike and the problem is intermittent it's difficult to really get it resolved.
(FYI I'm still a novice when it comes to mechanical stuff but am trying to catch up, so forgive me if I missed something obvious)
Thanks!
- Heather
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