Originally Posted by
speedracerntrixie
Ace, not trying to mislead, the point I was attempting to make was that even if the reeds were stuck somewhat open the engine would pop. The only way it could be a reed issue would be if they are stuck closed. I have not ever seen that happen. I'm still feeding to there being a large air leak. I would pull the intake assembly apart and take a close look at the gaskets. There should be visible signs of leakage on one of the gaskets. If it were weak spark the plugs would get wet. IMO there just is not enough crankcase velocity to get the charge up into the cylinders. An air leak or poor sealing rings are the only items I can thing of that would do this. Unless the needles are set way lean and the metering needle is stuck in the open position.
I know, just clarifying for those that don't. On DLE's with the updraft carbs the reeds do not need much gap for insufficient suction. Most of the updraft reed blocks I have seen appear to have a rough finish to the surface. I just got home from a friends house where I just fixed his brand new, has not been run, DLE 170. Same issue in regards to starting, first thing I did was pull the carb and reed block. I placed the reed on a piece of black glass and with a flashlight one can see light around the perimeter. Sanded the reeds on the glass, which has 800grit on one end, and wah-lah it starts on the third flip.