rjsteiner01

Taz man sent a #3 & 4, changed out and set up carbs with #1 & 2, all good now. Many hours spent trying to figure out why they were flooding, now Mr. Taz man will get a shot at it. I'm sure he will keep us informed. My hat is off to him for bailing me out.

I would like to get this bike running, been an all winter affair, How much for a set? Are the rebuilt or have to go through them. PM me and give me your contact # and I will call you.

Taz, I have inspected the float needle, seat & o ring. All appear to be fine, I will try the drill bit. Do you have a source that rebuilds these carburetors in AR? If so can you pass on the info to me? I 'm wondering if I had a blocked passage, would it flood like it is? PO kind of butchered the aluminum around the idle jet but not enough to lose a seal around the needle. If I knew how to in-port a photo I would post it. Are you trying to get an extra set of carbs?

Flooding on #3, fuel is poring in from the power jet at idle, a little fuel is on #4 in the same place put not like #3. Should these jets be dry at idle? I have set floats to 9mm, new diaphragm on #1, power jet needle set to #3 position from pointed end (with a shim). Help!!

Hi Folks, Been doing a lot of work trying to get my bike straight (see my other post). I'm flooding on #3, running the bike at idle with out the air box and looking down the carbs. I see a LOT of fuel coming from the power jet. It pulses with the intake stroke. Other three carbs are not like this, #4 has some fuel coming from the same port but not much. #1 & 2 are dry at idle. When I rev the bike all four look consistent. Here is some of the work I've done: New diaphragm in #1 Set all floats to 9mm Power needle is set to the #3 position from pointed end and has a shim I will remove carbs for the fourth time to inspect but at this point I have no idea why I have so much fuel coming out of this port. I have inspected float needle and o rings, all look good. Should these be totally dry at Idle? Any help is appreciated, thanks.

Does anyone know what position the power jet (slide needle) is supposed to be set at? I found one carb not like the others, moved it to the same position but wanting to know what is the correct position is. I think there are 5 positions, if you know and reply please list from what end of the needle, thanks My factory manual does not cover this at all.

All, I removed the carbs for a third inspection, this time I found a few things, to my defence, one item I inquired about and never could get an answer for, the other I cannot explain except I must have over looked. Here it goes... #1 & 4 have a wet plugs and cold cylinders, #1 carb has two good size holes in the diaphragm for the power needle , you cannot miss this. When I had these apart in October, I did not see this. This cylinder was "damp" but cold. #4 cylinder was really wet and I found the slide needle was set at the third notch up from the pointy end, all other carbs were set at the second. This is a large difference in the carburetor world. I moved it to the same notch as the rest. One other finding: None of these needles have a stop fit on their mating seat (they do not close off any thing that I can see). There is a small amount of space all around the needle. Also, I looked up the parts illustration for the slide valve, the order in which they show the parts does not seem entirely right. The illustration shows needle, plastic spacer bushing, circ clip plastic spring receiver (non threaded), spring & plastic screw. I think it should be needle, circ clip. plastic spacer, spring receiver, spring & plastic screw. This is when I discovered I have an additional part..an extra spacer, very thin metallic washer. Metal, slightly corroded, I'm thinking this is some modifications from a previous owner trying to get more from the carbs (shimming). I will remove this washer on each carb. Floats are set at 8mm, I will move them to 9mm located a NOS slide & diaphragm on eBay. Will let you folks know how it works out after I effect repairs.

Gents, I looked at this video last fall and set the floats up accordingly. If I were "starving" for fuel, how would that explain the two wet plugs? When I have the carbs out I will double check the measurement, maybe go the other way (lean out) the two that are flooding. My coolant pressure test did not pan out, the bad thing is I cant tell whether its antifreeze or fuel that is on the plugs?? As for the valve clearance check, I'll pop the cover and give it a check, I have nothing to lose. I have looked over the intake for a leak on this side of the bike and do not see anything wrong, what other place can a vacuum leak be? Somewhere in the head? Thanks for the input, I really do appreciate it.

Winston, That is what is odd about my whole troubleshooting, I try to put two & two together and I can never seem to nail it down. I have the same coolant recovery system, If I pump it up and lose pressure one would think a leak. If no external leak, than internal....I'm not making oil, not steaming or dripping at the pipes. OK than must be a leak in the tool, but when tool is left on and the bike and it is started. I build up too much pressure (30 Lbs). One would think that there would be dripping or bubbles from the overflow tube when the 17 Lb cap is installed...thus indicating a head gasket problem or cracked head or something....NO, no bubbles or dripping (tube is not plugged). I don't understand it?? I have spark on the two cold cylinders, a friend dropped by to take a look and told me its plenty of spark. Is it at the right time? Don't know, I guess I will buy a $50 ECU from eBay and swap it out. I just hate to replace parts when I don't know for sure it will solve the problem. I will bring up a parts drawing to check for an O-ring you mention, I will pull carbs as well. I have a Colortune on the way from the UK, this will tell me if I'm rich or lean. Will keep you up to date.

I'll start out by stating that I'm no further along on finding out what the problem is with this bike than before I spent the 6+ hours looking at it. Pumped up the coolant system with a tester, engine cold and shut off, I have a very slow leak off (14 to 0 psi in 1.5 hrs). The flip side of this is if I leave the tester on the fill cap and start the bike, after it gets warmed up I get into the warning pressure range 25 to 30 psi. I know the bike is supposed to operate in the 17.5 range (filler cap rating). I have no external leaks. Cracked head or bad head gasket? Is this what is fouling my two plugs? When I run it with the regular cap I have no leakage or bubbles coming from the overflow tube (you think I would if I had 30+ psi in the system). When the bike cools down, and the cap removed, I have to add about 2=3 cups of water to bring it back to the top. No steam coming from either pipe. Did another cylinder leak down test, all pass, less than 5%, the worst one at 5% is the hottest cylinder...go figure. I also performed a compression test, unlike last falls testing (160-165 on #4) I now have 180-185 on all four cylinders. The latter reading is with oil added. Test performed on a warmed up engine, plugs removed and wide open throttle. My manual calls for 180 psi minimum. I now have a slight knock that is prevalent around the #4 cylinder at idle, I can make it quieter by pulling the choke out one notch, don't know what effect this has on it but that's what happens. I ran the engine at about 1800 rpms, a loud pop became steady, one every 1 to 2 seconds (right bank only). At idle, I held a piece of thin cardboard about 1/4 away from exhaust pipe on the right side, cardboard was sucked back over the pipe outlet in a hard and steady manner, the left pipe pushed on the cardboard and never sucked it back. Stuck exhaust valve? I would point out that the bike does not pop when you first start it up, only when its brought up to temp. I hooked a small clear tube to the carb bowls and opened the drain to measure the float level, two are at the bottom of the diaphragm cover (about 1" below cover center line), this is within specs, the other two (right carbs) are lower than spec. I would point out that the relation of the two that are out of spec, only one has a wet plug. Here is my question..is this a measure of how much fuel is in the bowl? or what the level is? The bike is not running during this test to make up the fuel I just drained out, so it must be a measure of how much is drained out. My tube was slightly larger than the Yamaha tube, so I would expect a lower level in the tube. Why is it that when the key is turned on and the bowl drain open, I don't have a steady flow of fuel coming out? Why is it that the pump does not stay on? I started the bike with the bowl drain open and did not get a flow of fuel, but when I shut off the engine and pull the plug, I have a wet plug? I shut off the idle screws on #1,3 & 4 and bike idles with no problem with the #2 carb idle screw open 2 turns. If I try this with #3 cylinder, cut off #2 and open #3 (the only other hot cylinder I have) the bike wont run. In or out on all but #2 makes no difference, on a cold cylinder, I can see this, but the #3 that is firing? Is this screw adjusting air or fuel? I ordered a Colortune and will test for over-fueling when it coms in from the UK.

Which needles? Float needle? Needles hooked to the slide valve? I could locate anything on what position (circ clip notch) the slide valve needles should be in? They are all the same and only two carbs are wet so I suppose it doesn't matter. Thanks.

Winston66, There are two sets of contacts across the switch, one for lights ect and the other for ignition. I removed the switch from the circuit, meter was on auto. I got 1.5 ohms across the "power contacts" & 264 ohms & kilo (thousands) & mega (millions) across the ignition contacts, the meter fluctuated around depending on where I move the key in the cylinder. The very lowest resistance I could get was 264 ohms, too high! PO had a long rat tail leather thing hanging off the key, looked cool but the whipping around in the wind did not help the lock cylinder. That aside, I jumped the switch only to get the same results (two wet plugs). Appreciate the feed back Mate!

Neal, yes jumped the switch, when I got to fire up, it had a slight nock in that #4 cylinder (sounded a little noisy). Walked around the bike to check it out and the right pipe began to smoke pretty good, started smelling like I was burning it up and I got concerned and shut it down. After shut down I checked the pipe and it was HOT! After a few minutes I figured I was just burning off the buildup in the cylinder, started it again and it never got hot again. Wet plug just as before jumping the main switch. I will say, the readings I measured on the ignition circuit side of the switch were too high (265 ohms at best, mostly in the kilo/mega ohms) that is too much resistance for a switch. I plan on going through the whole wire harness Saturday. My friend told me to start the bike and let it run for a few and check the coolant filler for bubbles (head gasket leak). He said it might be causing the wet plug condition. I did so and watched tiny bubbles come up every so often. It seemed that every time the #4 cylinder would pop, I had a reaction in the level of coolant in the filler neck Rise quickly and go back down. I wasn't really sure if it was from the bike moving or not. Pulled both cold cylinder plugs and they were wet, smelled them and they had no odor of gas or coolant. I don't know what to think, I can see if I can get an adapter for a coolant tester I have access to and test for a leak. My original post back in 10/13 starts out with a complaint of a cylinder not running at high end and low compression on #4. (160, all others in the 180s)

Goose, Thinking about the test you wanted me to preform I decided to modify it a bit. I have spark...I was thinking it wasn't a good spark looking at it while the bike is running. What I did was pull the high end lead from the plug and put another plug with the proper gap in the plug cap and held it next to the block for observation while the engine was at idle. Spark looked weak to me. I did check the resistance of the plug caps last fall and they were within spec. Would a weak spark not ignite ether because it is so volatile? I swapped out and swapped over coils and leads only to have the same two cylinders cold, coils & plugs are good (plugs have been replaced three times). However, as another member pointed out, matters not how much spark is there if I have a wash out condition. So thinking about how the carbs work and that if I'm not mistaken, you get fuel to the cylinders in three ways: Idle circuit (adjustable), mid range jet & high range jet, the latter two being fixed. What I thought I would do is turn in on fuel idle screw to close it off, start bike and run it at idle speed. Shut it down after a few minutes and pull the plug and see if it was wet. If so, this would mean I was getting fuel in the cylinder through other than the "idle circuit" (wash out). I had to use some choke but tried to use it as little as possible. I did this test with both affected cylinders: both wet I can still do your test with the ether, but the rate at which I am using fuel in my test tank, I think I'm flooding. If this is the case, what am I looking for on the carbs when I pull them? I have had these things out twice and went through the and found nothing wrong. Flipping carbs upside down and measuring float height, they're all the same, needles and seats look good, diaphragms & choke pistons. I know that there is a liquid level gage to set the floats, but can it not be done the old way of measuring from the bowl mounting surface? Saturday morning I will pull the carbs for another look.

Side stand, clutch switch are good. Seems as though the main switch does not pass the stink test. The heaver red to brn/blu wire has 1.5 ohms, the smaller wires in the interlock circuit have k & mega ohms some times and the best I can get it is at about 265 ohms moving the key around. Both circuits "beep" but the interlock circuit is too high resistance. iwould think. I will look at the neutral switch tomorrow along with making up some jumpers bypass the main ign switch and see if this corrects the problem. As far as the waste spark, I find that interesting, that sounds like that might be a way for dealing with emissions. I have been thinking that I have an explosion in the pipe every so often (pop, like a late timing thing) on #4 cylinder, that would be all that gas I'm not burning first time around.