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Engine and carb trouble

2K views 17 replies 5 participants last post by  twistit 
#1 ·
So, I have been anxiously awaiting today. Apok sent me a couple valve cover bolts to replace the that snapped on me. Thanks again, btw. I get everything back together and fire it up. Everything seems fine. I let it idle about 15 min and then take it for a ten minute test ride. While I am out I find out that it bogs down severely at 10k rpms. It just stumbles and backfires. I get it back home and find out that the valve cover is leaking out under one of the valve cover bolts. Should be an easy fix on that one. I also find that one of the carbs is leaking gas. Definitely not what I was hoping for. I have been having the itch to take her out pretty bad lately. Any ideas on the bogging out or the suddenly leaking carb?

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#2 ·
Make sure your float levels are correct. If they are too high, it'll flood and pee gas. What carbs are you running?

Also make sure the valve cover o-rings are seated right around the spark plugs or you'll get a nasty leak. Replace the gaskets around the valve cover hex bolts because they dry the hell up over 25 years or so and always replace the valve cover gasket when pull the cover unless you've already done it at some point.

BTW, did you re-torque the head while you had the cover off? It's a good idea.

Sounds like easy stuff to fix.
 
#3 ·
Replacing the gaskets is first on my list. I am running the stock carbs. They are bst31ss's. The leaks are the easy fix. It is the bogging out that concerns me the most. I will re-torque the heads when I replace the gaskets.

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#4 ·
I may end up just sending out the carbs to be set up. The engine hasn't ran right all summer. I have had them apart a few times and it hasn't solved my problems with them. I may try rebuilding them one more time. It has been frustrating.

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#5 ·
Oh, hey I meant to mention that I re-torqued my head earlier this year and it definitely improved the way the engine was running. I'm sure I was loosing compression and there was a little oil weeping that has cleared up since I did that. The biggest improvement was that it is smoother at low revs.

Bogging at the top end sounds like it's running out of fuel. It could be jets I suppose... I wonder if the tank breather is clogged? It's the breather with the hose.
 
#6 ·
I will look into the tank breather. I have had problems with it idling since I bought it this spring. Cleaning the carbs and checking the float height smoothed it out, but it still won't idle below 2750. It dies out every time. My mixture screws are 2 turns out.
 
#7 ·
Well, I got the gaskets replaced. I will start it up tomorrow once the rtv cures. I retorqued the head bolts while I had the valve cover off. The breather seems ok on the tank. I am going to replace the inline fuel filter and check the tank interior tomorrow. A little progress today at least.
 
#8 ·
Ok, I am getting pretty frustrated here. There are no apparent leaks anymore. It started up fairly easily. It smoked for a while but then cleared up. I took it for a test run and I still don't have any power above 7k. It actually died out while riding. I got it going well enough to get back home, but sure frustrated the hell out of me. Can anyone think of the next thing to check?
 
#9 ·
Well, it's probably fuel related but have you checked the coils? These bikes are notorious for bad coils.

One last thing to check when it dies on you or you can't keep it idling is to pop the fuel cap and see if you've got a vacuum, meaning that the breather isn't doing its job.
 
#11 ·
I'm not sure the breather needs to be replaced. Mine have never acted up as far as I know but I've seen many posts where guys have had them get blocked and vapor lock the tank so the fuel doesn't get to the carbs. If I had a problem with mine, I think I'd soak it in varsol or hit it with carb cleaner and see if that cleared it up.

Definitely check the coils and the CDI... I replaced mine with Dyna coils many years ago and really noticed a difference.
 
#12 ·
The breather is fine. I have it soaking just to safe anyways. I pulled the pods while running it and had fuel leaking out of the filter side. I am going to pull them apart and rebuild them, again. :banghead: Hopefully it helps this time.

On a better note, it held a lower idle today. Something to be happy about.
 
#15 ·
I'm with Andrew; the float level appears to be too high. I find the best way to check the float level is as shown in the pic. I don't have the float level guage mentioned, I just disconnect the drain hose and use a piece of clear tubing in it's place. Just open the drain screw and the fuel should rise to the where the float bowl meets the carb body. Oz
 

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#16 ·
I already have the carbs off of the bike. I will check the floats first to see where they are at and adjust as necessary. I do not know about the jetting. It had the filters on when I got it. I will ditch the inline filter. No problems with that. Thanks for all of the input. It has been driving me nuts.
 
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