Carb problems with my 2nd Gen?

Ok.

Opened up all 4 float bowls. Cleaned the Jets and the float seats and everything in there. The floats look like the move freely. Nothing is binding them up.

 

While the carbs are out I'd hook up a temporary source of fuel (funnel maybe?) and find out exactly where the leak is coming from.

 

FYI re float bowl gaskets: If it the same situation as the 500 Honda dealers can only get the float gasket as a full-carb gasket set with all the various o-rings and the cost was about $45 I recall. They could not get them separately.

 

Taking them off the bike was hard. I'm not looking forward to putting them back on.



Hmmmm....well the leak was something that only happened after a day or so of the bike sitting with the Petcock turned to ON.

I hope I free'd something up with my cleaning and this problem goes away. I also hope I don't need to order that carb set you mention Michael.

I pulled all 4 plugs. The 2 left ones were wet and fouled. Right ones looked normal.

The carbs weren't perfectly clean inside. I don't know if the float bowls can accumulate this much crap in the bowls from a week.


The guy who worked on my bike finally called. Asked me to check the Airbox for oil. It was pretty clean when I got in there.

 

That much sediment can muck up your float needle AND slow jet, ask me how I know.

 

Ok!

Carbs went on easier than taking them off.

Bike took some cranking to start. I tried with and without choke. It started with about 3/4 choke. Slowly the bike started to stumble and die.

I could get the bike started with no choke and by cracking the throttle open. While it was running I sprayed each header pipe with carb cleaner and noticed the front left wasn't evaporating. I pulled that plug and it was wet. I cleaned the plug and tested it by leaving it on the wire and putting it near the frame. I could see a tiny spark when cranking the motor.

I pulled the other front plug and it was BLACK. I cleaned it, made sure the gap was good....swapped the plugs and started the bike. (No choke) It started no problems....seems to run good.

I'm guessing I need to tune or synch the carbs somehow?

How do you know?!? :tongue:

 

What a mess!!

NEVER go to that mechanic again. PERIOD

As far as the stator gasket... It does have to have the stator cover off the get to get the engine in the right position for valve adjustment.

I would NOT TRUST that guy to do it correctly. Not after the mess he made.
Take it to a dealer or someone who knows what they are doing.

As far as the carb bowls leaking... it could be the floats are over flowing. If the Guy took them off and turned them upside down all bets are off, as dirt could have gotten ito the needle jets, and they could be sticking.

Make sure the idle jets are not clogged. You have to take them out and look through them and see daylight.


YOU NEED TO TAKE IT TO A GOOD SHOP AND START OVER. PERIOD!!!

You do not need to take the carbs apart . Just adjust the floats and make sure it has BRAND NEW float needles.

Were the carbs sync'd??? If not they WILL need to be since they were removed.


Running hot?? WHO KNOWS after all that mess was made.

 

I have worked as a HONDA dealer mechanic on many motorcycles and it is a rare case when a float bowl "o" ring needs replacement. VERY RARE. Make sure they are clean and secured properly. IF you are worried just put a little bit of Vasoline on the sealing surface during assembly.

 

Started the bike and I started spraying carb cleaner on the 2 front header pipes, back and forth.

The Front Left cylinder definitely doesn't warm up as fast as the other 3.

I guess the carbs need to be synch'd?

 

Promise me you will never spray carb cleaner(trichlorethylene ) on the header pipes again! Very dangerous!! Could ignite the hole can!

INSTEAD you need to spray the carb cleaner on the iINTAKE manifold boot and it it is leaking air the RPM will go up.

ANYTIMe you completely remove the carbs they should be resync'd because the movement of the carbs and the associated screws can change position just enough to throw them off.
Do you have the tool?
Do you know the correct procedure???

 

Oops. Thanks for the tip.

No....and I think the procedure is in my Honda repair Manual.

 

The sync procedure is not in the shop manual but they may say something about it.
The procedure is dedicated to the type of sync gage (brand)you have.

If you have the Motion Pro guage it works on vacuum and fluid.
It requires the engine be warm. And idle at about 1200 rpm or so. Lowest reasonable idle.
The right front carb (#4) is hooked to the guage with brass tube, and all screws on the guage are backed off. And all the vacuum lines are "t"'d into that.
This first step is to calibrate the guage. but what it is really doing is getting the right vacuum on #4 cylinder. The master carb. You adjust the screws on the guage until all 4 levels are the same. (ON THE GAGE) - Then shut the engine off put away the plastic "T".
Now hook all 4 vacuum lines to each respective intake manifold and cylinder with the brass adapters.

Do not rev the engine so high that the vacuum guage spills over and you lose the fluid in the guage.

Make sure they are on the right cylinder.
Next start the engine and using a bevel right angle drive tool with socket you can adjust each cylinder until you get all of levels the at the same level as close as you can.


ALSO...all of this is the FINAL LAST step. the air mixture screws must already be adjusted. THEN carb sync.

 

I heard #2 was the carb to reference when syncing?

Hmmm....well I didn't touch the pilot screws at all. To be honest I didn't even notice them :mellow: oops.

I just took it for a ride. Bike feels good. Not great....but good. Seems to stutter a bit through the low and mid range. Pulls hard after that.

I can tell it's just not running right.

All cylinders are definitely firing, but #2 might be running a bit rich. Using my little laser thermometer I can see the #2 header pipe is not running as hot as the other 3.

Do I have to remove the carbs to adjust those pilot screws?

 

No, but if they still have the caps on them you will need to drill them out and remove them to get to the screws. It would be about the same difficulty if you left them on or took them off. Just have to catch the shavings. The procedure is in the Honda service manual. Mine were all over the place when I rejetted and adjusted mine.

 

You DO NOT have to adjust the pilot air screws unless you have modified the exhaust or intake. Just leave them alone.

 

There are no caps on them.

What tool do you need to turn the pilot screws?

 

Flat head screwdriver. They face outwards and you can reach them with the carbs installed.

 

Ok. Something to do tomorrow morning (weather pending)

Spoke the the guy who worked on my bike. he mentioned something about not being able, or not wanting to touch the pilot screws ????

 

First smart thing that guy said.
If you want you could carefully make a mark on the screwdriver with a felt tip marker and count how many turns in they go - then turn it back out to the same spot and make sure all 4 are the same. Do not tighten them very much just turn them till they stop, thats it.

But if the mechanic did not turn them why do you need to mess with them?
Do you think a simple tuning of those screws will solve all the problems you are having? NO

You need to start over and get the valves adjusted, and have it done by a competent mechanic. THEN worry about the carbs.

Carburation is always the LAST step in a tune up.

 

Make sure you didn't lose any of the small springs on the inside near the throttle mechanism, sounds like you might have lost one. Once you know you have all the springs make sure you bench synch the butterfly valves to where you they line up and expose the small holes and when you open up the throttle they move at the same rate (this is when you have the carbs off the bike).