GS450, No gas to my plugs

[greg]

Hi guys, I'm trying to get my '80 GS450L to start, and am not having any luck getting gas to the plugs. I've set floats to 27.2mm, and have cleaned the bejesus out of the carbs a few times, but the plugs are still dry. Gas is getting to the bowls, but I'm wondering if I should lower the float height since that might help gas get to the pilot jet? Any ideas?

[tkent02]

Are the choke feed passages clear?
Are the butterflies almost closed? If they are open too much the choke is inoperative.
How about the other passages in the carburetor bodies?
Where are the mixture screws set? It should start without the choke in warm weather if the mixture screws are set right and their passages are clear. Of course if you're in Tierra Del Fuego you may not be having such warm weather right now.

[terrylee]

My service manual says 21.4-23.4mm for float settings. terrylee

[Steve]

I've set floats to 27.2mm, and have cleaned the bejesus out of the carbs a few times, but the plugs are still dry.

Why have you set them to 27.2? Spec is 22.4 +/-1.0.

Gas is getting to the bowls, but I'm wondering if I should lower the float height since that might help gas get to the pilot jet? Any ideas?

Keep in mind that you are measuring the "height" while the carbs are upside down, so a lower number will actually mean a higher fuel level. You have set the floats so they close when they are 27.2mm below the carb, when they should be 22.4mm. Simply raising the floats to the proper height might do the trick.

.

[greg]

Whatever my source was for the float heigh was wrong(damn Clymer). I'll readjust them tonight and hope for the best. Thanks guys.

[Steve]

Actually, the Clymer manual that I consulted had it correct.

.

[greg]

I was working a few different bikes at once, so I can really only blame myself for probably reading another manual at the time.

[Guest]

Actually the correct float height for the 80 - 82 450's is 26.6 +/- 1.0mm... that is from the factory manual. Both Clymer and Haynes have that incorrectly.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?p=1810599&highlight=float+height#post1810599

[greg]

I adjusted the float, and gas seems to be spitting back towards the air filter instead of towards the plugs. I have it timed correctly, or so I thought. Any ideas?

[Guest]

Are the plugs wet at all or are they dry?

[greg]

Turns out the engine had really low compression. Fun.

[tkent02]

Turns out the engine had really low compression. Fun.

Adjust the valve clearances. Easy.

[greg]

My brother and I tore into the engine a little bit since the valve clearences were good. Their is way too big of a gap between the piston and cylinder. The p.o. really killed this thing.