• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

82 850 GSL starts won't keep running

  • Thread starter Thread starter stickid
  • Start date Start date
S

stickid

Guest
My carbs are cleaned and back on, waiting for a new air filter and have the old grungy one in for now. It will start with full choke but won't keep running more than about 10-15 seconds( maybe a bit more occasionally). I have the air screws at 2.5 turns out. Can't give any throttle or it stalls immediately.
Thoughts ? :confused:
Thanks
 
Did you verify the choke pick up tubes are open? The petcock may be malfunctioning too. Better check that if you haven't already.
 
Nessism said:
Did you verify the choke pick up tubes are open? The petcock may be malfunctioning too. Better check that if you haven't already.
Click to expand...
It's a new petcock and the choke pickup tubes are open. I just pulled the plugs and cleaned, they were a bit black not much though,am re-gapping and also checked the compression 1=147, 2=132,3=142,4=140.
I did get it to idle for a while but once it starts to warm up a bit it is more difficult to start.
 
Well, I had some success. I got the bike running and it will rev smoothly as well. I still have the air screws set at 2.5 turns but will play with that a bit because I can't get it to idle quite right. I put some seafoam in the tank to run through and ran it for quite a while. Still some fine tuning to do on it but I think the new air filter will help. I took some video and will post it on youtube then once I have it there I will post a link to it. I do appreciate all the knowledge on this site and hope that I will be able to help someone one day with some experience as well.
I gotta say though as a Harley rider it took a bit of pushing myself to hear an engine revving that high, it's been a while for this old bike to run but what a power band on this puppy. I am looking forward to taking it for a spin.
 
How's that for coincidence...?! I open the forum and the first post I see is my issue. I have just put rebuilt carbs back on a 79 Gs850, and, same thing. Would run for about 10 seconds and then die. The longer I wait between starts, the longer it will run, up to maybe 20 seconds. It's like the fuel isn't getting through fast enough. I even made a temporary fuel tank to determine if it was the pet clock. Same thing would happen. Before getting into the depths of despear, headed for the wisdom of the forum. I'll watch this with interest. The good news is, after a full carb clean and rebuild, the bike fired up immediately. It wants to go.
 
Don't give up. I eventually put some Seafoam in and just kept trying different settings etc. I finally got it go with the choke on full and was able to keep it going . It took quite a while but once it was really warmed up I reset the air screw to 2.5 turns( they were at over 3 I think, and then it just seemed to find a sweet spot. I was ale to take the choke off and the only issue now is idle but I think that is a mechanical issue on the linkage. Be certain to have you air filter in place, that made a difference for sure.
See my video at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLFzg5LPLbM
 
Sounds like it's not running on all four cylinders. You might want to check from a cold start to see if all the pipes get hot.

Burning oil too. You have some mechanical issues. Have you adjusted the valves yet?
 
Not oil, once I had it going for a while I put some Seafoam in it, that's what is smoking, stinky too...lol
 
No reason for seafoam if you rebuilt the carbs correctly. These bikes don't take a lot of finesse to get them running if everything is sealed up and stock. Might be an issue with your bench sync or you didn't get everything cleaned out during the rebuild. Like stated above... If you haven't yet, get those valves adjusted BEFORE you mess with the mixture screws and vacuum sync.
 
Did you remove the pilot screws and hold them up to the light to make sure the orifice is open?
 
JTGS850GL said:
No reason for seafoam if you rebuilt the carbs correctly. These bikes don't take a lot of finesse to get them running if everything is sealed up and stock. Might be an issue with your bench sync or you didn't get everything cleaned out during the rebuild. Like stated above... If you haven't yet, get those valves adjusted BEFORE you mess with the mixture screws and vacuum sync.
Click to expand...

I tried the Seafoam because I was under the impression that it cleans other internal parts as well, I could be mistaken, I have been before ! Just ask my wife.
I did a cold start this morning and it is not running on all 4 . I am going to do the valves and have been doing the research before I proceed. Once I do that and get the new filter in I am sure I will see an improvement.
Any advice on getting the shims , do they come in a pack with the various sizes or?
This has been a journey and a fun learning exercise, I appreciate all the wisdom here , thanks guys.
 
Yep, did that too. From what I gather it is the valves I need to look at first and that is what I will do.
 
You say it's not running on all 4. What cylinder or cylinders are not firing? Could be you still have a clogged carb or you didn't bench sync them correctly. If one of the carbs is closed while the others are open due to a bad bench sync, you will have a dead cylinder on the closed carbs.
 
stickid said:
I did a cold start this morning and it is not running on all 4 . I am going to do the valves and have been doing the research before I proceed. Once I do that and get the new filter in I am sure I will see an improvement.
Any advice on getting the shims , do they come in a pack with the various sizes or?
Click to expand...

Do a search on shim club and shim spreadsheet. Follow the directions that come with the spreadsheet and you'll have your most economical solution. Otherwise shims are sold singly.
 
yes, I checked and it seems like only 3 is getting really hot, 4 gets warmish but 1 and 2 ... cold.I also checked for spark and there is spark to all 4. I shot a bit of starter fluid into the 3 in question and 2 and 4 made it rev higher. 1 did nothing. I have the carbs off again. I must have missed something, the bench sync looked good, all 4 were opening at the same time. Looking in to the valve shims as well.The journey of learning continues.
:)
 
Moved #1 plug to #3 and determined that is a bad plug. New plugs coming up !
I also drained some gas and it is very dirty even though I cleaned the tank out in the fall I can see some rust still. It is off and going to a rad shop that will refurbish it.
I have gone through the carbs again and I think what happened before was some dirt got into the carbs and plugged them up again.
I will either try a temporary tank or wait until mine is done.
Educating myself on the valves so I can make certain they are correct.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top