I need some ideas......

[DrImodium]

Ive been having issues with my #2 plug fouling out because my petcock was leaking fuel down the vac hose. I called Z1 and they sent me a replacement vac type petcock and new diaphragm along with a Pingel manual petcock. I got around to installing the Pingel unit today but now its running like crap.

I took the stock unit off the tank with the vac hose. I used a black vinyl end cap to cap off the vac port on the carbs. I then installed the pingel unit as decribed in the instructions. I replaced the fuel hose and cut it to length. After wrapping that up, I put the tank back on the bike and replaced all of the plugs with new ones. Before installing the plugs, I checked to make sure I was getting good spark and everything looked good.

When I went to fire it up, I made sure the Pingel was turned "On", pulled the choke out, and hit the start button. Fired right up. I let it warm up for a minute and pushed the choke back in. It idled fine in the drive way so I put my coat on and hit the street. I rode it around the block in my development and the more I rode it, the more it acted like it wanted to die. I tried getting on it a little to see if it would clear it out and it stumbled and spat. I pulled back into the garage and pulled the plugs. Each of the plugs looked NEW. I felt the exhaust pipes and 1,4 weren't nearly as hot as 2,3. 1,4 were warm but not hot like they should have been.

Im at a loss right now. Ive been messing with this for the past 4 hrs and just need some ideas. What should I look for/at? HELP!!!

Mods:
80 GS1000
Pod filters
STG 3 jet kit.
Pingel Petcock
Vac port plugged
New NGK plugs
Coil Mod

 

[Guest]

Check for spark on 1&4. Those two run off the same coil.

 

[DrImodium]

Check for spark on 1&4. Those two run off the same coil.

Checked out good

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

How much gas did you put back in the tank? A gallon? Less?


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[Guest]

Checked out good

Sounds like your coil is cutting out either because of the coil, igniter or crank trigger.
It can test good now but when you're running crappy check it

 

[DrImodium]

I just cleaned out the tank last week before installing the Pingel unit with some Evaporust. I let it work for 72 Hrs before rinsing it out with some water and letting it air out for 5hrs in the sun before putting gas in. Currently there is ~2 gallons in the tank.

 

[Guest]

You didn't ride that far but your new plugs had not fuel, no carbon, no nothing on them? and all four looked the same? So you went from a vacuum petcock to a manual/non vacuum petcock...is that right? I'm not sure what type of "vinyl end cap" you used to cap the vacuum port on #3 carb but make sure that thing is on tight (although if the idle is OK that doesn't sound like a vacuum leak). You know the Pingel you put on is working properly? Sort of sounds like a fuel starvation but it could be your coil is not firing properly for what ever reason but usually you can tell the bike is only firing on 2 cylinders.

 

[DrImodium]

You didn't ride that far but your new plugs had not fuel, no carbon, no nothing on them? and all four looked the same?

Correct

So you went from a vacuum petcock to a manual/non vacuum petcock...is that right? I'm not sure what type of "vinyl end cap" you used to cap the vacuum port on #3 carb but make sure that thing is on tight (although if the idle is OK that doesn't sound like a vacuum leak).

I used a cap just like this:

You know the Pingel you put on is working properly?

When in the on position, fuel flows free

Sort of sounds like a fuel starvation but it could be your coil is not firing properly for what ever reason but usually you can tell the bike is only firing on 2 cylinders.

Best way to check coils? Im getting spark on all 4 plugs

 

[Guest]

Strange your plugs look all the same, not wrong, just strange. Those plugs, as long as they are soft and fit tight, will work. The best way and only way to check the coils properly is with a multimeter. Check for 12 volts at the coils and compare that to the voltage at your battery and then check the ohms both primary (should be about 3 ohms) and secondary (should be about 30K ohms for stock coils) to each individual coil. It's explained well here, under "testing the ignition system"

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/storagecliff/images/electrical_odd-n-ends.html#top

 

[Testarossa]

Are you 100% sure that the Pingle is actually flowing gas? The reason that I ask is because I recently purchased a Pingle from Z1 and the ball valve was incorrectly installed 180* out of phase. It would not flow in any position. If this is the case, I'm certain that Jeff @ Z1 will take care of you. I was an impatient bugger and disassembled the thing myself and fixed the problem. You could just verify by cracking one of your float bowl drain screws. You'll know right away if there is fuel present.

Option two. Are you running an inline fuel filter? Maybe it's plugged?

Option three. Small amount of trapped water that didn't evaporate from your drying efforts made it through first, thus filling your float bowls on 1 and 4. I am theorizing that it got flushed through 2 and 3 since it passes through the tee into 2/3 first. then through the crossover pipes into 1/4. This one's a long shot.

Sure sounds like fuel starvation to me, but I would pull the plugs and visually check for spark by re-attaching them to the wires. Lay 'em on the head and hit the ignition. You should be getting a nice blue spark from each. At least that test would eliminate the ignition as the source of your problem.


EDIT: PS did you try running it on Reserve? Possibly the Pingle installation has changed your reserve amount, and requires more fuel to run in the "on" position. Two gallons should be enough to get off reserve, but you never know.

 

[Flyboy]

Maybe check that the tank breather hole is open, and you not getting a vacuum in the tank as you use fuel, that will cause starvation.
Take the tank cap off, blow into the tank, chances are it will fire right up again.
I had a similar problem with an 850L many years ago.
The breather should be a little hole in the fuel cap.

 

[sparki]

i had a very similar issue on my ET when it was rebuilt.... too many parts from too many different places and it took forever to figure out. turned out to be the dyna-s wasn't doing what it was supposed to. replaced with std crank trigger and cdi box and all was well again. maybe try to borrow a spare from someone and rule that out. i thought it was fuel too for a while.... lost count on all the messing around i did regarding fuel and coils. left the dyna-s til last as a lot of the old wiring had been removed from the harness and it was a pia to wire the std ignition back in but that was my issue. it fired up fine first touch of the button... ran fine in warm up... ok til a few roads from home then started to stumble and wouldn't rev through it, just as you describe your to do. gotta be worth a shot 'eh

hope that helps

 

[DrImodium]

Checked the Pingel unit again and it works perfectly. I also checked the fuel cap to make sure the vent was working. I assume the chamber with the 2 ball bearings, next to the lock cylinder, is the vent? I took it apart and cleaned everything out and then re-assembled it. I also cut the fuel tube a little shorter (~5/8") to try and get it as direct as possible to the carbs. I also checked all 4 plugs:

1- Looked Perfect
2- Fouled out rich
3- A little lean
4- Lean

Replaced with all new plugs and Im gonna give it another try tomorrow morning. Im wondering if the cap on the vac port on the carbs is sealing correctly. I pushed it on and its a super snug fit. There shouldn't be a way for it to be leaking. Any other ideas?

 

[Guest]

There is also a small hole inside the tank itself, you sort of have to look in and on the side right at the spout. Did you check your coils, or do you feel they are all firing fine now? Have you tried running the bike since you've changed things? I couldn't see anything in your past posts about what you did to the carbs as far as dipping/cleaning/new o-rings and the such, or if you replaced your intake o-rings. When you measured your float heights did you mechanically measure them to set the heights or did you use the clear tubing on the out side? Has the bike run really well since you put in the stage 3 kit? just trying to think out loud about things.

 

[DrImodium]

There is also a small hole inside the tank itself, you sort of have to look in and on the side right at the spout. Did you check your coils, or do you feel they are all firing fine now?

Ill go check the hole inside the tank right now. Ill check the coil output tomorrow.

Have you tried running the bike since you've changed things?

No, Its a little late to fire it up tonight. I will first thing in the morning.

I couldn't see anything in your past posts about what you did to the carbs as far as dipping/cleaning/new o-rings and the such, or if you replaced your intake o-rings.

Nothing has been replaced in the carbs other than adding the stg 3 kit. I cleaned them out quickly with some carb cleaner but I have yet to dip them. Intake Boots look new. Havent replaced Intake o-rings as I havent seen the need yet. What are symptoms of needing them replaced?

When you measured your float heights did you mechanically measure them to set the heights or did you use the clear tubing on the out side?

Mechanically set them.

Has the bike run really well since you put in the stage 3 kit?

I can only think of one time when the bike ran flawless for a nice 4 hr ride after installing the jet kit. Other than that, Ive been fouling out the #2 plug consistently which led me to the assumption that the petcock was leaking fuel and it was going down the vac tube to the #2 cyl. I replaced the petcock with the Pingel unit, plugged the vac hole on the carbs with a black end cap and thought that it would have fixed the problem. Aside from the #2 plug fouling out, the other 3 have all had perfect brown coloring consistently, again, leading me to believe it was a petcock issue.

Also thinking aloud, Im wondering if the Evaporust and water rinse that I cleaned the tank out with are wreaking havoc with the gas in my tank right now. After cleaning the tank out, I put the gallon of gas back in the tank that I had drained before cleaning it. Ive only put another gallon in so there is roughly 2 gallons in my tank right now. If there were remnants of water or evaporust in the tank, would 2 gallons of gas be enough to dilute the mixture enough to run right? Ways to correct this problem and eliminate it from the equation?

 

[Flyboy]

I doubt the gas is bad, then you would have problems on all four pots, not just the number two.

If, as you say, the plug readings are giving you three good readings, and just the number 2 fouled, you may have an electrical issue on that cylinder.
Likely suspects would be;
Plug, could be that the plug is fine outside the motor, but once it is installed and working under comustion pressure etc, it could be breaking down.
Plug wire
Plug cap
Plug cap resistor, open and replace with brass rod.

 

[Billy Ricks]

This won't explain what's going on with #2 but it may be part of your problem. There are some fine screens that sit on top of the float seats in the carbs. If you had sediment reaching the carbs those screens could be clogged. As for #2 that carb float could be sticking but that usually leads to overflow. Float height on that carb could be set too high.

 

[tejasmud]

Didn't see it posted yet.

Might make sure you are getting 12v at the coils from the wiring harness.

 

[Flyboy]

Might make sure you are getting 12v at the coils from the wiring harness.

Indeed, I thought about that to, but then he would have the same issues on #3 as well, as they fire at the same time off the same coil.

Will be interesting to see what it turns out to be.

 

[DrImodium]

I woke up and knowing my luck I should have known it was going to rain today I fired the bike up first try with the choke out 1/4. Let it warm up for a min and it was blowing a little bit of white smoke (No blue smoke anywhere). After it warmed up the smoke went away and it idled perfect without any choke. I grabbed my coat and went for a ride down my road in my development. Since I had my open face helmet on I was getting pelted with water from the road so I turned around and came back home (Less than 1/2 mile total). Pulled into the garage and put her in neutral, still running. As I walked away from it, the revs started dropping and it started sputtering and wanted to die. Twisted the throttle to give it some more RPMs and as soon as I let go of it, It started sputtering for 4 seconds and then died.

So, It will idle perfectly until there is some load placed on it and then it falls on its face. What gives?

Im headed out to pick up some carb cleaner and some carb dip. Im going to clean the carbs out, replace the O-rings, and try to get the carbs all bench synced. Then Ill sync them on the bike and hopefully that will rule out any issues with the carbs.

Im getting so frustrated with this bike. It will run, but it wont run right long enough for me to enjoy it or even ride it to a shop to have them take a look at it. The only time I get to enjoy it is when I go into the garage and smoke a cig. This isnt a piece of art to just look at, I want to ride it!