Barn Find

[Def]

I decided to take a look at the points while the bike was running. Sparks everywhere! The condenser was definitely not working. Changed the condenser and decided to change the points also...I know...I shoulda just bought electronic ignition. Anyway, other than fixing the spark issue, the decel popping is still an issue. Decided to measure the exhaust temp and discovered #3 exhaust is running cold. I think I might have a too lean issue with Carb #3. Does this make sense or are there any other reasons why #3 would be running cold? I replaced the plugs, Checked and adjusted the valves and syched the carbs again yesterday. Gotta be either fuel or spark(coils, plug wires, maybe). Any thoughts out there or is everyone out riding, lol!!

 

[joedrum]

its probably plug ends on wires and maybe the wires too ....honda made it like impossible on 1000s to change plug wires ... but there is ways ... coils suck too and work for yrs in dry weather and if it rains they dam near or do quit all together till dry ....so it could be quite a few things below par on bike ...ignition wiring and connectors and all the switches are in play also ...

and it could be carbs too your at the the get to know your bike spot really

 

[dan filipi]

You could move the plug wires over left to right and see if the cold cylinder moves.

 

[slabghost]

Cold cylinder is likely no spark or very weak or no fuel at all. Lean fuel mix will give you hot temps. Check #3 plug. Wet = no spark or not enough to fire. Could be the plug or resistor cap or wire or wire connection at either end.

 

[dan filipi]

Over rich will cause cool pipe also.

 

[Def]

So...I got thinking the other day. Maybe I should check my engine compression. If it's low, it will be time to abandon this project especially if it's poor rings. So I tested the compression. The compression test came out fine, I think. I checked the bike warm, plugs all out, choke open wide, throttle wide open, battery fully charged, 12 revolutions per cylinder done four times consecutively with the whole procedure done twice on all four cylinders. Compression on cylinder 1,2,3 was 160+ psi and cylinder 4 was 155+ psi. :good: The only 2 things left to do is according to my thinking is.. 1. Complete electronic ignition system on the GL including wires and coils. 2. Pull off the carbs and go through them again, changing out a few more rubber pieces....you know, like the plenum gasket and carb to plenum gaskets, check for dirt in the carbs. The GL seems to be starving for fuel when the throttle is barely open from idle to about 3000 rpm. Idle speed also drops from about 1100 rpm to 500 rpm when I come to a complete stop then either stalls or goes back up to 1100 rpm. Otherwise, the GL pulls nicely and makes good power. I took the time to see what top speed I could get out of it and according to the speedo, it tops out at 180 kph.
Any thoughts on my dilemma? I've researched other threads where the owner had similar experiences on their GL's but the threads all eerily end without a final resolution. :doh:

 

[Def]

So today I decided for sure that I'm going to remove the carb rack and replace the o-rings and gaskets I didn't replace the first time around. so, I visited the local Goldwing Carb guru and he sold me a viton plenum gasket. As you can see in the pic, I have 3 o-rings to replace from the OEM carb kit pictured (per carb) that came with the bike, plus the plenum gasket. The big round one is the carb to plenum o-ring, The midsized one is the fuel seal gasket and I don't know where the other one goes or what it's called.....yet, plus the big oddshaped plenum gasket. Now that I have all the parts, I just need to find some time to do this in the next couple of weeks. I still may have to send the rack off to the Carb Guru if my rebuild doesn't work out.

Oh, the rest of the gaskets and seals that were in the OEM kit were installed 2 months ago, so I'm expecting them to be fine. Oops, pic is upside-down. :headscratch:

 

[joedrum]

hmmmm obviously you know the rack well ...i dont know how i missed your previous post .... a lot of oldwings run like you describe ....you can replace all that if you want but it seems to me it has nothing to do with it in my opinion .....try this ...where you set the linkage to sync the carbs loosen each one...one at a time and turn the the screw in let say 1/4 turn and lock back down ...this will make it idle better and should make it run better at low rpm to 3000 ... also use some atf in the gas ...with stock racks it is somewhat required to help these carbs stay clean with the gas they mix now witch is just corrosive and eats rubber parts up and leaves deposits in the carbs ....atf cures this bigtime ...

it really sounds to me like your close .... stock racks today have to be well pampered to perform good ....they were set up to run real gas the had much more btu in it ...also they are vacuum controlled to supply gas by lifting the slides as motor developed vacuum ...this in no way adjust itself ...like the gas has been screw with from 30 plus yrs ago ....the slides and various pathways for vacuum are no different than jetting and actually needs changing as gas changes ....no one talks of this ...

try what i said is what id do first before jumping in and changing all those gaskets and o rings is my opinion :builder: :mrgreen:

 

[Def]

Thanks joedrum. I also tested my sparkplug caps and they are reading low in the ohms department, so before I tackle the carbs, I'm gonna change them out also...all four of them.

 

[Def]

Changed out the spark plug caps.....no diff in the backfiring and low rpm tiny throttle opening fuel starvation problem....on to the Carbs...I'm ticked the carbs are winning but that's about to change....hopefully!

 

[Def]

Def-1 Carbs-0.

I spent the better part of my spare time this week disassembling the carbs for the second time. The o-rings and gaskets in the above pics were replaced, each jet and orifice (& there are many) was lovingly cleaned and blown out with compressed air and re-assembled. Floats were re-calibrated (one was definitely outta whack). I gotta say, the old plenum gasket looked like new, I was really surprised by that...changed it anyway. Carb to plenum o-rings and fuel seals were both suspect and the fuel/air mixture screw o-rings were all cracked and shredded. A couple of the screws holding the carb to plenum....the screws that hold the plenum screens on, were so loose, I could have unscrewed them by hand. I also replaced the vacuum hoses, fuel hoses and shortened the air cutoff valve hose by 1/8 inch to remove the cracked bit at the end. Double-checked my air cutoff valve rebuild from earlier then reassembled and Test rode the bike. I then syched the carbs with my trusty morgan carbtune and went for a spirited ride.

I am happy to report that the fartin and poppin on decel is 99% gone! so is the fuel starvation at small throttle openings. Power is where it should be. Idle is much better and so is throttle response. Idle is not like Hooch's (see his vid if you truly want to experience throttle response envy, lol) but is decent for a carbureted bike with 35 year old coils running old school points and condenser. I'm happy with it....but.... if I wasn't so cheap, I'd install the C5. (maybe one day). Thought I'd share with my fellow wingdingers.

 

[joedrum]

great job Def ...and the 79s are really tough to get good also .... the stock carbs can challenge the best of us ...its nice when clear victory is achieved....well there no doubt that the good tinkerer and some good decisions on what to use can beat the stock carb rack.and ignitions on these bikes.....this is a field where this forum applies both ways to help oldwing owners go ...as this is member first all the way forum and the sponsors are the members ...only things that prove to work ...like c5....single carbs are like art work it can be done many ways.... the harm cause by people who discount others effort in the middle of the game for sponsor leaning post hurt my efforts but fortuitously i didnt listen forever to the baloney......and hooch finally came to be ...thanks for your appreciation of my bike ..... :builder: great job

 

[Ansimp]

Nothing better than a sweet running bike. Well done! :good:

 

[Def]

carbs are still working sweetly. I now have a new "thing" going on with the wing. I'll fire it up to go for a ride. It's on the center stand when I do this. I'll then push the wing out of the garage and park the bike, still running I walk into the garage and doddle around for a few minutes, putting on my helmet and gloves etc...probably taking about 4 or 5 minutes. The right side muffler is now pushing smoke like I'm fogging for mosquitoes. I'm not sure if it's oil or excess fuel but it stops happening about 1/4 mile down the road and doesn't happen again until the next ride. Is this normal for the GL1000? What can you expert wingdingers out there tell me about this?

 

[Steve83]

What color is the smoke, and does it have a sweet smell? Do you turn off the fuel petcock when you park the bike?

 

[joedrum]

while sitting running the muffler gets hot enough to where it start burning the old oil in the pipe ..as you ride off the moving air cools the muffler and it quits smoking ... id say your ok ...it will take awhile for the waken wing to burn the oil out of the muffler ...as suggested keep the gas turn off when not riding ,,,and use atf mixed in the gas ....

 

[Def]

The smoke is whitish gray in color, I keep the petcock in the ON position at all times (I'll turn it to OFF after each ride) Smells kinda like fuel, not sweet. The exhaust coming out of the smoking pipe is much wetter than the exhaust coming out of the other side during warm up. Funny...I was looking a a bottle of ATF today thinking I should try it in the gas tank.

 

[slabghost]

Suggest you turn off the fuel a minute or two before you turn off the bike. I shut mine off when I reach my driveway. When you park it running is it on the sidestand?

 

[Def]

I park it on the center stand almost always. However, when I move it out of my garage (while it's running, but still cold) I park it on the sidestand to gear up and shut the garage door. That's when it starts to smoke. It stops smoking about 1/4 mile down the road. Even if I ride it all day with many stops and starts, it doesn't smoke again until the next ride. It doesn't seem to use any oil, either. :headscratch: (The smoke is definitely gray in color). I just watched some youtube on blown headgaskets and my smoke is not the white, billowy kind.

 

[mcgovern61]

I have had that happen with my 1100 when a float was sticking. Looked like a crop duster!!! Definitely gas!