Idling around 400-500 rpm

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Young_Gun

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Okay, so I have a 81 GL1100 Interstate that is a bit of a project bike. I finally got the bike to turn over, but only the left two cylinders are running. When i hit the right two with starting fluid the idle increases to around 1000-1100 and you can tell it is running from the seafoam exiting the exhaust.(put some in the tank to try to clean up the engine a bit, had been sitting for a year). I let the bike idle a bit more too let the starting fluid burn through and it immediately dropped back to 500 rpm and only the left side was firing again. I pulled the carbs and all 4 bowls had gas in them, so I'm a little stuck at this point. Any advice or has anyone else had this problem? Any help would be greatly appreciated! :thanks:
 
Lots have this problem and more often than not it's a coil or ignition issue if one side is not firing, because one coil fires the right side cylinders. The 81 had a pulse generator or pickup that could go bad which triggers the coils. You say it fires when you give it starting fluid, which makes you think it's fuel delivery issues. I would check spark first at the two plugs that aren't firing, because it's easier than pulling the carbs yet, or getting to the pickups. It could be plug wires or the resistors which are in the plug cap. You may have a weak spark that cannot touch off the fuel, but can touch off the starting fluid.

Sounds like a fuel delivery issue, but check spark first.
 
[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=110794#p110794:22tbq2ga said:
ekvh » Sun Feb 23, 2014 8:18 am[/url]":22tbq2ga]
Lots have this problem and more often than not it's a coil or ignition issue if one side is not firing, because one coil fires the right side cylinders. The 81 had a pulse generator or pickup that could go bad which triggers the coils. You say it fires when you give it starting fluid, which makes you think it's fuel delivery issues. I would check spark first at the two plugs that aren't firing, because it's easier than pulling the carbs yet, or getting to the pickups. It could be plug wires or the resistors which are in the plug cap. You may have a weak spark that cannot touch off the fuel, but can touch off the starting fluid.

Sounds like a fuel delivery issue, but check spark first.
Click to expand...


This is wrong, one coil fires the front two cylinders 1/2. The other coil fires the rear two cylinders 3/4. You need to clean your carbs. It sounds like the idle jet circuit is plugged on the two RH carbs. That is why it picks up rpm when you spray the fluid in the carbs.
 
yes the firing is as robin says ... early in the morning ... sheesh but it could still be weak spark and bad ends on that side ... sometimes the sun hit one side and not the other in long sits outside causing stuff like this ... id say if you didn't hear ant bad lower end stuff in motor your looking good so far .. carbs or ignition is minor in comparison ... definitely keep wife focus on things could be vacume leak .. could be trashed carbs on one side from the outside environment ....

congrats the lower end seems good so far
 
Mine did the same. Fix was pull the jets and clean them then reinstall. I say pull them because they are not threaded they are pushed in place. I forced a drywall screw in tight and levered them out with diagonal wire cutters.
 
Are the right cylinders dead at all RPMs, or only at idle? Just curious - either way is carb issues. Let the seafoam do its work, it might clear up. Some ATF in the gas will help, but more than likely you've got clogged jets and will need to pull the carb rack. It's not that bad of a job to do.
 
I fought mine almost an entire ride season with seafoam and atf. I'd get moments when it cleared and ran great and a mile later it was back to running on two cylinders. Try it but I think you'll end up clearing the jets yourself. I did.
 
okay so i got the carbs off tonight and am completely lost as far as which one is the idle jet, however everything looks pretty clean. I could be wrong, i'm not used to carbs on bikes, only cars. Not sure if there's really a difference or not, but if someone could tell me which one is the idle jet that would be greatly appreciated! :help: Also, i'll post a link of the bike running as soon as i get it uploaded to youtube. :thanks:
 
once the rack is off you need to do a flow and a flow stop test as a starter and start reading up on carb part pieces and total no parts available issues ... this is the number one reason people lose it on oldwings ..the carbs get funky after a few months storage gasoline available today isn't what it was when these bikes were made... :headscratch: :mrgreen:
 
Sounds like plugged idle jets and that's an easy fix.
Much easier than building a single carb setup.

Take a look inside the gas tank.
If theres any rust, that can bugger up the jets if it gets past the filter which it can.
 
May be a day or two late but while your in there check everything, Things like the little sceens under the floats, clean them and check the fabric for tears or other openings that debris can get into the carbs from, I know you have a fuel filter but best to have a second line of defense.
You have 2 carbs that are working so check the flow through the idle circuit using a small piece of tubing and blow through it, you should feel the same resistance in each carb, there are some tough clogs and you need to be absolutely sure they are clean before you go through all the trouble of re mounting them.
Check your slide springs against each other then clean the caps, slides and assemble the slides,springs in the caps upside down on the bench and observe the action, they should come to rest at the edge of the cap,give them a gentle push with your finger down and they should rise to about the same level on or near the edge.
Keep the float needles with the assosiated carb, they can be finiky when moved to another carb/seat or better yet relace them.
A good idea to fill them with fuel before you install them to check for leaks, I measure the CC`s of fuel after filling them, off hand I think it was 50 cc`s each bowl but I have many carbs on my mind and cant recall.
Many of us have been through this cleaning and we learn fast how right they have to be.
Good luck.
 
Thank you to everyone who left a reply. :thanks:
Been busy with school and work but with summer here I finally have time to work on the bike :yahoo: Anyways, does anyone know a good site to get carb rebuild kits from for a reasonable amount?
 
Once again thanks to all that have helped with this.
The bike is up and running properly now thanks to all the help. I will be posting a video soon of how it sounds now with the jets fixed.
Thanks again guys, this is by far the most helpful forum I've been on. :good:
 

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