Still having trouble with #1 plug fouling

[kirkwilson]

I'll measure next time- maybe even tonight if I get bored-

If they're equal I am going to try switching the slides and domes just as a last resort.

 

[dan filipi]

I'll measure next time- maybe even tonight if I get bored-

If they're equal I am going to try switching the slides and domes just as a last resort.

I'd be willing to separate the #1 carb from the spare 1983 rack I have and trade you but they are different years.

 

[kirkwilson]

Thanks, Dan-

I've got a $60 Ebay rack that I got today soaking in Krud Kutter- amazing stuff if you haven't tried it- non toxic and it was the only thing I could find that would take the 1/8 in crud out of the bottom of my Mr Coffee- Gross- I know- but I even tried paint thinner, bleach, dishwasher stuff and Goo Gone- nothing touched it- Krud Kutter ate it up- so give it a try- they're not paying me to say this- it's around $10 a gal concentrate at Lowes and there are instructions on how to dilute it to clean different things-

I tried a couple of the phillips screws on the float bowls and the slide covers- they were stuck pretty good- Any suggestions for removal?

 

[dan filipi]

A good quality new phillips screw driver after soaking with PB Blaster.

 

[kirkwilson]

OK- still trying to fix the original rebuilt carbs-

Since my last post I've switched the slide and dome between #1 and #2- no difference- I bought an aftermarket carb rebuild kit that had an adjustable main needle jet- it had slots at the top end for a circlip- 5 slots- 1 mm apart stock was in the middle- I set it at the leanest setting- circlip in the top slot so that the needle was 2mm longer than stock- so the carb should run leaner but ran worse and still fouled the plug. Top end was ok as well as idle but mid-range was flat.

I pulled the carbs again tonight- I removed the intake runners from the right side and gas started running out of the problem carb but not out of the other one on that side- so I'm thinking that my #1 float is set wrong. I have checked it at least two times and it is at 15.5 mm. Also have switched the float, float valve, float seat from the #2 carb- # 2 liked the #1 parts just fine but #1 still ran real rich. So for some reason my #1 is flooding itself.

It is set at 15.5 mm- to let less gas into the float bowl I should set the float at 17 or 17.5?

 

[mcgovern61]

Kirk, I had carb leaking into the intake problems too! Check ou this post:

viewtopic.php?p=4883#p4883

I finally had to adjust the #1 and #2 floats a little higher to get them to finally seal when full of gas.

 

[joedrum]

yea kirk whats going on with this fouling no. 1 cylinder.....

 

[dan filipi]

It is set at 15.5 mm- to let less gas into the float bowl I should set the float at 17 or 17.5?

I'd try 17 mm

 

[kirkwilson]

Checked again and the float on #1 was 15.5 at both ends. But the carb was flooding. All the float parts were from #2 which ran good and the float parts from #1 (problem carb) worked fine in #2. Had a hard time bending the #1 float tabs and getting the floats even. I finally left it with the end of the floats nearest the float valve set at 17 and the other end set around 18 mm. I'm going to set the carb rack on my workbench, connect a fuel source to the gas inlet, raise the gas source up about 2' over the carbs, and leave it overnight. Then I'll clamp off the inlet fuel line and drain each float bowl and see what I've got ijn each bowl.

Again, thanks to everybody's help on this!

 

[dan filipi]

Been there Kirk, sounds just like what I did.

Hope this takes care of it finally!

 

[kirkwilson]

I think I've finally got it- I set the carb rack on a milk crate and a box so they were at normal operating height and level but off the bike. Hooked the fuel line up from the fuel pump to tha carbs, set the 'on/off' switch to 'off', cranked the bike with the start button for around a minute. Cracked the float bowl drain screws and measured how much fuel was in each float bowl. #1 & #2- 17 mm deep in my scientifically calibrated pickle relish jar. # 3 and #4 measured 19 mm. This is after resetting my #1 float to 17 -18mm instead of the fact spec of 15.5- set at 15.5 my carb was drowning in fuel-

Put everything back together and it started right up and sounded good- Hopefully I can put an end to this thread tomorrow after I take a nice long ride and the #1 plug looks like the other ones afterwards- it's the last plug I have out of a full box-

 

[joedrum]

kirk i hope this works for you and sounds real good on what you did with the carbs and i hnow that your carbs are fine now ..... but if the problem persists its been brought to my attention that the coils which there are two are realy four ....dan cut an old coil into and theres actually two coils in one cartriged that fire at the same time so its possible for fire in one plug and weak fire in the other plug coming from the same cartriged coil just something i thought you might need to know ....im glad i know that now

 

[dan filipi]

We're routing for you Kirk, hope all goes well on the test ride!

 

[kirkwilson]

Had a nice ride this morning- about 75 miles- got home , let the bike cool off, pulled the plugs and deja vu all over again....... Black #1.

Joe, I know this is something that could be caused by spark but I've switched everything ignition wise from #2 &4 and from #1 &3 to the other bank of cylinders and they work fine on the left but not on the right- same thing with all the carb parts- they work great on the left but not on #1.

I'm going back in- cover me.......

I bought another rack on Ebay that don't look too bad- I think I'll stick them on after a cleaning and see what happems-

 

[mcgovern61]

Kirk, is it possible that there is a crack in the head? You have switched sides for everything including carb stuff, but the same condition keeps happening in the same cylinder. The only thing not moved or switched is the heads. (Not that I am recommending switching heads!)

 

[joedrum]

kirk i think thats a great ideal .....the only thing id would change is ...i might just change no1 carb as the others are doing fine right.... iwould just keep zeroing in on this cylinder only and not bring other factors in .....

on the spark issue i only keep bringing this up cause in my case and like you i eliminated ignition system probably 10 times before i threw my non productive logic out the window and bought new coils that fixed everything as a desperation move as there was no other move left ....i dont rate my logic as high as i use to and that has been a very logical move in keeping my bike running good :smilie_happy: :mrgreen:

 

[kirkwilson]

I'm going to say that because of the problems I've had with this carb I would not reccommend Pistol Pete as a GL 1100 rebuilder-
Sure the carb is clean and the float's were set to fact settings but the fact remains that I am not the only one who has had problems with their carbs after PistolPete had them- IMHO send your carbs somewhere else.

 

[joedrum]

kirk its always better when you work on something yourself .....espescaly 30yr old wings .....i think petes a good guy ....but the pressures of buisness these days and all the legal corruption of being a legal buisness can bring any quality level down ......so dont take it to hard and just keep on the problem at hand and will help you all we can .....thats what make this forum great ......i get pretty upset myself about how crummy things can be when things of buisness have more to do with gov than the customer .....seems to be the american way now ......that why i try to do for myself....

 

[kirkwilson]

Gerry, Wouldn't a cracked head show up in the compression test? #1 ( the bad one) was 165, #2 was 170, and # 3 &4 were 160.

Joedrum, like I said my comment on Pete was just my opinion. I'm sure he has lot's of satisfied customers or he wouldn't have the reputation he has.

Anyway, sometime this week that carb body is going away and all the removable stuff is going on another one- If the problem goes away I'll be one happy camper. If not, at least I'll know the problem is not in the carb because everything's been exchanged with another carb except the carb body and the problem has always stayed with #1. With that compression test it sure doesn't seem like I could have a head gasket, head, or valve problem. Bike runs below half on temp gauge even in the 90 degree weather we're having. All the ignition stuff has been switched from one side to the other so the coil and other stuff that was firing #1 is now firing #3 and #3 is fine. So hopefully swapping the carb body will fix it because if it doesn't I'll be stumped.

 

[dan filipi]

Oh, I thought you had already switched the carb body so I was REALLY stumped.