Great little diagnostic tool

[dbeardslee]

Well I had Betsy running great when all of a sudden God hit the smite button on his keyboard. She started running really rough and fouled plugs 1 & 2. 3 & 4 looked good. Hmmm, fuel. I took my trusty Infrared Thermometer ($20 at Harbor Freight) and aimed it at the header pipes. 2, 3, and 4 were all running around 200 degrees while #1 was running 160 - AHA! Took the float bowl off #1 and there was crud in bowl and the pilot jet was plugged up. Cleaned it, put it back together, readjusted and resynched and she's running great again. That thermometer is slicker than a ----------------------------------


Moderators note - edited for 'family viweing'. KT

[red bandit]

Moderators note - edited for 'family viweing'. KT

Bandits note- edited "family viewing" for proper spelling

[prometheus578]

"Another Moderator's note:

Uhmm, Dbeardslee...and what of the crud in the other three bowls?
Yeah, I gots one of those Harbor Fright (No, Red Bandit.. it's not spelled incorrectly) thermometers, too.
A pleasure to use, they are.

[dbeardslee]

Prom - funny you should mention the other three. While I had the rack off I checked them too. #1 was the only one with stuff in it. Looked like little grey particles of something. This is about the fourth time I've been in the carbs and I've got filters on the lines. The particles where way too big to have passed through the filter. Bike sat for three years before I got it and I've been giving it a pretty steady diet of seafoam - every third tank or so. I figure some ancient stuff came loose from somewhere inside the carb on #1. I just thought it was cool that the thermometer took me straight to the problem carb.

I noticed something else while I was in there too. EVERY one of my floats is concave on the sides where they should be flat. I figure some PO down the line (or his mechanic/brother-in-law) wanted more gas in the bowls and squeezed the floats rather than adjusting them properly. I think that explains why I have to set them so low (or high if you've got 'em upside down) - they're not displacing as much gas as they should.

Sorry about going over the line on the original post. I thought it was pretty tame (funny too), but, not my house.

[Ken Talbot]

Originally posted by red bandit
Moderators note --- for proper spelling

Oops, hate it when that happens! I _could_ go in and fix it so only those who have already viewed it would know any different but what the heck, I could use another fluff post..

BTW - I thought it was pretty funny too. Not necessarily all the way across the line, but leaning pretty good...

[prometheus578]

Actually, those float sides should be a little convex.
They are very thin and flimsy doesn't take much to collapse them.
Taking an air nozzle and blasting into a carb air jet or something could easily over pressurize the bowl area and collapse the float.
Never experimented with them...Maybe submerge them in boiling water... air inside expands and...
Who knows.
I wouldn't sing too much about the minor differences in bouyancy resulting in differing fuel levels. When one thinks about all the things the bike does... Cornering, braking, accellerating... fuel in the bowl is pretty much just sloshing around anyway.

Grey particles I can't explain. Oft times with carbs that sit in adverse conditions, the cheap metal that they're made out of sort of oxidizes. If you hadn't scraped that stuff off, if indeed you had it, it could fall and accumulate, I suppose.
Fine sediment from the tank will bypass filters and may clump together, etc.
I've got filters and still get sediment. That's why bowls have drain bolts or screws.
A good owner would open them up once in a while.
Other types of owners (no names mentioned) complain about little grey particles....

What type o' filters do you have... paper element or those brass colored cone things?

[dbeardslee]

Prom - the fuel filters I've got are the clear plastic conical variety. I looked at them too and there was some rust colored stuff in 'em - not much. I've never seen anything like the grey stuff that was in there. It looked like little tiny paper wads, only it wasn't paper. About the same color as the carb so you might have something with oxidation.

How often do you drain the bowls. There was a tiny tiny bit of rust colored sediment in the bottoms. I just had the carbs off about two months ago and cleaned the bowls then. Since I had the tank sealed they seem to stay pretty clean.

[prometheus578]

Ya know, I really can't say.
Hard to track things like that... would depend on how rusty a person's fuel tank is, etc. Sediment takes quite a while to build up.
Most times when someone finally takes apart their carbs because of a problem, it's the first time the carbs have been opened in ten years.
For winter storage, I advise draining the float bowls anyway. If you'd do that, that'd be sufficient.

[Da-Bubble]

Re: Great little diagnostic tool

That thermometer is slicker than a ----------------------------------


Moderators note - edited for 'family viweing'. KT [/B]

Slicker than a WHAT??? Now I wanna know! How bout telling us what it rhymes with? Ya know, like "colder than a switches kitty in a crass straw".

[dbeardslee]

Let me see how I can phrase this without getting myself in trouble. It had something to do with a cucumis sativus and a women's prison.

[wa407mpp]

carbs.

People who rely on a fuel Stabilizer as the only way to keep their carbs clean when they store their bikes are in for a lot of extra cleaning in the spring. It only lasts for a couple of months at best, before it starts to break down. The best way to prepare your bike for an extended down time is to add the stabilizer to the tank, drain the carbs.,and refill them, then start the bike and let it warm up, shut it off and drain the carbs. again, this will pull the treated gas into all the little passages and orifices, that would otherwise, still have untreated gas in them, if you only drained the carbs. Some people say to run the engine out of gas, but I think the there are some gaskets and o rings that need a little leftover gas so they won't dry out completely. Then without restarting it. And while the oil is still hot, change it and the filter, so you won't have a case full of acidic oil setting all winter. When you prep you bike in the spring dump the tank and rinse it out then refill it with fresh gas don't be cheap, save the old gas for the lawnmower, feed your baby the good stuff. I think the biggest problem for the warm climate riders is the idea of trying to ride their bikes all year, and then not riding them as much as they thought they would, or were able to and that is when they get caught with dirty carbs. in the spring. That's ok just get in the habit of draining the flout bowls if you haven't ridden it for a week or so, then refill them if you get a chance to ride. End of sermon now I'll pass the collection plate.

[prometheus578]

"Thanks for sharing that info, Wa407mpp."

That tip was slicker than snot on a doorknob.

[egsols]

Most times when someone finally takes apart their carbs because of a problem, it's the first time the carbs have been opened in ten years

......and then its every month thereafter.