New here , just snagged a 1980 xs1100

[TDodge7]

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no , i haven't messed with the valves , the exhaust doesn't leak at all . cylinder #3 runs more now than it did before , as does #4 but they still don't like to idle unless you rev it way up a few times , and then they'll idle for a while and eventually drop back off .

[TopCatGr58]

i put my finger over the starter air jet in the air bell on carb #4 and then it seems to be idling on all 4 again and does so for a while before it needs it again ......so what now ?

Hey TDodge,

I saw/reviewed that you've ordered new intake boots. Did you take the old ones OFF, put gaskets or sealant on the engine mating surface and put them back on? Did you put on NEW synch port caps, or are you using the old hardened ones?? Putting your finger over the air jet and it fires sounds like it's got a vacuum leak, so it can't draw the fuel thru the pilot circuit like it should, but when you close off the air supply, it's able to then draw the fuel?

Sounds like a small vacuum leak in the intake boots. T.C.

[TDodge7]

i didn't order the new boots . i haven't done anything to the old boots . i did replace the synch caps with new ones because they were dried out and cracking . i've sprayed starting fluid all over the boots while it's running and i couldn't get it to change rpm . i'm thinking when i finally get my money back i'll order some carb kits and just replace everything in them , and some new boots , and maybe new diaphrams.



does anyone have the answer to my slide diaphram question on the previous page ?

oh yeah , the only thing i noticed in the carbs that didn't seem 100% right was when i tested the slides to see if they stay up when i lift them and put my finger over their vents . well they all slowly come down with my finger over the vents . 2 went a little faster than the other 2 , but just barely . should they not come down at all ? or when i do that test am i just making sure than none just drop right away ? just to give you an idea it would probably take 20-30 seconds for the fastest slide to make it all the way down with my finger over the vent .

[TopCatGr58]

Yes, it sounds like your slides are just fine. There is a small vent in the slide itself, and so that's why it should slowly drop, but just slowly like you described. IF they dropped real fast, then that's when there are probable leaks in the diaphragms that need attention, repair or replacement.

It probably wouldn't hurt since you are so quick with the carb removal, so take them off, just so you can take the boots off, and put some sealant on them. The rubber that's against the engine gets hard and doesn't seal that well, perhaps not enough to react to a vacuum leak test, but still enough to affects it's ability to perform with the carbs.
T.C.

[TDodge7]

i do plan on replacing the boots just for the hell of it , but i don't think they're leaking . remember when i moved the carbs over 2 cylinders ? carb #1 & 2 made cylinder # 3 & 4 run awesome . if the boots were leaking enough to cause cylinder #3 & 4 not to be able to idle then it wouldn't have ran so well on carb #1 & 2 . it's something with carb #3 & 4. well more carb 4 than anything , 3 seems to run half the time . and they all run once they're getting gas form the mains . the last time i had the carbs open i moved all the insides around , including the slides and bowls . even with mixmatched parts cylinder #1 & 2 still ran fine so i know it's none of the removable parts . i also checked all passages and vents and they're all clear . i even bent a bread tie with the paper burned off into the 3 little holes above the butterfly and then hit the pilot jet with the compressed air , the bread tie shot out of all 3 holes , so i know the pilot passage is clear . i really want to try a different rack of carbs on this thing .

[scalded dog]

i do plan on replacing the boots just for the hell of it , but i don't think they're leaking . remember when i moved the carbs over 2 cylinders ? carb #1 & 2 made cylinder # 3 & 4 run awesome . if the boots were leaking enough to cause cylinder #3 & 4 not to be able to idle then it wouldn't have ran so well on carb #1 & 2 . it's something with carb #3 & 4. well more carb 4 than anything , 3 seems to run half the time . and they all run once they're getting gas form the mains . the last time i had the carbs open i moved all the insides around , including the slides and bowls . even with mixmatched parts cylinder #1 & 2 still ran fine so i know it's none of the removable parts . i also checked all passages and vents and they're all clear . i even bent a bread tie with the paper burned off into the 3 little holes above the butterfly and then hit the pilot jet with the compressed air , the bread tie shot out of all 3 holes , so i know the pilot passage is clear . i really want to try a different rack of carbs on this thing .

TD7, hope you can find someone with a running bike, that will loan you their carbs, I have been trying for months to get one of my specials running right, thought I had cleaned the carbs well enough to exclude them from my problems, just for the hell of it, I tried my brothers carbs, I can't believe how this bike runs, with his carbs. I had posted here about the problems, such as headers glowing red hot, after 5 mins running, had given up and planned to pull the head, thinking dropped/stuck valve. On the special I just bought for $100, his carbs made the bike run great, but it still popped bad on the right side, #3 runs but runs cooler that 12&4, when I pull the plug wire off it quits popping, also it's smoking a lot out of the right side, Previous owner had run it with gas in the oil, without knowing it. Later 'Dog

[Ken Talbot]

well one of the screws broke off when i tried to remove the choke lever , so i'm leaving it as is since the choke works , guess i'll have to drill and tap that out later .

I keep going back in this thread, looking for something but I'm not sure what. Then I see this sentence.

Does this mean you have not been able to get the choke rod out, so the four individual enricher assemblies have not been fully disassembled and cleaned? The "choke" could still appear to be working if a couple of the individual enricheners and the passages and orifices feeding them were totally plugged.

[TDodge7]

no , i never took the choke apart , but when you remove the slide diaphrams and turn the choke on you can see right into it and it looks beautiful in there . plus cylinder #3 and 4 fire with the choke on , so the choke has to be putting the gas where it needs to go .

[randy]

Your symptoms still seem to point to pilot circuit issues?

[TDodge7]

it acts like the pilot circuit ....but isn't . i met someone from this messageboard that lives nearby , they're going to let me test their extra carbs on my bike and we'll see how that goes .

[randy]

I don't know....at idle it runs like crap, you add fuel, it runs better. Above idle it runs better off the mains. Somewhere somehow the pilot circuit is not delivering the proper amount of fuel.

[TDodge7]

yes , but i don't see where , i've checked everything in the pilot circuit and it's clean .

[Ken Talbot]

Time for the diagram:



The pilot circuit is somewhat interconnected with the enrichener circuit. If the enricheners have not been removed, you haven't been able to check everywhere, and you could have passages which affect the pilot crcuits that still may be plugged. Short of removing the carbs from the rails, every last removeable part HAS to be removed, inspected, cleaned, etc, etc. There is no shortcut. I know it sounds like a broken record, but it has to come completely apart. Completely.

[TDodge7]

everywhere marked in blue is a passage that i'm 100% sure is clear (tho this diagram is for a 79 and mine is an 80 so the pilot isn't capped and doesn't draw from the main jet . above the butterfly is 3 holes (not counting the hole for the mixture screw) even tho i only drew 2 . the only part of the choke i guess i haven't checked is that tiny bit of red left on the diagram , but that doesn't go to the pilot circuit , it opens up to the throat of the carb , i remember looking up thru the hole thats there when the choke is on and seeing daylight . oh , and even tho i didn't mark it the float valve is working fine and the carbs are getting plenty of gas .

[randy]

What about the individual pilot jets themselves? Have you run a wire through all of the holes? A 22 gauge copper wire is good for the side holes. One strand from a hunk of stranded 18 gauge wire is good for the main hole in the bottom. Yes, there is a hole there, it's microscopic, but if it's not clear the jet won't flow.