Bad Carbs?

[DavidT]

Hey all,

Okay, so I left the bike sitting for an embarrassingly long time this summer without even starting it...and I may be paying the price.  I attended the Houston dinner last Wed and had a VERY hard time keeping the bike running anytime I came to a stop....after I got the negative battery cable tightened at dinner  .  Anyhow, later that week I spiked it with SeaFoam and just let it idle in my driveway...for an hour.  Then did it again the next day.  And then again the next day.  I must say, it's running a LOT better.  Before it wouldn't even stay at idle, now it appears to be running fine.  Idles well and the throttle response is great.  However, if, while it's running, I momentarily unplug the spark plug wires one at a time, two of them (4 & 6) don't seem to have any effect on the engine while the other 6 cause it to run very badly when I disconnect them (I can still hear them sparking to the plug when I pull them).  I've put an IR Gun on the manifold risers and they all seem to be about the same temp...but then again, the whole engine is pretty hot so I'm not sure if this is a good indicator.

Are the 4 and 6 carb slow jets probably fouled or am I missing something?  I've done a carb job before and am not really looking forward to it again...but will do it if I should.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
David

[YoungPUP]

Welcome to the plugged slow jets club.  When i did this this past spring, I was able to save it by adding seafoam and then taking the bike to as low of as speed as I could in 5th and then bring it back out of it to force it to breathe through the slows. Saved me a teardown.

[97BLKVALK]

+1 with what youngpup stated

A good dose of Seafoam or cleaner of choice fresh premium gas and enjoy a (I hear Foghat playing in the background) Slowride......

Take it easy!

Michael

[BF]

Techron.  Dump in the whole bottle (some would say that's overkill, but....if you want it clean), fill tank with gas.....go for a looooooong ride and keep it under 2 grand on the tach.  

Like the instructions on a shampoo bottle, rince and repeat untill it clears up.  

[DavidT]

Hey all,

Thanks for the replies...but to be quite honest, I'm not sure I even have a problem.  It seems to be running great, except for the 4 & 6 spark plugs not seeming to cause the engine to run bad.  The actual question was really, does the 4 & 6 spark plug thing mean those two carbs are bad?  I'm assuming it does, but would like some other opinions.

Oh, and thanks for the Techron input.  I usually use Seafoam but have heard Techron mentioned a lot.  

[salty1]

The slow speed jets of 4 & 6 are not plugged but restricted by "crud".  I would add a full can of Berrymans Chemtool B12 to a tank and take that trip. Also I would go revisit your carb synchronization. Maybe even change out the plugs too. Sounds like you got back to your bike just in time. I'm not against Techron or Seafoam, I using them both, however I think the Chemtool is a stronger cleaner. FWIW. Good luck!

[John U.]

I agree, Berrymans is a stronger cleaner. So strong that it will eat rubber parts given enough time and in heavy doses. Don't let it sit for long with Berrymans in the tank/carbs.

[DavidT]

Thanks all.

I'll continue with the cleaning and try all of these options. 

[Ricky-D]

Hey all,

Thanks for the replies...but to be quite honest, I'm not sure I even have a problem.  It seems to be running great, except for the 4 & 6 spark plugs not seeming to cause the engine to run bad.  The actual question was really, does the 4 & 6 spark plug thing mean those two carbs are bad?  I'm assuming it does, but would like some other opinions.

Oh, and thanks for the Techron input.  I usually use Seafoam but have heard Techron mentioned a lot.  

When you remove the spark plug wire doesn't mean much and it is not an indicator of a bad cylinder.

A poor synchronization can display those characteristics, which is usually the case.

"Running great" means it is in good condition, how can it mean something else?

***

[DavidT]

When you remove the spark plug wire doesn't mean much and it is not an indicator of a bad cylinder.

A poor synchronization can display those characteristics, which is usually the case.

"Running great" means it is in good condition, how can it mean something else?

***

Thanks Ricky, this is what I've been wondering.  I've now run a number of tanks of gas with cleaner and to be quite honest, it seems to be running well (MUCH better than before the cleaner tanks..at least)  It starts well, it idles well, and as usual, it accelerates like a scalded ape.  All in all, I'm pretty happy with this part, but I'm still wondering about the base of my question.

How can someone tell if a carb is clogged?  With V-twin, it's not much of a problem, half of your engine is gone, with 5 to spare, it's a lot tougher.

Anyone?

[whitestroke]

Before I rebuilt my carbs I was getting no heat at the exhaust of the 2 cylinders that had clogged slow jets.  6 into 6 pipes made it easy to tell there was no heat.  Also there was no steam/dripping at startup from those 2 cylinders at the tailpipe.
Even with 2 clogged slow jets bike will run great above 2K rpm.