My bike has been in the shop waiting for a broken air/fuel mixture screw. 3 weeks later, it came in and now he said that the bike is only running on 1 cylinder. Now he said that the bike needs new carbs!!! Is he bullshitting me or should i just get the new carbs!?
It's goona be pretty hard for anyone to answer this question without any background info on your bike.
Well I brought the bike in because he said it was running too lean. His diagnosis was that because the fuel mixture screw snapped inside the carb it caused the bike to run too lean. So after removing the broken piece and installing the new screw i get the news today that its only running on one cylinder..
a set of carbs will cost me 200 bucks luckily but its more so i want the bike on the road as soon as possible. waiting 3 weeks sucks!
carbs are pretty simple devices. its hard to believe it is broken beyond usage. Maybe youre mech just isnt good with carbs and doesnt know how to work them
Lean? Both sides or one side?
There is a mixture screw for each side.
How does one break a fuel mixture screw?
He probably screwed the replacement in all the way.
Fuel/mixture screws are off the shelf - takes a day or two toget one.
I just ordered 2 sets of long ones (no screw driver needed) and they will be in the mail today (Factory Pro "long boys")
Quote from: junk301 on September 14, 2012, 01:29:44 PMNow he said that the bike needs new carbs!!! Is he bullshitting me or should i just get the new carbs!?
He doesn't know what he's doing, that's my guess.
If you don't do the work yourself you are at the mercy of a mechanic. The good ones are
very hard to find. I suggest you try to do the work yourself, and you will learn a lot about your bike and maybe a lot about yourself. It might take you more than 3 weeks though. Time is money, you know. If you have more money than time you should take it to another shop.
Quote from: junk301 on September 14, 2012, 01:29:44 PM
My bike has been in the shop waiting for a broken air/fuel mixture screw. 3 weeks later, it came in and now he said that the bike is only running on 1 cylinder. Now he said that the bike needs new carbs!!! Is he bullshitting me or should i just get the new carbs!?
Bike needs new carbs does it?
Oh really, so what is actually wrong with the carbs it has? (get his answer to this question)
It would be a quite rare thing for carbs to be so totally fubar you need knew ones entirely. That's why people have two sets, so while one is being worked on the other is in the bike.
My guess is, HE fukked something up and now needs to make you pay for it by telling you you need knew carbs. Either way, he is not a mechanic you should ever go to again.
Michael
Mixture screw broke: How is that even possible without really trying hard?
3 weeks to get one? off the shelf part - overnight 1 day. Postal 3 days priority mail.
Now one cylinder?
Sounds like the mechanic fuggled up one of the carbs.
Spare carbs are available. Lots of us have them. Just ask.
ebay always has them.
But first find out what this guy did. carbs to not get totally defective on their own. It takes work to strip screws and things like that which require replacement.
If your profile had your location, there might me a member near to you who would be willing to help you out.
Hey guys it was my previous mechanic who snapped the screw and didnt tell me. The reason why it took so long to get it is because the parts are on backorder here in canada.....So i brought the bike in tothe new mechanic because it was not idling and it was running too lean and would ONLY run on PRIME. Now i got the bike back for now and it only runs on 1 cylinder, and still runs lean and still doesnt idle. he did replace the screw yesterday but all it fixed was the fuel issue...which i am content with ( he also did alot of other small jobs on it all together for 200 bucks so thats not that bad.. Problem is he said if I want to get him to install the new carbs hes asking for another 200...Id rather save the 200 for that and the other 200 for the carbs. ive heard that the reason a cylinder wont spark is due to the coils or spark plug wiring????? Im in toronto, canada btw Any help is appreciated guys
I also missed giving out this information. The left cylinder is the faulty one. Also the left cylinder kicks in randomly sometimes so he says. It hasnt happened to me yet however. So i have a fauly left cylinder so he says, and a bike that wont idle and runs too lean.
$200 to install carbs? WTF
Id do it for a case of beer/softdrink and so would anyone else on the forum I'm sure?
I'd do it for a sixer of GOOD beer, not some cheap-ass Schlitz or Fosters. :cheers:
Wow i didn't know it was that easy to do.. Too bad you arent in toronto :( My question is guys should i get the new carbs or check the coils or something? Also how would I go about checking that
Quote from: junk301 on September 14, 2012, 08:10:50 PM
I also missed giving out this information. The left cylinder is the faulty one. Also the left cylinder kicks in randomly sometimes so he says. It hasnt happened to me yet however. So i have a fauly left cylinder so he says, and a bike that wont idle and runs too lean.
Random?
I had that happen once with Trey. There was a whole thread on it.
In the end: faulty spark plug. Swapped plugs and irt went to the other cylinder.
Check plugs and plug wiring. The wires can unscrew from the coil and the cap can unscrew from the wire.
also be sure the cap is properly pushed down on the plug.
Don't go back to that mechanic, he doesn't know what he is doing.
He scratches his head at the single cylinder and says, "Dude, new carbs is needed. Throw me a couple hundry for the new carbs and another couple hundry to put them in" and then Hopes it works. if it doesn't it'll be, "Dude, bad coil. Throw me a couple hundry for the new coils and couple hundry to put them in" then Hopes that works. Short... he doesn't know sh!t and cannot be bothered to do proper diagnosis.
Check you have spark first. If that is fine. Swap plugs like addy said - sometimes spark is seen but when installed it's a different matter.
Michael
Yeah, these engines are pretty bombshell, especially the carbs, there's not a whole lot to them. A lot of mechanics these days are simply R&R (remove and replace). I'd take a shot at cleaning and syncing the carbs yourself. Anyone can do it.
Take your bike and run away from the shop.
Learn to do these things yourself.
Even well meaning mechanics/shops will empty your wallet, they're there to MAKE money.
Quote from: weedahoe on September 14, 2012, 03:41:13 PM
carbs are pretty simple devices. its hard to believe it is broken beyond usage. Maybe youre mech just isnt good with carbs and doesnt know how to work them
As near as I can tell, mechanics that understand carbureted fuel systems are a dying breed. They won't tell you they don't understand carburetors, but the younger ones are probably more up on fuel-injected engines.
I think probably a good rule is, if you ever feel like you need to ask the question, "should I trust my mechanic?" the answer is probably "no".
Quote from: weedahoe on September 14, 2012, 03:41:13 PM
carbs are pretty simple devices. its hard to believe it is broken beyond usage.
+1 on what weedahoe said.
Unless the broken air screw is still in the carbs and can't be removed at all, there's really no reason I can think of to replace the whole thing so long as the main carb body is in good shape -- and it doesn't sound like your mechanic said anything about the carbs other than the screw problem.
Well he said he popped out the broken screw and replaced it with the new one...I want to take it all apart but I wanted to wait till winter since I don't have another set of carbs. My main concern is that my bike is running way too lean
Quote from: mab32 on September 15, 2012, 08:23:29 AM
Take your bike and run away from the shop.
If that mechanic was worth a sh@t, you could ride away from the shop.
Seriously, putting on and taking off carbs isn't a big deal! From taking the tank off to carbs off I can do it in 10 minutes. And that is getting a drink in the middle cause it is so danged hot. Give me 10 and I'd have 'em back in . To bad your not in Florida! I'd do it for some gatorade LOL! Run don't walk away from that mechanic :icon_exclaim:
Oh, and I'm a girl!
Mary
duly noted..i Will look into taking it apart myself...My one other concern...Since my bike is running lean should i stop riding it entirely or do you think its fine as long as i keep it casual :p
Quote from: junk301 on September 15, 2012, 09:34:42 PM
duly noted..i Will look into taking it apart myself...My one other concern...Since my bike is running lean should i stop riding it entirely or do you think its fine as long as i keep it casual :p
Comes lean from the factory. If it's something like that you'll be fine.
Michael
Both cylinders need to be firing and running before you can run it on a 'casually running lean' situation. Running lean, you may get backfiring when you let of the throttle, uneven acceleration, hard starts with a lot of choke, etc... If you aren't so lean to get some of these symptoms, or these symptoms don't bother you, then ride away. I'm sure running too lean for too long can't be good on the engine, though especially if it is backfiring often.
- Bboy
The only thing I let a mech touch is my tires.
I've payed my dues with messups from previos mechanics. I've seen the ones that say we usually only work on Fuel injected..
This forum is great, and you can pretty much do anything yourself.
Carbs are a pain but usually you can resolve the issue yourself instead of wasting money with a mechanic whos only going to do the same thing you would do.
:thumb:
This post and its ilk are what caused me to start doing carb work in the first place .... like 10 years ago ...
@ Junk301: If you think something needs to be extracted/checked/corrected/fixed in the carbs - like a busted and stuck air screw, let me know. If its a simple clean and rejet I sell jet kits for that, custom to your setup, $25 shipped in US. $28-29 world wide. PM me for any info on either.
You have provided too little detail to get me to trouble shoot in the post.
Cool.
Buddha.
Hey,
I'm not entirely sure how to go about troubleshooting this....I just bought a compression tester and will post those values as soon as i test the cylinders...I am positive one of the cylinders is not firing properly..Also my bike has 33000km and the valves have never been adjusted...There is a great video from gsbaltimore who has a great tutorial...The other confusion is that my bike wont idle...I don't really understand why because the carbs were cleaned...fuel mixture screw replaced..many thanks on everyones posts!
I just used the compression tester and it turns out that the left cylinder is measuring at 150psi...but the right (not sure if this is possible) is only at 35psi...Something that does come to mind is that this was a gradual problem.. starting 1.5 years ago power has been dropping little by little
Try the right side again with the compression test if you haven't already. Maybe you didn't get a good seal or something. I find it pretty hard to believe that the bike could run on one cylinder at 35 PSI. If it truly is at 35 PSI you may have bigger problems than the carbs.
Also what is the result of the spark test? Are you spark plugs firing strong or not?
Final point, did you mess with the throttle position sensor
(if you have one on your bike)? That could cause major running issues. Hope every thing goes better for you from here on out.
Quote from: junk301 on September 20, 2012, 12:10:36 PM
Also my bike has 33000km and the valves have never been adjusted...
And 35psi in one cylinder. A burnt valve would make perfect sense to me.
Quote from: Paulcet on September 21, 2012, 06:15:36 AM
Quote from: junk301 on September 20, 2012, 12:10:36 PM
Also my bike has 33000km and the valves have never been adjusted...
And 35psi in one cylinder. A burnt valve would make perfect sense to me.
Yea I was either thinking that or stuck valves..How difficult is it to replace a burnt valve and how costly is it...I can do the valve adjustment on my own but have never replaced a valve before..
Hey guys I have the option to buy the cylinder head and valves...complete unit? Would there be anything else causing the compression issue...?
Pistons? Like cracked or blown rings?
Crack in jugs?
Badly scratched cylinder wall?
Bad gasket between head and jugs?
Really tight valves?
Ok to start diagnosing the problem, i will add some oil to the cylinder to try and pinpoint the issue. Will keep updating. :)
If you remove the carbs and exhaust, you can look in the head at the valves. While not showing everything, if there is a serious valve problem you probably will see something quite wrong.
If you cover the intake with your palm and manually turn the engine (clockwise only with the timing rotor and 19mm wrench) you will feel a strong suction. If not - problem of valve not opening or piston not pulling in (oh, have spark plug IN so air doesn't go in and out of that hole). If you feel a strong outward push of air - a problem with intake valve not closing.
Can do same with exhaust port. There should only be air pushing out - exhaust - nothing sucking in.
thanks adidas guy..i will try that out this weekend and will update. many thanks
Unfortunately I didn't have time to do the tests however a quick questions..If I were to somehow be able to swap out the top end would that solve the cylinder issue? Assuming the replacement top end is functioning. Cheers!
Until you know the cause, replacing the top may be wasted effort. Could be a piston or piston ring problem.
Hello all, I recently poured a lil oil in the non functioning cylinder to see if it would change the reading. Fortunately it hasn't (I've heard this is good because if the reading did increase it would mean the fault would lie with the piston rings?) Another sign, Ive seen that oil has been leaking through the valve cover. Not much but I am seeing a large amount of black residue buiding up on the top end.
Valve cover leaks are nothing serious. The valve cover is just a cover to keep oil from flying everywhere. A bad valve cover gasket is easy to replace. If the valve cover itself is damaged - that will not cause engine problems. You can run an engine without a valve cover if you don't mind oil splattering everywhere. That is the sole purpose of the valve cover. It has nothing to do with compression or engine performance.
HOWEVER... if the leak is on the bad side, maybe you have a crack in the engine head? maybe the thingy that holds down the end of the cam is cracked? (the journals?) That means valves on that side don't work right.
Clean everything off spotless. Let it dry. Spray baby powder all over and see where the oil starts from. If from the head and not the valve cover gasket, you might have a bad head gasket or a crack in the head.
Valve cover gasket: cheap and easy to fix. $15 or so for a new valve cover gasket. Possible an o-ring is missing from one of the larger bolts. That will cause a small leak.
If Valve Cover is cracked/damaged: also easy to fix - replace valve cover ($25 maybe for a used one and any year will work.) and gasket & o-rings.
Head gasket: Harder to fix, but not that expensive unless you don't have a torque wrench or one to borrow.
Cracked Head: need new head. Can not be repaired. Same for cam journals. They are machined with the head.
Ok thanks adidas guy. like i mentioned before I can possibly get the top end for cheap somewhere if its more serious. Im just hoping its not the pistons...Ill try what you mentioned in the meantime. Thanks!
Since the problem is probably the head, I'd suggest you go ahead and pull it off. You can do it with the engine still in the frame. You can get a visual on the pistons and cylinders as well as close inspection of the head and valves.
As soon as i get my feeler gauge from ebay I'll go ahead and take the cover off. Might as well check the valve tension as well.
Cheers :)