Part throttle/idle fueling problem

[flatblack]

I've put probably 200-300 miles on my 454 since I bought it a few weeks ago, and it has been running fine until about mid-way through my ride home last night.

Filled up at lunch time, and put about 20 miles on the tank before the issue came up.

I did a pull on a straight away, and when I let off, the bike was acting strange, then died when I got to the next intersection.

Got it started again, but it took a little feathering of the throttle and alot of cranking.

Limped it home [had to keep the revs up while stopped], and when I was messing with it in my garage, it smelled really rich. It felt okay while under full throttle, but was missing under constant throttle and idle.

I'm just curious as to what could have happened during the ride to change things, and if maybe this is an ignition, not a carb issue [intermittent spark on one cylinder maybe?]

Any help is appreciated.

[eaglerider]

Also could have gotten some bad gas....water? in it??

[flatblack]

I suppose... The gas station I bought gas from is like less than a month old, so I figured the gas had a very high probability of being good.

Also, the drain on the right hand bowl had a slow leak that I noticed... I'm going to tear them down tonight, maybe I have a stuck float needle?

No rebuild kits in stock, and the earliest they can get me one is Friday

[wanchesenative]

I was thinking along with Eagle that it sounded an awful lot like bad gas. You didn't get some E85 by accident did you?

[Jet⚡Black]

An inequality in float levels can make multi carburetors act unsynchronized...the low float level carburetor(s), will act like it/they're running out of gas, at idle and low speeds; but at high speeds etc. the bowls stay filled where they should due to all the fuel passing through the system.

If you have the same symptoms; but surging revs on your tachometer as well, some where around 3.5k to 5 k then they are out of synch. A sticking float can cause all of the above as well, but that usually makes them over flow out of the drainage tube, which is hard to miss seeing, a clogged low speed jet will also do the same thing...I can't recall if you said you cleaned the carburetors and tank or not; so I am tossing that out there too, if you haven't.

[flatblack]

There was a heavy gas smell, and I found out why. I dumped about a litre of gas out of the airbox. Took the right hand carb apart [the one that had gasoline dripping from the bowl] and nothing looks too worn/damaged/out of place.

There is only one CVK34 rebuild kit in the area, and I had to special order the other one, which won't be here until Friday.

After I get this right hand carb back together, I'll throw it on the bike to see if it worked.


****Another problem: I can't get the Pilot jet [listed in the below picture] out of there - it won't budge. Any ideas?***

[Jet⚡Black]

It's probably welded in from old fuel varnishes; it's best to soak the carb before trying to remove jets.

The brass is pretty soft and easy to damage; compared to the steel shank of a screw driver. The soak will loosen up the varnish,making the jets easier to remove and help clear the air passage ports too.

[eaglerider]

Since u separated the carbs (kinda a bad thing to do, in my opinion...if not absolutly neccessary) don't forget to put new O rings in the fuel and vent "Ts" when you put them back together. U will also have to re-syncronize the carbs.

[Jet⚡Black]

Look up how to bench synch, it's a lot easier than building, buying or messing with a manometer.

[flatblack]

Jun 20, 2012 15:11:56 GMT -6 eaglerider said:

Since u separated the carbs (kinda a bad thing to do, in my opinion...if not absolutly neccessary) don't forget to put new O rings in the fuel and vent "Ts" when you put them back together. U will also have to re-syncronize the carbs.

I didn't separate them, I just haven't opened up the other one yet because I'm waiting on a rebuild kit.

My friend has a manometer; we already used it to sync my carbs when I first got the bike.