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Post by kawacanuck on Jun 25, 2017 21:04:50 GMT -6
Hi I recently bought my first bike, a 86' 454. After rewiring a bunk taillight and tightening down the shifter pedal which kept coming off in traffic, I think I'm ready to tackle the carb. It has some symptoms, like backfiring off throttle and really bogging down around 5k rpm. Only after 7k rpm do I feel the power. Also it's REALLY hard to start some days, I'm scared of burning out the starter. I have some mechanical experience and lots of tools and the gumption to learn how to fix something, but doing a carb seems complicated. I added some seafoam to the gas so far. My brother suggests simply pulling the carb out and blasting it with carb cleaner. Do you guys think a newbie like me should try cleaning out the jets or something? I'm scared to take this thing apart and end up too far down the rabbit hole with a carb I can't put back together. I could use a good tutorial for "our kind" of carb, if you know what I mean. Something that is familiar as I'm following along, if not an explicit 454 carb cleaning tutorial. I've been looking for a while but can't seem to find much newbie info. A third option is to just take it off and give it to a shop to rebuild for me but I don't like this option as I like to learn how to maintain vehicles and a carb is something a true bike/car guy should know how to do.
Maybe getting some questions answered will help me get started:
What are these caps that people drill out? Is it to reach the pilot jet idle adjustment screw? Is this something that needs cleaning?
If I take out the jets, can I just clean them with a thin wire or would you guys replace them?
And really dumb question, how do I get the carb off without spilling gas everywhere? Do I pinch the gas line?
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Post by Blaine on Jun 26, 2017 5:51:17 GMT -6
Hi I recently bought my first bike, a 86' 454. After rewiring a bunk taillight and tightening down the shifter pedal which kept coming off in traffic, I think I'm ready to tackle the carb. It has some symptoms, like backfiring off throttle and really bogging down around 5k rpm. Only after 7k rpm do I feel the power. Also it's REALLY hard to start some days, I'm scared of burning out the starter. I have some mechanical experience and lots of tools and the gumption to learn how to fix something, but doing a carb seems complicated. I added some seafoam to the gas so far. My brother suggests simply pulling the carb out and blasting it with carb cleaner. Do you guys think a newbie like me should try cleaning out the jets or something? I'm scared to take this thing apart and end up too far down the rabbit hole with a carb I can't put back together. I could use a good tutorial for "our kind" of carb, if you know what I mean. Something that is familiar as I'm following along, if not an explicit 454 carb cleaning tutorial. I've been looking for a while but can't seem to find much newbie info. A third option is to just take it off and give it to a shop to rebuild for me but I don't like this option as I like to learn how to maintain vehicles and a carb is something a true bike/car guy should know how to do. Maybe getting some questions answered will help me get started: What are these caps that people drill out? Is it to reach the pilot jet idle adjustment screw? Is this something that needs cleaning? If I take out the jets, can I just clean them with a thin wire or would you guys replace them? And really dumb question, how do I get the carb off without spilling gas everywhere? Do I pinch the gas line? You will see the cap once you have the carb off.(in front of the float bowl)...Yes they need cleaned & a wire...You can just pinch off the line if you don't want to drain the tank....Do one carb at a time so parts don't get mixed up.....Also Don't separate carbs from the rack. |
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Post by eaglerider on Jun 26, 2017 7:43:14 GMT -6
You say very hard to start......may need a good valve adjustment......I would check/adjust the valves first.
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Post by goonrider on Jun 27, 2017 3:15:17 GMT -6
Hey,
Check out the above video it helped me heeps.
Getting the carb out and back in was quite distressing for me, take your time and take a brake if you have to.
I think getting it back in is more difficult.
Get the hang of the search function on the site, good info on easy ways to get the carb out and in.
good luck, you can do it!
(thanks to who ever originally posted the vid on here).
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Post by kawacanuck on Jun 27, 2017 13:36:20 GMT -6
Hey, Check out the above video it helped me heeps. Getting the carb out and back in was quite distressing for me, take your time and take a brake if you have to. I think getting it back in is more difficult. Get the hang of the search function on the site, good info on easy ways to get the carb out and in. good luck, you can do it! (thanks to who ever originally posted the vid on here). Oh yeah I'm going to follow along with that video! I have no idea how to even get the carb off the bike though  looking for a service manual for now... |
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Post by goonrider on Jun 27, 2017 20:41:55 GMT -6
I wouldn't attack it with a screw driver (below vid (although that's what i resorted to)). Blaine may suggest you soften the rubber boots (rear rubber bits) with a hair dryer and roll them back. This link may be helpful getting them back in. ltd454.proboards.com/thread/3541/easy-install-carbs |
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Post by kawacanuck on Jun 27, 2017 22:16:23 GMT -6
Thanks for all the advice everyone. To answer some of my own questions,
The gas tank was held on with one bolt, and sat on two grommets, I simply slipped off the fuel line and vacuum line (I think that's what that was) and took the whole thing off with only a few drops of gas spilled
The jets were pretty clean (3 per carb) and I pulled two out and carb cleaner and guitar string'd them (I used a violin string) like in the video, then the passages with an air compressor and carb cleaner. The one little jet that seems to be embedded was the most gunked up. I know the other two are pilot and main jets, don't know what that third one did but I cleaned the crap out of the passage anyway.
my air/fuel screw was already uncapped so I counted the turns and pulled them out and blasted the passages with carb cleaner. Put it all back together, and now I'm hoping it will work. It's too late to start it up now so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see how it runs. I'm scared my choke is messed up, it's really difficult to move now...
Edit: so I turned it on today and adjusted the idle a little, and it seemed to run well until I tried going above 5k rpm at which point it would not rev higher at all. Not like before where it would bog down but it would just not rev. I got back home and noticed I forgot to put on the little air boxes that go onto the main one. I put them back on, remembering people have trouble with high revs when they opt for pods, and sure enough that was the problem! Guess too much turbulent air was getting into the intake.
Now it drives beautifully! So smooth across the entire powerband. Thanks in no small part to you guys. Next job: valve adjustment.
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