83 VR rode to Arlington and then Lost 1 or maybe 2 cylinders

[Droneh8tr]

So my ride to Arlington was nice, 40 MPG. 345 miles today. After I leave an go west on 66, at some point I loose 1 or maybe 2 cylinders. FYI info. I had to fill up shortly after Arlington, but I don't know if I got bad gas or not. The exact time I started loosing power isn't quite known.

So heres the pic of my plugs..

1 and 2 look to me to be somewhat too rich

3, very wet

4, maybe a bit lean.

Please comment if you think otherwise.

All the plugs gave a nice spark, they all looked of the same intensity. WHAT WOULD YOU DO NOW??.. I hope to ride to Louisville in 2 weeks so I would like to get it fixed now, test it.. then ride in relative comfort that it was taken care of.

Here MAY be another part of the puzzle... I only used it occasionally, but I do have a radiator fan turn on switch.. Could I have run the battery down, weakened the spark too much causing the plug to foul?? I don't think so, but I'm trying to think of everything so you have good information. My digital volt meter shows constantly at 13.8 to 14.

What should I do now??? My fuel filter has maybe 9000 miles on it..

[VanRiver]

Hi @Droneh8tr

I would first troubleshoot electrical and then move on to a possible fuel issue.

 

First I would check to make sure your getting fire at all 4 plugs....could be a TCI box gone bad, bad resistor in the the plug cap or bad plug wires. I would simply take each plug out and ground it to the motor and turn the bike over to see if you have spark at all 4 plugs......please make sure you have the plug grounded to the motor before you hit the starter button.

 

If all checks out then move on to fuel......If you have a fear of bad gas drain that sucker. Open up the airbox and see if your carb slides are bouncing and dancing like they should be doing....could even be a bad carb diaphragm.

 

I had a similar issue with one of my 86's and it turned out to be a combination of a bad TCI module (only sending fire to 2 plugs) and pinholes in my carb diaphragms.

 

Bottom line is there could be LOTS of different reasons for your power reduction.......just go step by step down the list and you should find it....keep us updated, there are a lot of smart people that will help you here (much smarter then me).

[cowpuc]

I dont see those plugs as being that far off in their colors, they do look like they could use replacing but nothing severly blackened or way to light like you been running her lean. Maybe you just had a plug fouling and thats why number 3 is wet - it does happen..

It wasnt pouring rain when you dropped that cylinder was it Drone?

I would probably start with a plug swap, check the bowl overfull hoses for recent activity just to see if I had bumped into a stuck float - look carefully at that number three hose and see how it compares to the others.. If they look like they have had recent activity I always like to pull them off the backbone of the bike and locate them temporarily to a position where I can keep an eye on them.. I have done that and left them hanging by my leg for lots of miles (until I trust that I not overflowing fuel). Maybe drain the bowls and see how much, if any, garbage you get out of them - again watching that number three carefully..

I highly doubt that you taxed your electrical system down to where it caused your issue by using your fan motor BUT - gotta ask - did you by any chance notice the bike running strangely and notice a difference in its performance when you switched the fan off? I would also be curious to know what brought about the need for a remote fan switch in the first place?

[Droneh8tr]

Thanks for the comments..

Yesterday was a great weather day.. No rain. Although, on Saturday I did ride through the rain for a poker run. I thought the same thing on the carb overflow hoses.. I looked for it, but never saw any drainage. I wonder if it did overflow, I didn't see it, it corrected itself, and the plug fouled from then on.. Hhhmmmm

I did not notice any difference with the bike when the fan was switched off.

I have never liked how close to overheat the bike would get before the fan switched on, so I installed a switch to catch it early.

Im gonna replace my plugs, drain the carbs and see how it runs.

Oh yeah, I also lost my temp gauge yesterday. The gauge works, so I think I need the sensor.