The Beast's current stautus

[luvmy40]

Yeah, I'd planned to run comp tests today and pop the top hat on 3 to double check the diaphragm. It's always possible that it didn't lay down right and isn't sealing up but it sure doesn't act like that. #3 dances to the same beat as the rest on the throttle and the slide returns at the same rate when moved manually.

[Yammer Dan]

You could be right on TCI. Did you clean those connections & open it up to dry it and Bake??

[luvmy40]

I cleaned the external connections when I got her few years back. I never opened the TCI box.

 

Compression test results:

 

#1 190psi

#2 185psi

#3 190psi

#3 190psi

#3 190psi

#3 190psi

#4 180psi

 

All tested WOT, all spark plugs removed, TCI unplugged and a booster pack attached to battery.

 

#3 coil secondary ohms out to 23.2K through resistor cap to ground. Well within spec. I have to remove some more plastic to get to the primary and I don't feel like doing it right now.

[Flyinfool]

You do not need to get to the coils to test the primaries, Since you have the TCI unplugged, The primary wires are all available at the TCI connector. This will have the benefit of also checking all of the wiring and connectors between the TCI and the coils.

[luvmy40]

A little Voodoo seems to have gone my way.

 

I picked up new spark plugs just because they're cheap and sanded the blades on the TCI then put her back together. She's bangin' on all four now and I get a good flame in the Colortune on #3 , though the pilot adjust screw doesn't seem to have much effect.

 

It had to be bad connections at the TCI because I'd swapped plugs a couple times with no effect and never did get flame in the Colortune until I cleaned the blades again.

 

Oh well, chalk this one up to the vintage Nipon Guru Gods of mechanics.

 

Of course the weather went to hell yesterday and doesn't look like I'll get a break any time soon for a road test!

[Yammer Dan]

Electric grease them or you will be back in there soon. I would think about opening that thung and baking it. Or just to see how it looked and put it on top of air box.

[luvmy40]

It's been on top of the air box since I brought her back to life the first time. I'll open it up and take a look though.

 

I'd have thought dielectric grease would be a bad idea in this case. It really doesn't do anything to help connectivity.

[mraf]

It's been on top of the air box since I brought her back to life the first time. I'll open it up and take a look though.

 

I'd have thought dielectric grease would be a bad idea in this case. It really doesn't do anything to help connectivity.

 

It does seal out moisture if nothing else.

[Marcarl]

 

, though the pilot adjust screw doesn't seem to have much effect.

 

Personally I have had problems getting those screws to have much in the way of an effect without some instrumentation. What I used was a vacuum gauge on the same ports as you use for the sync process. You would be looking for the highest vacuum attainable, and then back off maybe an 1\8 of a turn to lean. I'm not sure if the carbtune would be sensitive enough to accomplish that. I use a single gauge, with a 4 ported manifold to do my syncs, and so once the sync is done I can do the screws, and then check the sync again.

[Yammer Dan]

It's been on top of the air box since I brought her back to life the first time. I'll open it up and take a look though.

 

I'd have thought dielectric grease would be a bad idea in this case. It really doesn't do anything to help connectivity.

Just a touch to keep it from gunking up again.

[luvmy40]

Personally I have had problems getting those screws to have much in the way of an effect without some instrumentation. What I used was a vacuum gauge on the same ports as you use for the sync process. You would be looking for the highest vacuum attainable, and then back off maybe an 1\8 of a turn to lean. I'm not sure if the carbtune would be sensitive enough to accomplish that. I use a single gauge, with a 4 ported manifold to do my syncs, and so once the sync is done I can do the screws, and then check the sync again.

 

 

I use the ColorTune to set the pilot mixture. It works well on some bikes and not so much on others. It worked OK last season on the Venture. The XVZ12 does not give me the level of feedback I get on the XJ engines but it does help. I am getting decent readings on the other 3 cylinders.

 

I'll let her sit for a day or two and try again. It may have been a flooded situation.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions and moral support!

[luvmy40]

OK, I couldn't wait a whole day.

 

I pulled the TCI and opened it up. It looks much nicer on the inside than it does on the outside. I did go ahead and bake it for a couple hours at 200deg F. and greased the connectors up with dielectric grease when I put it back on The Beast.

 

This time I got very good readings on all cylinders in the Colortune. She's dialed in and re synchronized. All ready for the plastics to go back on.

 

The snow stopped but it is about 25deg. F right now so maybe a road test Monday. Tomorrow is my Grandson's birthday party so he'll have my undivided attention.

[luvmy40]

I took her out for a short(and very cold) test ride last night and everything seems to be GTG. It did take quite a while to warm up and accelerate without a lag from idle but it did eventually. I may have to tweak the pilot mix but I'll wait for a bit warmer weather to make that decision.

[Flyinfool]

Mine was always a bit sluggish when the air temp was below freezing, buy the time the the temp gauge made its first twitch off the bottom pin it was more than ready to go.

 

Cold air is more dense so the mixture wants to be set slightly more rich. I would wait to tweak it until the temps more closely resemble your normal riding temps.

[Yammer Dan]

:sign yeah that: I'll 2nd that one. You will be surprised at the difference.

[luvmy40]

Took her out for a little longer run today. Temp was mid to high 50's(F). It didn't feel like she had as much get up and go as I remember from last season but I was 2 up today and most of my saddle time last season was solo, so it may be a bad memory kind of thing.

 

The fuel level sender is flaking out. I filled her up and it started out reading full but showed empty about 30 seconds later and would go back and forth between full or some other random level once in a while but mostly stayed on empty. This has never happened before. The turn indicators flaked out once as well for about 10 minutes.

 

Everything else seemed to be fine.

[Flyinfool]

Multiple unrelated electrical gremlins popping up at the same time is almost always a bad ground somewhere. Clean the grounds even if they "look" clean.

[bongobobny]

Yup, a very common problem with the 1st Gens is the rheostat on the fuel gauge sender unit! You can adjust them a little bit but what happens is the winding, which is on a card, warps. The sender is right on top of the tank and is easily removed. It's that oval cover...

[zagger]

The fuel level sender is flaking out. I filled her up and it started out reading full but showed empty about 30 seconds later and would go back and forth between full or some other random level once in a while but mostly stayed on empty. This has never happened before. The turn indicators flaked out once as well for about 10 minutes.

 

It might be nice to have a gas gauge but it certainly isn't critical and I wouldn't struggle very much to get it working. I just use the trip odometer along with a general idea of the total miles that it can do on a full tank. Not a big deal. Over 50 years of riding, I've never had a bike with a gas gauge and so I've just grown accustomed to watching the miles.

 

BTW, when electrical stuff flakes out for a short time, you probably have issues with corroded connectors someplace in the wiring leading to that device. Personally, I prefer to not have connectors at all or only have individual bullet type connectors on each wire that are completely sealed using heat shrink with meltable sealant inside. You cannot get this stuff at a hardware store, but it is easily ordered ( https://www.mcmaster.com/#heat-shrink-tubing/=1c1vmlj ). If the bullet type connectors have a plastic sleeve on each end, it can be easily cut off so that the connector diameter fits into the heat shrink tubing.

zag

Edited March 20, 2018 by zagger

[luvmy40]

I can't believe what I just found!

 

I've had the carbs off the old girl 2 or 3 times and broke the rack to some extent every time to check for mistakes. Somehow, the last time I put them back together I got the #4 enricher fork on backwards and the screw loosened up(it's not in the detent) so it's not activating the plunger. She starts on choke just fine and obviously runs well after warmed but I'm still going to have to take the carbs back off and break them down AGAIN because it ain't right and I'm a moron!

[Yammer Dan]

I can't believe what I just found!

 

I've had the carbs off the old girl 2 or 3 times and broke the rack to some extent every time to check for mistakes. Somehow, the last time I put them back together I got the #4 enricher fork on backwards and the screw loosened up(it's not in the detent) so it's not activating the plunger. She starts on choke just fine and obviously runs well after warmed but I'm still going to have to take the carbs back off and break them down AGAIN because it ain't right and I'm a moron!

 

 

 

Takes a Big Man to admit it!! You could have just kept going and found something else ta lay the blame on!!

[luvmy40]

Like I said in the "What did you do today" thread, my #3 carb was pouring gasoline from the vent line. This came on suddenly. I had a couple hundred miles on the odometer after rebuilding the carbs with no problems.

 

Any way, I pulled the carbs and broke the rack to check out #3 and fix the enricher fork issue. I didn't find anything obviously wrong with #3 so I just hosed the bowl and fill valve down with brake parts cleaner and put it back together. The float level bench checked perfectly and I couldn't get the bowl to over fill even with a gallon of head pressure.

 

Got everything put back together, including installing a new to me TCI that had been gone over and the caps replaced(thanks mralex), synchronized the carbs and I have to say, I believe I have had a bad TCI from day 1. As much power as she has had and as smooth as she's been running compared to what it's like now? There's no comparison.

 

I hope this was the source of my low MPG problem as well.

Edited April 20, 2018 by luvmy40

[luvmy40]

I forgot to mention that I checked the fuel level sending unit today as well. It seems to be working. I get about 2.5 ohms at "full" and 331 ohms at empty. I'm reading 265 ohms with it installed. The gauge and alarm are still reading empty. The gas pump icon is lit and the warning light is flashing.

 

I almost pulled the gauge cluster to try to ohm out at the connector but I ran out of motivation.

 

The turn signals have not glitched again.

Edited April 20, 2018 by luvmy40

[luvmy40]

I think the beast is haunted!

 

The fuel gauge is working!

 

So, when I went for the first shake down ride this season I filled the tank. It was as I was pulling out of the gas station that the fuel gauge went wonky. First it dropped to 1 bar then bounced back up to full then down to no bars and the fuel pump icon lit up and the warning light started flashing. this was all over about 30 seconds. It has been that way since that moment.

 

I took her out for a longer ride this evening. I stopped to fill the tank and she was nearly bone dry. I put 5.25 gal. in the tank. when I started her up, the fuel gauge read full!

 

Go figure.

[videoarizona]

Yup, a very common problem with the 1st Gens is the rheostat on the fuel gauge sender unit! You can adjust them a little bit but what happens is the winding, which is on a card, warps. The sender is right on top of the tank and is easily removed. It's that oval cover...

 

 

Agree with Bob. It sure sounds like your fuel gauge problem is in the rheostat. Either warped or dirty. Next time you are low on gas, take out sending unit. Use pencil eraser to clean wiper. Gently blow dry. Then move float up and down slowly, watching the wiper. Make sure it's making contact all the way up and down. Bend gently if not. Reassemble, cleaning the wires that attach to top of unit. Couldn't hurt...

Edited April 21, 2018 by videoarizona
Spelling