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1983 Garage find ready for safety

Discussion in 'XJ Technical Chat' started by weeboy1, Jul 3, 2022.

  1. weeboy1

    weeboy1 Member

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    Picked up in May after sitting for 15 years. Did carbs, tank, flushed brakes, new steering head bearings and other miscellaneous maintenance items. Heading for safety tomorrow prior to registering for the road.
    Has a slight gas smell after riding but no signs of leakage and starting and running like a champ. Maybe venting from gas cap??
    Fun adventure!
     

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  2. weeboy1

    weeboy1 Member

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    Further to the fuel smell question. I thought the 40 y/o fuel cap and gasket could be a culprit but also when re installing carbs I set air fuel mix screws to 3 turns out instead of the recommended 2.5. Could this be a cause as more fuel is passing thru?
    As said prior it is starting and running very well. Starts better than my efi Harley…lol.
     
  3. Jetfixer

    Jetfixer Well-Known Member

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    Recommend if bike has sat for long replace the fuel line from the petcock to carb . Your petcock may need rebuilt or replaced. Your fuel cap is a real possible of the fuel odor . Cheers
     
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  4. k-moe

    k-moe Pie, Bacon, Bourbon. Moderator Premium Member

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    The idle mixture screws are set about where they need to be. 3 turns out won't make her so rich that you'd have unburnt fuel in the exhaust.
     
  5. weeboy1

    weeboy1 Member

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    I didn’t think so either. Ran her about 15 miles to mechanics to get the safety and she ran fine on the highway. Although when I first left in the morning she had a bit of a snappy backfire sound off the line until warmed up then seemed fine. That backfiring is new.
     
  6. k-moe

    k-moe Pie, Bacon, Bourbon. Moderator Premium Member

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    That backfiring may be (and likely is) a sign that the idle mixture is a tad too rich.
    Bring them in about the width of a dime, and then go for another ride.
     
  7. weeboy1

    weeboy1 Member

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    Thanks K, was going to bring them back to the recommended 2.5 turns out but maybe I’ll split the difference. Seemed to run fine at the 2.5 but read somewhere on here that 3 seemed to be the sweet spot so I followed it thinking it could run finer. I don’t want keep yanking the tank so I’ll do as you suggest . That will prolly be best.
     
  8. k-moe

    k-moe Pie, Bacon, Bourbon. Moderator Premium Member

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    The thing of it is that every cylinder on every motorcycle is a little bit different, as are the heads. There is no one "perfect" setting that is perfect for every machine, or every cylinder on a given machine. There is a range, and you're in it, but you need to tweak the idle mixture a bit.

    Do you know how to read a spark plug for combustion efficiency?
     
  9. weeboy1

    weeboy1 Member

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    I do , but I’m not looking to dial it in to the nth degree. Just so it’s running well and it’s pretty close now.
    May not even be keeping it. If mama enjoys being back in the saddle as much as I think she’s gonna need a bigger bike.
    I picked this one up just to get her feet wet again. I’m quite sure I can sell it at a profit or at least what I’m into it for.
    Besides it’s been a fun project resurrecting this 39 y/o xj.
     
  10. k-moe

    k-moe Pie, Bacon, Bourbon. Moderator Premium Member

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    That it's backfiring is a sign that it's not even dialed in to the normal degree. It won't take more than half an afternoon to fix that problem though.
     
  11. weeboy1

    weeboy1 Member

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    Hey Kmoe, we’ll things are going from bad to worse. Picked bike up from safety inspection. Started and ran fine on the highway. Got into town a little back firing and bogging down with power loss. Died 3 times. Got home checked plugs . 2,3 and 4 where a nice tan but #1 was black and sooty. Filled the fuel tank, adjusted air/fuel screw as discussed and went for a spin. It never stalled but is virtually unrideable. Raspy backfiring, bogs down, no power. Even clutch action seems affected. im ready to pull carbs again and thinking #1 is flooding into the cylinder and into crankcase. I don’t know what else it could be! Any thoughts?
    Thanks
     
  12. k-moe

    k-moe Pie, Bacon, Bourbon. Moderator Premium Member

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    Black and sooty but not wet? Still a mixture issue. It’s not flooding or the plug would be wet with gas.
    Soot can be from either being lean or being rich. See what happens if you lean that carb out a bit. Clean the plug first.
     
  13. weeboy1

    weeboy1 Member

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    No it doesn’t seem to be wet just very sooty and I do believe I smell fuel in the oil and it’s just running so badly all of a sudden.
     
  14. weeboy1

    weeboy1 Member

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    Also the fact it started shifting oddly and difficult to get to neutral led me to believe the oil was contaminated. Maybe I’m wrong just don’t want to run it without changing the oil again if that might be the case.
     
  15. k-moe

    k-moe Pie, Bacon, Bourbon. Moderator Premium Member

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    Describe the odd shifting. Contaminated oil won't cause any shifting issues.

    Take a length of clear tubing and check the fuel levels in the float bowl for that cylinder.
     
  16. weeboy1

    weeboy1 Member

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    When I brought it home the last time, she was running so poorly. Bogging down and a lot of raspy back firing. I found resistance shifting gears and was difficult to pinpoint neutral. And normally neutral is a breeze to find on this bike.
    You don’t believe fuel contaminated oil would affect the clutch plates? I’m going to drop the float bowl and check the needle and seat and also float height. And will also check fuel level as you say. (That should tell me if fuel is getting past the needle) Will also adjust air/fuel in to maybe 2 turns (it’s at 2.75 now)
    As said it is only #1 that’s fouling the other carbs according to the plug condition are perfect.
    My next step may be to pull the whole rack again and take it to an Indy. Perhaps the rebuild parts I got for the carbs are suspect.
    Thanks again for the input, it’s appreciated.
     
  17. weeboy1

    weeboy1 Member

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    Hey K-moe is it possible to pm you. I want to send some videos of my xj’s rough idle in hopes of finding a solution. Tried leaning it out and no change. checked fuel level on cylinder with black plug and it’s fine as well. I’m at a loss….
     
  18. weeboy1

    weeboy1 Member

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    just a late good news follow up to my garage find xj issues. Ended up taking it to an Indy last fall . He reset floats and adjusted the carbs and got running.
    I picked it up mid November and put it in storage as weather was shitty.
    I Started it last week and had concerns. while it did run it was rough with lots of low rpm stuttering and farting. Was going to give the Indy a call and bring it back and figured maybe it just needs a good run as it hadn’t been used for 15 years before i bought it. So I took it for a 40 km romp and parked it for the night still kinda running rough.
    Took it out the next morning and it’s like a different bike. Running smooth with zero stutter or popping and has been running that well for almost a week now.
    So very pleased. For a 40 y/o bike that was forgotten for the last 15 I’m so surprised how well it’s running now. I put a lot in5o myself but just needed another set of eyes on it.
    whatever he did made a world of difference. Plan was to sell it but it’s actually a fun little bike around town and so much lighter than my ultra!! So who knows…
     
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