| Author |
Message |
    
Anotherheathen
| | Posted on Saturday, August 22, 2009 - 06:23 pm: | 
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Greetings,
I just took a chance on a 2000 M2 that had been sitting for two years and was running like $#!t. I drained the gas tank and put fresh gas in and took it out on the road enough to clear the gas lines. It was running horribly and did not improve with the clean gas.
I'm not a mechanic by any stretch of the imagination so I had the local independent Harley mechanic take a look at it. Turns out it had a customized carb and a cracked intake manifold. He replaced the manifold and traded out the carb for a rebuilt stock carb. (I don't know what jets he put in it. He was going by the manual and said it was stock for the bike)
Now it idles nicely, runs smooth and strong through terrain that requires a lot of acceleration changes (curvy, hilly terrain) but it won't cruise at a steady speed with out coughing and popping. It's noticeably worse below about 45mph and a bit smoother above that, but won't run real smooth at any steady speed. There's no popping if I'm accelerating or decelerating. There also doesn't seem to be any when I'm going uphill.
I took it back to the local mechanic to see if he could work it out and he literally started ranting and raving about how he hates this bike and he'll never work on another Buell, and he doesn't want to do this work anymore. Needless to say, I said, "That's alright, I'll take it somewhere else."
So I rode it home and did the standard shade tree mechanic vacuum leak tests, no apparent problems there. What do I do now?
Thanks in advance for your input. |
Blake
| | Posted on Saturday, August 22, 2009 - 06:41 pm: |
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Simple. Pop in a #45 slow jet and adjust the idle air mixture screw to 2.5 turns out from full in and you should be good. |
Anotherheathen
| | Posted on Saturday, August 22, 2009 - 08:20 pm: |
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Sounds like a winner Blake. I'll give it a shot and get back to the forum on how it went.
Thanks.
- Owen |
Anotherheathen
| | Posted on Sunday, August 23, 2009 - 04:17 pm: |
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I pulled the carb today and it is running a 42 and a 170 and was turned out four and a half turns. My understanding from your post Blake, and from what I've gleaned from this forum is that I should drop in a 190, a 45, and turn the air mixture out 2 and a half turns. Sound correct?
Thanks.
- Owen |
Bluzm2
| | Posted on Sunday, August 23, 2009 - 10:22 pm: |
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Owen,
That is correct. It will be a completely different bike when you are done.
Promise!
Brad |
Anotherheathen
| | Posted on Monday, August 24, 2009 - 04:22 pm: |
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That made a HUGE difference but I'm still getting popping and uneven running below about 40mph (sorry, don't have a tach on it so I can't give you RPMs) It's not near as bad as it was, but still significant. It evens out just fine if I pull the choke out about 1/4.
Above 40mph it runs smooth and strong, gets some intermittent popping again at about 60mph, and again, no troubles above sixty.
Oh, and I should have added in my first post, it does not have the stock air cleaner on it, somebody put one of those oval air cleaners on it, the ones you see on the older Sportsters
What should I try next?
Thanks again for the help.
- Owen |
Road_thing
| | Posted on Monday, August 24, 2009 - 04:46 pm: |
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It evens out just fine if I pull the choke out about 1/4.
Sounds like you've got a lean condition--maybe a vacuum leak, or leaky intake seal(s). Since your former mechanic changed out the manifold he may not have gotten them sealed up right. Plenty of info on here about how to test for leaks--search "intake seal".
rt |
Bluzm2
| | Posted on Monday, August 24, 2009 - 11:16 pm: |
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Tom is dead on.
Check the intake seals.
Popping is usually caused by intake leaks and or exhaust leaks (usually at the heads). |
Anotherheathen
| | Posted on Monday, August 24, 2009 - 11:53 pm: |
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I did double check for intake and exhaust leaks after I put the carb back on. I didn't detect any problems. Just for "Ss" and "Gs" however, I checked the exhaust flange bolts after the engine was cool and found they were pretty loose. Tightening them up made additional improvement, but I'm still getting the popping below 30/40mph.
Also, in giving everything another once over today I noticed that the air filter is not sealing very well on the left side so it may be leaking air past the rubber seal. Could this be part of the problem?
Thanks again.
- Owen |
Road_thing
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 25, 2009 - 10:12 am: |
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I doubt that a leaking air filter would cause the popping--it's probably something downstream of the venturi in the carb.
rt |
Sparky
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 25, 2009 - 01:08 pm: |
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There may be vacuum fittings (tubes) coming out of the carb or intake manifold.
One on the manifold goes to the VOES connected by a short rubber hose. Make sure that hose is not brittle and cracked which can cause a vacuum leak.
There may be another tube on the carb that should either be capped with a rubber cap or go to a charcoal cannister. If it's capped, make sure the rubber is not brittle or cracked. If it's missing, cap it. |
Road_thing
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 25, 2009 - 05:46 pm: |
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Yeah, what Sparky said. If your former mechanic left the VOES hose disconnected, that'd be a large vacuum leak. Pull the tank and take a look.
rt |
Anotherheathen
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 25, 2009 - 11:10 pm: |
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There's no tube on the manifold, but there are actually two on the carb that are not connected to anything; one is metal and the other is black plastic. I'll try capping them to see if that makes a difference
(Message edited by anotherheathen on August 25, 2009) |
Buell_bert
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 26, 2009 - 02:20 am: |
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He has to have a VOES. It must be still in the wiring harness. |
Buell_bert
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 26, 2009 - 02:24 am: |
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Under the tank is a vacuum switch that goes to the carb and has a black wire and a violet with white trace that connects to your wiring harness. |
Blake
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 26, 2009 - 02:38 pm: |
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http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/Manuals/S1_1 996-1997_Service/BU7a.pdf
See page 7-10. |
Blake
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 26, 2009 - 02:39 pm: |
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And pages 1-30 thru 1-32 of...
http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/Manuals/S1_1 996-1997_Service/BU1b.pdf
(Message edited by blake on August 26, 2009) |
Blake
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 26, 2009 - 02:46 pm: |
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And page 4-14 of...
http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/Manuals/S1_1996-1997_Service/BU4a.pdf
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Sparky
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 26, 2009 - 03:54 pm: |
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I stand corrected. The tube for the VOES is on the back of the carb pointing up and not on the manifold.
So if the VOES is not connected to the carb, the ignition will always be on the retard ignition curve which is great for hard acceleration and high engine load conditions and it will never go to the advance curve which is for part-throttle cruising and good mileage. And that, I believe, could be a big part of the reason for your post -- no cruise.
So, take off the gas tank and look for device #17 as depicted in Figure 7-9 Ignition Components on this page as Blake noted above.
-- If you can't find it plugged into the wire harness under the tank, you might find just the two-wire connector that is supposed to go to the VOES disconnected on the harness.
-- If you do find the VOES and it's not connected to the back of the carb with a short piece of hose, connect it. Then make sure its electrical connector is plugged into the wire harness, and you're good to go. |
Anotherheathen
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 26, 2009 - 11:20 pm: |
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Thanks again for your help.
I did find today that the VOES is connected correctly. I will do the ignition timing test as per the manual instructions on it tomorrow.
I also found that there is a Canister vent tube, but it is not connected to anything. Should this be plugged, or left open?
Thanks
- Owen |
Bluzm2
| | Posted on Thursday, August 27, 2009 - 06:38 pm: |
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If there isn't a charcoal canister, it should be blocked.
It's a vacuum leak!
Brad |
Jim2
| | Posted on Sunday, August 30, 2009 - 10:16 pm: |
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There is also a drain hose on the bottom. That should not be blocked off. It just hangs down below the carb. |
Anotherheathen
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 08, 2009 - 02:27 am: |
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SUCCESS!!
I thank you gentlemen. Give yourselves a pat on the back for guiding a no wrenchin' mo-fo like myself through the process of getting this problem ironed out. I was on the bike for six hours Saturday with absolutely no problems!!
Again, many, many thanks to you all for the help.
- Owen |
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M2's got no cruise