Triumphrat

salamander · 04-05-2004

hi,

pls bear with me, as i'm just getting into being more "mechanical".
i just changed the oil and got my 00 T-bird out for the season; but it's running really rough.

here are the symptoms:
1. idle is erratic - swings between 0 and 1000 rpm
2. accelleration at low rpm (1.5 to 2.5) sounds "wrong", e.g. slow firing
3. after a 10 mile ride, the left exhaust pipe was much cooler than the right exhaust pipe.
4. some "popping" sensation from under the front of the seat - more felt than heard. battery looks okay, so it's prob comign from the carbs...?
5. very little of the decelleration popping i have come to expect.

also, i didnt (stupid me) fog the gas this last winter - i was able to ride it every two weeks or so until january; figured i'd be able to get away without it, but i ended up leaving it unridden for about 8 weeks...wonder if i have varnish now.

so...any suggestion on things to check or things to try?
is it likely that i'm just not getting good firing on one of the cylindars, or is one of the carbs too clogged? can i use a standard "carb cleaner" fuel additive?

any help appreciated... i'm a broke student now and cannot afford to bring it to a dealer for service so will prob be doing the work my self.

oh - and the T-bird has the "offroad" pipes and jet kit dealer installed a couple years ago, if that makes any difference.

cheers!

[ This message was edited by: salamander on 2004-04-05 18:39 ]

bobshields55 · 04-05-2004

Try draining the tank and the carbs, remove and clean and check gap on the spark plugs, refill with fresh fuel and try it again.

Good luck

Bob

SportTBird · 04-06-2004

I would be interested your opinions on the fuel additive Carb Cleaners as well. This is not something I plan on doing, but I've been wondering if those types of additives are useful, or if they do more harm than good.

SportTBird

salamander · 04-08-2004

thanks for the advice - i've done all of this before aside from draining the carbs - i must admit to being tentative around touching the carbs. is there any howto or other suggestions on draining the carbs? is this pretty straightfoward? do i need to drain the tank and carbs at th same time, or is there a way to do this in a controlled way and not get gas everywhere?

cheers!

Slinky · 04-08-2004

Draining the carbs is simple, there is a drain screw on the bottom of each float bowl. There is also a short pipe protruding from the bottom of each carb bowl.

You can stick a small container under the pipe ( an aerosol lid works good, just be careful as some of them have a small vent hole). Or attach a length of rubber hose and run it off to where you have more room.

There is no need to remove the drain screw , just back it out one or two turns.

Personally, I think your problem is more likely to be a gummed up pilot jet or airway. I would definitely try some carb cleaner in the fuel before you strip down the carbs looking for a blockage. It is the easy option, and it may well work.

bobshields55 · 04-08-2004

SportTbird

My experience with carb cleaner additives has only been with cars and I never found any downside to them as long as the instructions were followed, i.e. having a full tank of fuel.

Ride safe

Bob

Osara · 04-08-2004

Salamander, your problem could also be a faulty ignition coil.

salamander · 04-09-2004

thanks for all the advice everyone - before i start on draining carbs, tank, etc., i put some carb cleaner in and let it idle for an hour or so... now it is purring fine, and seems to be much better.

i also adjusted the small black (idle?) screw that comes from the left side of the carb assembly - up just a hair. i did notice a wee bit of white smoke coming out of the left pipe, while it's idling on the kickstand, and the left pipe still remains much cooler than the right pipe, but since the right has a 2-into-1 i figured this was probably somewhat typical.

so - is that screw the equivalent of a choke? e.g. have i possibly made the mixture too rich by adjusting that screw?

cheers

Slinky · 04-09-2004

That black knob simply adjusts the idle speed, it has no effect on mixture strength.

04-09-2004

Glad you got it purring again. Put some fresh gas in and run that out and you should be good to go.

What I don't think anyone mentioned here is- before you put it away for the winter put some gas stabilizer in the tank and run it some to get it into the carbs so they don't gum up next year.

Enjoy,

Matt