Triumphrat

sandblaster

put my 96 thunderbird in building for 2 days while raining. when i got it out and tried to crank it it sputters once and then just spins over. tried draining carbs , outer carbs have fuel in them but center carb nothing. help please!

tnsen

same with my 96 bird ...till i put in fresh plugs...ngk dpr8ea9...1 range hotter than what is recommended by book...ill bet fresh plugs will get u going .....good luck....tom

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Ward...dontcha think you were a little hard on "the beaver "last night!!!

tnsen

opps dident see that part bout the no fuel in carb.....still should of fired

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Ward...dontcha think you were a little hard on "the beaver "last night!!!

SWare

Sorry to reply with a bunch of questions but they might help diagnose your problem.
Was the bike running OK when you put it up?
Did you turn off the petcock while it was parked?
(Assume you turned it back on and have gas :-D )
Is the battery good and hot, turning the starter briskly?
Does the starter make any grinding, crunching or popping noises?

Hopefully answers are yes, yes, yes and no.

If you answer yes to the last question you may have a bad starter clutch. Hopefully that is not an issue.

Getting fuel to only two carbs is odd. Double check before you waste a lot of time there. Make sure you have plenty of gas, switch to reserve and allow the carbs to refill. Drain the bowls again. If you still have one dry carb you could have some kind of blockage in the line that runs between the carbs. If you pull the fuel hose from the carbs (petcock off), there should be a screen inside the inlet. If it is gone something could have made it into the line. If it is there make sure it is not plugged (though that should block fuel to all carbs). While you have the fuel hose loose, direct it into a container and turn on the petcock. Fuel should flow freely. If not maybe a problem with the petcock or the filter screen in the tank. Also while you are messing around the carbs, make sure your "choke" cable is connected and operating the enriching circuit.

If fuel/carbs seem OK then it may be spark.
Check for fouled plugs especially if you did leave the petcock on while it was parked.

stan

sandblaster

changed plugs running now but still no fuel in center carb. trying to figure out how to pull air box to get to fuel rail maybe stuck float maybe trash?

jimmyj900

If all three cylinders are firing (all pipes hot) then there's probably crud in the center float bowl preventing draining.

If the center pipe is cold and that cylinder not firing it would probably be a stuck float. Whack it with the big end of a screwdriver a couple of times and see if that fixes the problem before you start yanking things apart

I wouldn't suspect a clog in the fuel rail since the fuel enters between the #2 & #3 carbs, so if it was blocked your #1 carb would be dry too.

Jim

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sandblaster

changed plugs, drained tank and carbs, (the scewdriver whack worked) refilled everything now no fire on yhe no. 2 plug. coil i hope i have one on the way, we'll see if that does it. thanks!

sandblaster

i finally found it. number 2 spark plug wire pulled apart inside of the boot. thanks for all the help! it's good to be a new member of this group.