Triumphrat

oldschoolrides · 01-15-2013, 06:30 PM

My father in law gave me his 98 sprint. It has been setting in his barn for some time. He said it was only running on two cylinders and that some thing was wrong with the petcock causing it leak gas into the carbs while not running.

I have found out why it was only running on two cylinders. Number 3 coil pack has a broken spade terminal. So I gotta find a replacement now. I do how ever have a coil off a honda cb350. Not sure if or how well that would work.

Felony · 01-15-2013, 07:02 PM

You might want to check the resistance specs for both coils before starting any type of experimenting.

oldschoolrides · 01-15-2013, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felony

You might want to check the resistance specs for both coils before starting any type of experimenting.

Yeah I have looked into that. I got the terminal pushed back into the coil an it seems to have good resistances. Just need to figure out how to secure it in place with some epoxy. Any idea on the pet cock issue? The oil does have gas in so hes right about it leaking. Possible stuck float(s)?

frider · 01-15-2013, 08:05 PM

The Petcock vacuum has gone....
I THINK you can fit an even 'olderschool' manual fuel tap.....otherwise, you will need to possibly source parts ( diapghrams etc) to fix yours....

Be careful......fuel in oil not good for Motah!!!! drain oil.....leaking fuel petcock ( carb??) not good for Motah...possibility of hydraulic locking the cylinders!!!!

If you are struggling to find carb/fuel petcock bits n pieces, try

http://www.nrp-carbs.co.uk/

Ask for Andy.....Polish Andy, old courier mate of mine, but, he knows his carbs and fuel petcocks ( Jap/itlaian and British)...tell him Frank the Manc yank sent ya!!!!

Could be stuck float/gummed up from all that sitting......good luck...took me a week, a gallon of petrol, 2 cans of carb cleaner and two lungs to clean a bank of 4 Jap Mikunis years ago!!!!

frider · 01-15-2013, 08:10 PM

PPS: Nice Sprint 900 when you get it fixed!!!!!

oldschoolrides · 01-15-2013, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frider

The Petcock vacuum has gone....
I THINK you can fit an even 'olderschool' manual fuel tap.....otherwise, you will need to possibly source parts ( diapghrams etc) to fix yours....

Be careful......fuel in oil not good for Motah!!!! drain oil.....leaking fuel petcock ( carb??) not good for Motah...possibility of hydraulic locking the cylinders!!!!

If you are struggling to find carb/fuel petcock bits n pieces, try

http://www.nrp-carbs.co.uk/

Ask for Andy.....Polish Andy, old courier mate of mine, but, he knows his carbs and fuel petcocks ( Jap/itlaian and British)...tell him Frank the Manc yank sent ya!!!!

Could be stuck float/gummed up from all that sitting......good luck...took me a week, a gallon of petrol, 2 cans of carb cleaner and two lungs to clean a bank of 4 Jap Mikunis years ago!!!!

Do you by chance have any info on the routes for all of this? Thats what I thought it was vacuumed operated diagram. I have the plugs out and im going to drain the oil before I try starting it. Im pretty excited about the bike though!

frider · 01-15-2013, 08:48 PM

Well, I can't remember my '96 Trident 900 layout, but I THINK you have a simple off/run and prime......prime, it will pour fuel through all the time...problem is, off and run...when one is meant to be NO fuel flow, and t'other is meant to be fuel flow through vacuum draw only, may both be borked.........

and the last thing you want is fuel constantly flowing into the carb float bowls...stick float, and bam, fuel is now entering your cylinder(s).........when not running=bad!!

definitely drain the oil/purge the possible fuel in the cylinders, with plugs out.....make sure they are grounded ( on the metal engine body )....and make damn sure no fuel expunged from cylinders gets anywhere near them as you turn the motah over!!!

As for the fuel petcock...either replace or repair......for a shakedown run If you run it on prime...fuel should run constantly....after that I'd either drain the Tank/'pinch' ( carefully) the fuel line so no (leaking) fuel can fill the carbs afterwards......

Might find the fork seals are dried out too................tyres....make sure they aren't too badly cracked, even for a 'shakedown' run!!!!!

PM KIT on this site...he more recently had a '98 Trident ( basically same Bike) as yours.....less plastic bits........KitNYC

KitNYC · 01-16-2013, 03:11 AM

Ah, the '98 Sprint Exec... Careful with those rear signals, they're hard to replace!

That coil is probably not trustworthy after losing a spade, and they're notorious for failing over time, anyway. Think about getting a set of Nology Profires to replace the originals; they're the same coil for a lot less money. The Nology units are also pretty much the only non-Triumph coil you can use on these bikes, as they have a weird resistance spec (0.6Ω, IIRC) used by just about nothing else.

The petcock has (again, IIRC) PRIme at the 12:00 position, ON at 3:00, and REServe at 6:00. It's a vacuum petcock, so there is no off; fuel flow should stop due to lack of vacuum when the engine isn't running if it's on ON or RES. PRIme flows fuel regardless of vacuum, for filling up the carbs after the bowls have gone empty.

Two possible problem areas with the petcock: the knob and the guts. The knob often snaps on the back, where there are two voids in the casting. If this has happened, the knob will turn without operating the petcock, so it's set to wherever it was before and not where you think you set it. It might be possible to salvage a broken knob or it may require a new one. Either way, it's best to fill the voids on the back side with JB Weld or epoxy so it can't break.

If it's the guts that have gone bad, it may be possible to rebuild the petcock with a kit from Sprint Manufacturing or possibly other sources. Unfortunately and inexplicably, the success rate for rebuilds is very low and I usually recommend replacing the whole assembly instead.

Fuel draining through the petcock should be stopped by the float valves in the carbs, so you definitely have a problem there as well. That's usually the o-rings. Really, though, you'll want to thoroughly clean those carbs and probably put in rebuild kits.

Also, maybe put 100 miles on a sump full of Walmart 10W-40 to rinse it out before you put any good oil in it.

All that said, the Sprint forum is for injected Sprints so I'm moving this to the T3 forum.

Cheers,
-Kit

KaJuN · 01-16-2013, 09:35 AM

Wow you lucked out! The Sprint looks great in red. Hope you get it up and running soon.

As a side note I was born in Dayton and lived most of my life up the road in Troy. I don't know if you know about it already but there is a Triumph dealer on Dixie Drive right by Marion's should you need any parts or anything. Good luck with it!

oldschoolrides · 01-16-2013, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KaJuN

Wow you lucked out! The Sprint looks great in red. Hope you get it up and running soon.

As a side note I was born in Dayton and lived most of my life up the road in Troy. I don't know if you know about it already but there is a Triumph dealer on Dixie Drive right by Marion's should you need any parts or anything. Good luck with it!

I was born in dayton also now I live in troy off 41 near 235 area. I work at the school by needmore. I go by there often when I head to the city for parts for work. Any local places for a new coil?