T-Bird Idling problems

1009 Views 8 Replies 3 Participants Last post by MatMotor, Mar 8, 2007

Discussion Starter · Feb 27, 2007

Hi Guys,

Been having this problem lately. The bike needs choke to start and can't idle if the choke is turn off. Anyone knows the likely diagnosis.

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jimmyj900

· #2 · Feb 27, 2007

Dirty or clogged pilot jets. You'll need to remove the carbs.

Jim

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Discussion Starter · #3 · Feb 28, 2007

Tks, jimmyj900.

Forgot to mention, that I've changed plugs twice in the spate of 3 months due to blackened plugs. Any idea, what's wrong?

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Tre900

· #4 · Feb 28, 2007

I would say clean the carbs and then use a sync tool or have a shop sink them. Are all 3 getting fouled? is it a wet black or a dry black??

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Well, if you're keeping some choke on to keep the engine running then that will explain the carbon on the plugs.

Also, stale gas will cause incomplete combustion (lower cylinder temperatures) and cause some carbon fouling. Try draining the carbs and tank and adding some fresh fuel.

If only one or two plugs are showing carbon deposits then it could be ignition coils, but I'd clean the carbs and get some fresh fuel before going in that direction.

Jim

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ecrabbit96

· #6 · Feb 28, 2007

This is right there with all the other posts concerning carbs and hard starts and poor idle. Jimmyj900 is right on the money in my book. Keeping the choke on slightly will cause the rich black plugs. Holding the choke on due to poor idle is most certainly clogged pilots. Pull em, clean em, and sync em. When you clean the carbs, do yourself a favor. note the position of the pilot screws, count the number of turns to close them, (gently) never torque these babies, just till they stop. Them once you have them clean you can put them back to were they are now and you should have a good start point to final tune. In fact if they have never been moved you will probably find they are perfect. If the slugs are still in the pilot screw holes, this would indicate they have never been adjusted. Drill a small 1/16th" hole just through the slug, turn a sheet rock screw into the hole so it bites, and pull the slug straight out.

[ This message was edited by: ecrabbit96 on 2007-02-28 08:19 ]

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Discussion Starter · #7 · Mar 5, 2007

They were dry carbon deposits. Not all were fouled, though.
The mechanic mentinoed that it was the carb "float" problem. Any views.

Thanks..........

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jimmyj900

· #8 · Mar 5, 2007

They were dry carbon deposits. Not all were fouled, though. The mechanic mentinoed that it was the carb "float" problem. Any views.

Dry carbon deposits on the plugs point to a bad mixture or excessive time with the choke on. On a normally tuned engine in good condition, the carbon will usually burn off during normal operation.

I've never seen a float setting change at random. Sometimes the valves will develop a groove and sometimes the floats will get heavy by leaking or collecting a bunch of varnish, but that's usually not the problem with a carb malfunction.

If you still have hard starting and need the choke to make the bike idle, the pilot jets are fouled and need cleaning.

Have you emptied the stale fuel and replaced it yet?

Jim

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Discussion Starter · #9 · Mar 8, 2007

Tks all for the views.
Have sent the bike to the workshop and he insisted that its the floats that's troblling. Will update you guys.

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