Not The Carb
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What's the symptoms again? Maybe the fuel shutoff valve on the gas tank is full of gunk. That, or does the bike have a fuel-tank vent? That might be clogged, or obstructed. Did you check the jets for obstructions when you had the carb off? Did you get those sticky-traps for rodents like I suggested?
I have to leave the choke on to keep the bike running, checked that too, or what I thought was the vent, it was clogged and now is not. The jets were not clogged either. I just got the bike but no rodents yet>>>hope to see none also...LOL.
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Does the tank vent have a one-way valve in it?
Someone did that to me once, and I almost punched him.
..That's an old joke with desert riders, when no one is looking, reverse the one-way valve on the tank vent of your riding partners bikes. Your buddies will get 75 yards from camp, and the bike will die...big yuck yucks and har hars.
Someone did that to me once, and I almost punched him.
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11,482 Posts
If I recall correctly, it runs OK on choke but will not idle otherwise, but runs while "givin 'er gas", right?
If so, it's the pilot jet. Very tiny orifice; unless you took it out of the carb and sprayed cleaner through it, then looked-through it and saw daylight on the other side - it is plugged. Guaranteed.
It may even require a small wire poked-through to clear it. Also, the passages MUST have carb-cleaner sprayed through them - both directions, until they run clear. There may be debris in them.
It goes without saying, you must protect your eyes when doing all this. Carb-cleaner hurts like a mofo when it gets in your eye.........
If so, it's the pilot jet. Very tiny orifice; unless you took it out of the carb and sprayed cleaner through it, then looked-through it and saw daylight on the other side - it is plugged. Guaranteed.
It may even require a small wire poked-through to clear it. Also, the passages MUST have carb-cleaner sprayed through them - both directions, until they run clear. There may be debris in them.
It goes without saying, you must protect your eyes when doing all this. Carb-cleaner hurts like a mofo when it gets in your eye.........
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11,482 Posts
Oh! Almost forgot! While you have then out - check the float-height. Very tricky, very delicate operation.
The odd thing is that when I finally got the carb apart there was no sign of gas in the thing. I figured that it would still have a small amount of gas left but there was nothing but a light brown/tan colored powder type residue on the interior, even on the float. That seemed odd to me so I just put it back together planned on saving some money to get it fixed,But then I remembered this site so I figured I would give it one more shot. Thanks again guys
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7,113 Posts
If it runs with the choke on but not with it off, then the mixture must be super lean. I'd take a good look at the intake manifolds and see if it's sucking air between the carb and the head. If it has the rubber hose type, they may be decayed and/or leaking around the clamps.
The key to cleaing out a carb (or many of them) is to use a liberal amount of compressed air on every orafice on that carb you can find. Taking off the float bowl, looking at it, and pronouncing it cleaned isn't doing anything the parts that need it. You have to take it ALL apart and blow out everything and then assemble it correctly. I would say with 100% certainty that if it runs with the choke and doesn't when it's off, that the carb is still gunked up. Time to do that job again.
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Yeah like that flooded carb that ruined my first attempt at Knuckle starting?
It ran, didn't it?
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I believe carb flooding is included in the "operator error" catagory, though with a Bendix on there it's almost forgivable.It ran, didn't it?
I rebuilt the piece of crap Bendix too. My last Shovel had a Bendix and I rebuilt it twice and STILL had to carry a screwdriver in my pocket while riding. Never got it to idle correctly or run right. Replaced it with an S&S, and after the initial adjustment, it ran 100% perfect from day one. I have an S&S on my current Shovel and it runs perfectly. I rebuilt the Knuck POS Bendix about a month ago and when Buz showed up, the float stuck when we first tried to start it and flooded it a bit. It runs decently with it, but the idle is still iffy and the throttle response could be better. I just left that damned thing alone, because it will run for another month or so. This winter I will be replacing that Bendix, and I will be happy to smash the living shyt out of it with my 13 lb sledge. Some people swear by a Bendix. I swear at em. I have cleaned and rebuilt almost every tybe of bike carb out there. Amal, Kehin, Mikuni, S&S, and others and none have given me the fits that a Bendix has. What a POS!
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I thought the Bendix was the last great American carb to be used on the Harley, right? Does yours have the high & low speed adjustable jets? Isn't there some little o-ring thingamabob in there that if worn out, causes flooding? And I thought an S&S was just some glorified Linkert...I've got a giant Tillotson sititng somewhere in the garage, that came off an industrial V4 motor that might fit your needs. It looks like a lawnmower carb with a thyroid problem, but it's simple.
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My HD mechanic went into a lower income tax bracket when I put a Crane ignition and S&S carb on my Shovel. I do miss the days of the "Kehnin cough" and setting the points gap on the side of I-95...I rebuilt the piece of crap Bendix too. My last Shovel had a Bendix and I rebuilt it twice and STILL had to carry a screwdriver in my pocket while riding. Never got it to idle correctly or run right. Replaced it with an S&S, and after the initial adjustment, it ran 100% perfect from day one. I have an S&S on my current Shovel and it runs perfectly. I rebuilt the Knuck POS Bendix about a month ago and when Buz showed up, the float stuck when we first tried to start it and flooded it a bit. It runs decently with it, but the idle is still iffy and the throttle response could be better. I just left that damned thing alone, because it will run for another month or so. This winter I will be replacing that Bendix, and I will be happy to smash the living shyt out of it with my 13 lb sledge. Some people swear by a Bendix. I swear at em. I have cleaned and rebuilt almost every tybe of bike carb out there. Amal, Kehin, Mikuni, S&S, and others and none have given me the fits that a Bendix has. What a POS!
This one has a float sticking problem, AND an idle problem. It did it before I rebuilt it, and it does it now. It has the adjustable jets, but once you start down that road with this POS, it never ends. I adjusted the low speed jet so it didn't stumble on takeoff, and then it wouldn't idle. Once I got it to idle, then it stumbled on takeoff. I'm going to smash the f&ck out of it once it's off the bike for good. I don't know if the S&S is a glorified anything, but it works fantastic on old Harleys. Simple and reliable. Never had one bit of trouble with an S&S carb.
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3,639 Posts
LR, you could make a lovely desk clock out of it.
Maybe a bud vase.
Is there a reason these forums don't have pages? Right now I'm viewing your post, which is #15. Supposedly there are 17 posts in this thread, not including this'n.
Signed, A ThunderBeach '07 Survivor.
Maybe a bud vase.
Is there a reason these forums don't have pages? Right now I'm viewing your post, which is #15. Supposedly there are 17 posts in this thread, not including this'n.
Signed, A ThunderBeach '07 Survivor.
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