84 GS550ES rebuild

[huahuahauzi]

I went outside and noticed that both sides spark plug wires werent the same.

One looked like this:

The other looked like this:

So i switched the right side to match the other one.

Also noticed that the two inside plugs wires cross. Not sure if they are supposed to be like that.

 

[huahuahauzi]

Also, I pulled out one of the plugs and it looked like this:

It's definitely a little wet.

 

[spyug]

The coil on the left fires 1 and 4 the one on the right fires 2 and 3 so it looks like they were right to begin with. The last photo shows coil on the right is attached to plugs 3 and 4 which is not correct.

Do you have a manual to refer to? There is one on Cliff's site if you don't. It makes it a lot easier to have something to refer to.

Good luck with the project.

Spyug

 

[huahuahauzi]

Alright, got the wires in the right place now.

Funny story, I put the spark plug back in, put the wire on, and then just for fun decided to push the start button. It sprang right up and started, and continued to run, without a gas tank on.

So i put the gas tank and its been running ever since. But now I am running into an issue where if it is just idling it will eventually die and wont start again. So I wait about 5 minutes and it starts up again. Which leads me to believe it may be flooding.

How would I fix this?

 

[Smokinapankake]

I'd be sure to check your fuel flow. Disconnect the fuel line from the carbs but not from the petcock, put the end of the fuel line into a clean gas receptacle, and set your petcock to prime. If fuel flows, slows and then stops, you've got a vent problem. Open the filler cap and fuel should flow again.

My GPz did this because I plugged the vent when I coated the inside of the tank with Kreem. Took me several months to sort it out, but that's cuz I wasn't on GSR at the time.

 

[huahuahauzi]

Heres a couple pics of the bike atm. Solved the idleing issue, but i still starts hard sometimes. Also finally removed the ugly red foam grips and changed them out with black rubber ones.

 

[huahuahauzi]

Ive been riding the bike a lot lately and I'm loving it. Im still having the hard starting problem often, but ive figured out that i can still push start it and it will usually start right up. Any thoughts?

 

[spyug]

Two thoughts 1) Check and adjust the valve clearances 2) do the coil relay modification. Classic causes of hard starting are tight valves and voltage drop at the coils. The battery has to both turn over the engine and provide spark. If the battery is old or weak it can't do both easily. It takes a fair bit of current to turn the starter and that leaves little for the coils. doing the coil relay mod puts full voltage to the coils. It makes a big difference.

Good luck with it.

cheers,
Spyug

 

[huahuahauzi]

I think the bike is now eating oil. Here's the story.

I live about 45 minutes away from Seattle. One day, my wife and I hop on the bike and take a trip to Seattle. This was the first real expressway riding I've done on this bike. No problems along the way. We get there and hang out for a little while and then head home. No problems starting the bike at this point.

ABout half way home I notice that I'm low on as, so I get off at the next exit and pull in for some gas. Get it filled up, and I try to start it up, but it's having a hard time cranking. Almost sounding like a drained battery. So I decided that was most likely the issue. After a while I finally get it push started and drive it the rest of the way home and put it on a trickle charger.

The next day we wanted to drive the bike to Snoqualmi (about an hour drive) but when I go to start the bike, it is still having a hard time cranking, like the battery is dieing. So I hook it up to my truck to see if I can jump it, but that doesnt help at all. I had an extra quart of oil in my shed so I grab that an put it in. When I went to start it, and did the same thing for a couple seconds and then sprung into life with no issue.

I then drove it to the nearest auto store and got two more quarts and immediately put it in. It had been about a month since I had put oil in it (when I did an oil change) so I figured it must be slowly burning. So we decide to still take the drive. Get to Snoqualmi, and have no problem starting it up when we left. Drove from there to Seattle and when I got to Seattle, I once again could not get it started. Plenty of gas.

Eventually I get it started and drive home. I also got the battery checked out and it is fine.

The end.

 

[JEEPRUSTY]

Sally forth even unto the kingdom of the stator papers.
A dying battery and your oil are likely not related.

Engines do use oil especially at sustained high RPMs. Do you have the correct viscosity oil for the term range you are driving in?

I tried sneaking by with a 10w x oil in the past and found it gotten used up faster than 20-40.

3 qts? is mighty low indeed. Did you notice the oil pressure light come on? Does the light work?

Oh and if you have issues with a slow leak in a petcock or the needle valve o-rings you may be thining the oil. This would make it burn off.
Happens a lot in old cars that usually have short trips. On a high speed hot run the volatile diluted oil burns off.

 

[huahuahauzi]

I am currently using 10w30. Thats the type it had marked on the case. The oil light does work and is currently on.

 

[JEEPRUSTY]

I am currently using 10w30. Thats the type it had marked on the case. The oil light does work and is currently on.

On when running? say it ain't so.

And define on the case? on the engine case? Or the filler cap?
mine is on the filler cap 20-40.

 

[huahuahauzi]

That number was on the filler cap. It's currently not running because I haven't put new oil in it yet, so I'm not sure if the light stays on while running.

 

[JEEPRUSTY]

That number was on the filler cap. It's currently not running because I haven't put new oil in it yet, so I'm not sure if the light stays on while running.

Well I was mistook. Checked mine it is 10-40 not 20.

Does you oil smell like gas at all?

 

[huahuahauzi]

Not that I can tell. Maybe i need a thicker oil.

 

[JEEPRUSTY]

Not that I can tell. Maybe i need a thicker oil.

I had an oil consumption issue last summer and it was very similar to yours. I had slow leaking needle valve o-rings.

I swapped em out and the prob went away. That is until last night when they started leaking badly enough to flood the engine at speed.

1.8 miles pushing a bike is nasty.

I used, AHEM! used o-rings as a shoddy temp fix. You should hit Robert barr up for a set for you bike. My petcock was also marginal. I buggerd it up so that it never full shut off fuel flow. The only line of defense past this is the needle valve o-rings. A small leak int he petcock diaphraghm can also cause irksome dilution of oil.

Basically any bike that does not start with a short burst of the starter, choke on, no throttle is not working right.

So when I get paid new o-rings then a new petcock next pay cycle.

If you have not cleaned and done the servicng of the carbs you really need to.

There is a more linear explanation of all this on the basscliff site.
I suggest you review that.

 

[huahuahauzi]

Got the bike running again. YAY!!!

Went and got 2 quarts of oil and put it in the bike. 10 w 40. Also put a gallon of gas in it. After sitting on the starter for a little bit it finally sprang to life. Listened to the engine for a bit and didn't hear any problems. But when I let off the starter and kinda whines down.

 

[JEEPRUSTY]

Also, I pulled out one of the plugs and it looked like this:

It's definitely a little wet.

Call me delusional but that gap looks too large. Did you check them.

.024-.028 inches

 

[huahuahauzi]

Yes I did, couldnt hurt to check them again though. I'll do it tomorrow morning and post my findings.

 

[huahuahauzi]

All has been going well up until recently.

I was driving around about 35 mph in 5th, and when i went to downshift, the gear lever would not move down at all. So I tried upshifting, which worked perfectly, except now i was stuck in 6th. After some hard kicking, it finally shifted down and continued to work fine from there.

Today the same thing happened. Except I have yet to get it to shift back down and had to drive the whole way back home in 5th.

Suggestions?