Bit of smoke out left tail pipe on startup

[donimo]

How many miles are on the bike? When you say cold is it say below 50F?
What is the compression numbers? Is there oil blowby in the airbox?

30,000km, so.... 17ish I think?

about 10C, so again I think that is 50F

I have no way to test compression ATM, this is supposed to be my "cheap" hobby cause cars got to pricey for the wife (shhh I know its no better, but she doesnt)

I will check the airbox but I just oiled the filter so it may be hard to tell.


It DID NOT SMOKE after I got the bike and it was warmed up, when taken out in the morning the next day it DID SMOKE out the left pipe.

NOW it SMOKES ALL THE TIME out BOTH pipes.

 

[donimo]

you are positive it is not water vapor on a cold engine ??
does it still smoke after fully hot??

what do the plugs look like. (bad plug cap/ bad plug will produce this too)

use ONLY NGK!!

you need to do

1. a leak down test at TDC compression all 4 cyl verify where pressure is escaping
2. a dry compression test all 4 cyl
3. a wet compression test all 4 cyl

the results along with plug color will tell if it simple or expensive

post results and depending--??-- there is another tier of diagnosis tests

pretty certain, its greyish colour and it is a LOOOOT of smoke right away and when you rev it and it sticks around for a long time

 

[donimo]

Do you park it on the sidestand?? or centre stand?? Is the bike consuming oil?? how is fuel milage?? Any ridability issues?? Done and electrical cleanup???

Dink

BTW I use anything EXCEPT NGK plugs.

I have only ridden it around the block

center stand though, can answer that one

phew, no answers then LOTS of answers

 

[Steve]

I will check the airbox but I just oiled the filter so it may be hard to tell.

what kind of filter?

how did you oil it?

how much did you oil it?

yeah, we ask a lot of questions, but that's because we are not there in person.

.

 

[donimo]

what kind of filter?

how did you oil it?

how much did you oil it?

yeah, we ask a lot of questions, but that's because we are not there in person.

.

Oh, I prefer too many to not enough any day.

It is a peice of furniture foam the PO put in, I am not a fan, but until I come up with something better...

I cleaned it with some gasoline and let it dry for a while then poured some mobil 1 full synthetic on there (makes it go faster) and squeezed it till the excess was gone and it seemed evenly on there, then stuffed it back in?

I used maybe a couple shot glasses full, but squeezed some out?

 

[trippivot]

I would not worry . not yet . up to a quart -per 1000 miles is "considered " normal oil consumption.

wait until you have verified 100% fresh oil and gas running through the engine and say 100 miles riding distance on it .. there may be a possibility of carbon becoming un- stuck or something like that and it works it self out. ( gas in the oil comes out after 300 degrees F but it takes a long time on the center stand)

take some oil in a back pack and just stop and look at the level if it worries you.

but a few good HOT-COLD cycles and some miles under operating load will be the litmus test- if you need to do some honing and rings.

think of it like mosquito protection . lol

 

[donimo]

Well the issue is more that it didnt smoke hot, and oly out one pipe cold, then I rebuilt the carbs, and now it smokes a lot worse all the time?

 

[trippivot]

fuel control issue do not worry, unless you overheated the cylinders while tunning.

be sure to have a fan on the engine when tunning carbs and sitting in a stationary position.


stop when the head/ cylinders gets to 300 degrees F let it cool down with a fan on it

 

[TheCafeKid]

Take the plugs out. Look at them. If they are BLACK AND FLUFFY/SOOTY, you're simply too rich, which is the cause of your smoke. If they are SHINEY BLACK and OILY, you have a problem with oil bypass/consumption. Also, oil and fuel have pretty different "stinks" when they are burning. Oil smells like that crappy car down the street that looks like its on fire. Gas smells like unburnt raw gasoline. It will burn your eyes actually. Not that i suggest sticking your face in the vapours, but you get my drift. BTW, motor oil isnt what one generally uses to oil your filter, and you have from the sound of it, WAY to much on your filter. LIGHTLY oiled. As in, a light coating. Too much oil in your filter will choke off air flow, causing the bike to run rich. Causing smoke, etc etc ad nauseum. I suggest pulling it out, and washing it again, then lightly oiling it. Also, when you "rebuilt" your carbs, HOW did you do it? Did you set float hight as per the manual? What are your adjustment screws set at??

 

[donimo]

I oiled the filter as per the instructions in my Haynes manual, which said motor oil was fine, what should I use?

I wanted to make a better one anyways I have some better foam the stuff in there has really tiny pores, looks like it would be comfy to sit on though?

I rebuilt the cabs as per this site and my haynes (bit of a combo), replaced all the o-rings with suzuki sourced new ones and new float gaskets. I soaked everything in cleaner for about a week, except the carb bodies which only got a milder partial dip and a very thourough spray and compresser workover (I could not get them apart, trust me I tried every trick in the book besides a sledge)

I did not set the float height (perhaps mistakenly) because, well I dunno why really.

adjustment screws are 1.5 turns out, as per manual, but when I started it up and played with them they did not seem to do anything?

I will check the plugs hopefully today (have to reinstall Vista on this PC today as well cause a MS update screwed it up good, that can take a while, THANKS FOR THE HELP MS SUPPORT!!!)

 

[Houdini]

Try taking the "oil soaked matress foam" out of the air cleaner and running without it...that may isolate your "smokin" problem...

 

[TheCafeKid]

Well, not to sound like a jerk or what have you, but i would suggest picking up the CORRECT filter for your bike, be it Uni, K&N or Suzuki OEM. Mattress foam doesnt sound all that wonderfull to me, and it degrades quickly exposed to elements. Dont want THAT sucked into your carbs.

Float levels are essential. The floats are what determine when the carbs quit taking gas from the tank, or the volume of flow from the tank, etc to put it simply. They are designed to shut off a needle valve inside the carbs, sorta like the float in your toilet. Im sure you know what happens when the toilet float is set too high, the toilet runs constantly, using a crap ton of water and keeping you awake at night with its incessant "HISSS" At any rate, if the floats in your carbs are incorrectly set, the carbs will constantly flow gas just the same, causing an over abundance of fuel in the mix, making you rich. All that gas wont burn on combustion, so it comes out your tailpipe as smoke. There are other not so great issues associated with this problem as well, much more devious than an embarrassing smoke trail. The BS (CV type) carbs on your bike do not have an overflow, unlike the earlier VM type mechanical carbs. So all that gas that ISNT getting burned or exhausted is going somewhere. Its going into your crank case, washing down and thinning the oil in your cylinders and doing eventual detremental damage to your motor. My suggestion, before you proceed any further in chasing down your smoking issue, is to pull the carbs and set the floats as per the manual.

 

[donimo]

I was planning on getting the right filter, but the closest suzuki dealer is over 2 hours away, and I have a 4 month old and house renos, I figured because it ran ok with it before... I will pull it and replace it with an OEM on before I tune again, may be a while though

As for the floats, it had no overflow issues before the rebuild, oil smells fine, nice and clean as it was just changed before I bought it, no gas smell at all. I didn't have a way to measure the float height accuratly, they are both set the same I know, but as to what they are set at?

but I don wanna pull the carbs again lol

 

[donimo]

do you have to pull the carbs to check the floats?


just askin...

 

[Houdini]

You have to pull both float bowls, and the inner screws take a lot of praying or swearing depending on your faith to remove / install.

On "some" Mikuni carbs the pivot arm that holds the floats is nearly level when fuel starts to flow past the float needle valve. But if you can see the fuel flowing you can measure the float height; you have also figured out how to bypass the vacuum petcock on the tank.

Your latest "smokin" problem sounds a lot worse than float height measurement; hence the suggestion to do the easy things 1st: remove the "after market" air cleaner, see how the bike runs, and report back for further orders...

 

[TheCafeKid]

You have to pull both float bowls, and the inner screws take a lot of praying or swearing depending on your faith to remove / install.

On "some" Mikuni carbs the pivot arm that holds the floats is nearly level when fuel starts to flow past the float needle valve. But if you can see the fuel flowing you can measure the float height; you have also figured out how to bypass the vacuum petcock on the tank.

Your latest "smokin" problem sounds a lot worse than float height measurement; hence the suggestion to do the easy things 1st: remove the "after market" air cleaner, see how the bike runs, and report back for further orders...

My point is, no matter WHAT the problem may be attributed to, float hight is an essential part of a carb cleaning and rebuild. You are playing with fire by not assuring they are set correctly. Just my .02

 

[donimo]

My point is, no matter WHAT the problem may be attributed to, float hight is an essential part of a carb cleaning and rebuild. You are playing with fire by not assuring they are set correctly. Just my .02

I kinda just followed the carb refresh guide on this site, so they are clean, but it didn't really talk about float heights.

I realize this may have been a mistake, but i am new at this. All my experience is with car carbs (holley etc), and you can largely ignore the floats till later cause they have a nice window and are adjusted with a screw...

 

[TheCafeKid]

I kinda just followed the carb refresh guide on this site, so they are clean, but it didn't really talk about float heights.

I realize this may have been a mistake, but i am new at this. All my experience is with car carbs (holley etc), and you can largely ignore the floats till later cause they have a nice window and are adjusted with a screw...

Understandable, please dont thinking I am bashing you by any means. Before I started loggin on here, I knew NOTHING of carbs other than very basic understanding of how they worked. However, a few carb rebuilds, top end rebuilds, and barn bike, basket case resurections later, i have a DECENT idea of how to SCREW UP when restoring/resurrecting a bike. I am by NO MEANS an expert, merely at best a semi adequate hack The one thing that is across the board true, as i have found thru many frustrating days and nights, is that cutting corners, or NOT DOING something that is necessary and essential on one of these machines is a pure and futile waste of time and effort. As im sure by now you have realized, bike carbs, and motors in general, are a bit more finicky than cars. There is alot less room for error, especially on an air/oil cooled motor. Running lean wont just stagger performance, it can lead to complete DESTRUCTION of the internals of the top end. Pull the pin, and BOOOM Running rich, well, while its a bit less disasterous in the present, can have long term effects that will end up in much the same way.

At any rate, i will conclude my rambling by saying that *I* have found the best way to track down a problem, is to assure that the BASICS and ESSENTIALS are taken care of. Otherwise, I end up chasing my tail and throwing money at the problem, hoping i get a silver bullet fix, and wasting alot of time, money, effort, and RIDING SEASON

Your mileage may vary.

TCK

 

[donimo]

I agree, and that is why I refreshed the carbs and bought new intake seals etc, to rule that out first, but it seems I missed something.

I realize now using the refresh guide was only supposed to be one source of info, I wish this had come up before I used up every ounce of strength and patience ramming the carbs back in the intakes in 5*C weather, unheated garages and thick cold rubber are no fun...

I honestly won't have enough time to tackle a job like that for a couple months at least, I got bike time, then its reno time, no more bike time till renos are done, which sucks because the finishing part of renos SUCKS, takes forever, never looks good enough (for me) and it very tedious.

 

[TheCafeKid]

I agree, and that is why I refreshed the carbs and bought new intake seals etc, to rule that out first, but it seems I missed something.

I realize now using the refresh guide was only supposed to be one source of info, I wish this had come up before I used up every ounce of strength and patience ramming the carbs back in the intakes in 5*C weather, unheated garages and thick cold rubber are no fun...

I honestly won't have enough time to tackle a job like that for a couple months at least, I got bike time, then its reno time, no more bike time till renos are done, which sucks because the finishing part of renos SUCKS, takes forever, never looks good enough (for me) and it very tedious.

Oh i know the feeling man. I ran my own small reno/remodel/roofing company for some years. Cost of materials constantly going up, lack of RELIABLE help and eventually my own lack of patience for slow paying customers, and my own horrible ability to save money for those LEAN months (you know, Jan and Feb, when you're eating cup a noodles for dinner every night...lol) forced me to hang it up.

Tip on the carb boots. A hair dryer is great for heating the rubber up and making it more plyable. It can be very very frustrating at times, but once you get her running just right, as long as you keep up on the regular maintainence, you generally wont have to mess with them for a number of years at a time. And nothing can compare to that sense of satisfaction of doing it yourself.