still only firing on 3 cylinders!

[littlejohn2458]

here is the deal. took the carbs apart twice, cleaned them once, then took them to a ultra sonic cleaner the second time. there spotless. jets are correct in all, valves have been adjusted correctly, good spark good compression, fires when it wants but then it doesn't sometimes. runs great sometimes then sometimes it like its intermittent. synced the carbs on it also. went to Dennis Kirk just to get the tools to do it. everything seems good. im at my witts end and am about ready to take this thing to the junk yard. bike is really nice. just dont understand why it would be intermittent. the only think i can figure that i did wrong is when i was putting it back together, the slides got mixed up cause my brother decided to come and "help" not sure if there is a certain needle size on each one or not or if it even matters. please help me.

1982 GS1100GK

thanks a ton, John

[Octain]

Sounds like an electrical problem. I'd check the plugs, plug wires and caps. Also might wanna take a look at the coil wires.

[tkent02]

Swapping slides around won't matter.
Try swapping the coils left to right to see if the problem moves to the other set of cylinders?

Are the wires all good?

Spark plug caps?

Try new plugs?

Just because you see a spark does not mean it always sparks inside the engine.

[Octain]

Swapping slides around won't matter.
Try swapping the coils left to right to see if the problem moves to the other set of cylinders?

Are the wires all good?

Spark plug caps?

Try new plugs?

Just because you see a spark does not mean it always sparks inside the engine.

Copycat!

[littlejohn2458]

ok so i moved the plugs around and it ran worse. I take the plug off while its running and no change. how do i determine if its firing inside the engine? its like an intermittent issue?

[littlejohn2458]

another thing, when the engine gets warm, it seems to run fine also like its firing on all 4.

[Nicholaschase29]

did you only swap wires from 2&3 and from 1&4? check for air leaks in your intake boots. spray some carb cleaner or something around them and see if it runs differently. Get a laser temperature gauge and shoot the exhaust pipes to see which one isn't firing.

[littlejohn2458]

i know what one is not firing for sure. I will be trying the carb cleaner step now. ill report back with my findings

[tkent02]

Did you ensure that all the tiny fuel and air passages were clear by spraying some carb cleaner through all the passages and watching the spray pattern as it comes out the other side?
There are something like twelve passages in each carburetor, any of which can be plugged or partially plugged.

If it runs well hot it is not likely an ignition problem.

[littlejohn2458]

yah i just sprayed her down with carb cleaner. no change. I took off the valve cover again and am going to be double checking my clearances. maybe i did something wrong. as for the carbs i will be re checking those again if everything checks out fine with the valves. Carb cleaner went through all the passages just fine. maybe i over looked something? this has got me baffled. i have never ran into this problem before! i have worked on a lot of motors but to have an intermitant problem like this just baffles me

[Nicholaschase29]

what cylinder doesn't fire?

[littlejohn2458]

GOT IT FIXED! yay here was the deal. I put in new spark plugs when i first cleaned the carbs. Took out the plugs today to recheck the valve clearance. was good. put the plugs back in and then the problem moved to another cylinder. bad BRAND NEW plug! had me chasing this problem for days. got it fixed she purs like a kitten and boy o boy is it a nice running bike!

[Octain]

GOT IT FIXED! yay here was the deal. I put in new spark plugs when i first cleaned the carbs. Took out the plugs today to recheck the valve clearance. was good. put the plugs back in and then the problem moved to another cylinder. bad BRAND NEW plug! had me chasing this problem for days. got it fixed she purs like a kitten and boy o boy is it a nice running bike!

Like I always say, change the plugs!

[tlepac]

Ain't it funny how it is often the simplest thing!

[Octain]

Ain't it funny how it is often the simplest thing!

Its all as simple as one makes it.