choke kills bike immediately, bike starts immediately cold with it off.

[Guest]

As the title says, the choke will almost immediately kill the engine if pulled, but a cold start is no problem with the choke off.

I've done the basics to the carbs and in the process I found that 4 little holes or ports on the intake side were plugged by a PO with jb weld. See picture. This is possibly unrelated.
Choke cable is not stuck and opens and closes like it should.

Perhaps I'm running with choke always on?

It's a 1980 gs850, almost entirely stock.

Quick edit: I ditched the pods idea and am running stock airbox after your guys solid advice.

[tom203]

Stock air box back on, and same "choke" problem ? But it otherwise starts and runs OK ? Was that jb weld on all 4 carbs in same spot? Pic not clear to me !

[Steve]

Please remove the JB Weld. Do it carefully, there is a hole of a specific size in there that you don't want to enlarge.

That port is the air feed to the needle mixture. With it plugged, the engine is going to pull raw fuel through the port, instead of the proper mixture.

THAT is why you can start without the "choke".

.

[gs850tracker]

Yes it was in all four carbs in the same spot.
I was only able to get one of the jb weld plugs out. I'm afraid that if I try any harder I will severely damage things. Aluminum is softer than jb making it nearly impossible to drill.
What are the consequences of leaving it in there aside from the no choke issue? What could possibly be the reason the P.O. put the plug in there in the first place?

Thanks for the replies.

[Steve]

What are the consequences of leaving it in there aside from the no choke issue?

Did you read my reply?

That port is the air feed to the needle mixture. With it plugged, the engine is going to pull raw fuel through the port, instead of the proper mixture.

The consequences of leaving it there could include a bunch of things that would be based on having the wrong fuel mixture sent to the engine. Since it will be drawing a much richer mixture, you can immediately count on lower fuel mileage, followed by worn cylinders, due to the excess fuel washing the oil off the cylinder walls. Of course, that's if the spark plugs don't foul out before then, preventing the engine from running long enough to cause permanent damage.

Why would a PO do that? Because he was a PO.

.

[tom203]

PO's can very creative at solving problems- maybe fuel was observed leaking out there ( bad petcock ?) and voila! I don't see how this thing will run well with these plugs, but who knows. Have you tried heat on plug - it's likely that the carb body will expand quicker than jb stuff .

[gs850tracker]

I read all of your replies! Several times actually! your second response answered my question perfectly. I'll try heat on the jb plugs to remove them. I'll get to work on this tonight.

Thanks guys!

[BigD_83]

Might have a look at this thread in another forum:

http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/threads/32087-Disolving-JB-weld/page2

[gs850tracker]

@bigd_83 interesting stuff in there. Gonna try heating it with the blow torch then if all else fails I'll try to find some of that attack stuff.

[Dave8338]

I would be careful with the torch. The JB has nearly the same melting point as the cast alloy. Not quite but close. When things get that hot, you're likely to take out the o-rings so I would strip the carbs completely down. Once you do get it hot, use an awl and center punch the JB. This will at least get you a fighting chance.

Good luck.

[gs850tracker]

Pulled the carbs off and just as the seal broke off the engine gas started pouring out everywhere! I'm used to the typical amount coming out of the overflows but this was excessive.
Cylinder 4 was completely full of gas, I mean right to the top. Ironically this was the only cylinder I was able to get the jb weld plug out of.
I know the petcock is bad, I have one on order, but I didn't realize how bad.
It's it possible that the gas was feeding through the suspect port and dumping right onto the cylinder?
Maybe that's why the PO plugged them.

[Dave8338]

No. What is likely going on is that your petcock has officially FAILED AND your needle and seat are not doing their job of stopping the additional fuel pressure as a result of the failed petcock. This in turn allows the bowls to overflow and one out of four of your intake valves is going to be at least partially open. Fuel flows up through the bowl on that cylinder, down he intake runner and into the open valve.

Good thing you didn't try to start it, it would have hydro locked if you hadn't got lucky.

[gs850tracker]

Yikes! And to think I was gonna take it for one last ride before I tore it apart.
Ahh well. Back to square one with the carbs.