GS450T help needed (Dead cylinder)

[Anonymous]

I am working on bringing back to life a 1981 GS450T. I finally got an ignition box today and tried starting her up. It did start but appears to be only running on the right cylinder. After running it, the left plug is wet.

Both cylinders have decent compression, the right is about 110psi and the left is 120psi.

I do have spark on both plugs.

Is my best bet to find a different coil? If so, does anyone have a good one they would like to sell? Any particular aftermarket coils that would work good?

Thanks for your time and patience.

[snark]

Try switch the coil from the good side to the dead side. You may find that you have a bad ignitor.

[ccratin]

If not a firing issue, you likely have a carb overflowing either through or around the float valve due to trash, a bad needle and/or seat, a bad float, or bad o-rings. Make sure you start with a fresh plug, as it would likely fire for a while until it fouls.

[Anonymous]

I haven't swapped coils yet because the connector plugs won't match up. I would have to redo the connectors to try that. I did do a little more testing. If I spray starting fluid (ether) into the carb that doesn't want to run, the rpm's pick up quite nicely. Would this most likely be a carb issue, or could it still be a weak spark (since ether will ignite easier)?

[Anonymous]

I swapped the coils a little bit ago and the problem did not follow the coil. So, is it most likely the ignitor or the carb?

[IanFrancisco]

MIght be a harness issue. Clean clean clean! Should have no voltage loss at the orange/white supply wires to the coils, ie, fully charged battery = 13VDC or so, should also see the same at the coils.

[snakebite]

compare the spark on the bad side to the good.take the plugs out and plug them into the wires then lay them on the head with the metal part in contact.
a good spark is blue with a snap to it.
if the plug is wet tha carb may be flooding.and some engines will even diesel on ether so thats not a good test and can even cause engine damage.note the nasty pinging it causes.

[Anonymous]

I just wanted to update everyone. It ended up being the carb. This is a project bike I had picked up recently. I had cleaned and dipped the carbs, but I must have missed something on the left carb. I redipped the left carb and blew the hell out of it with my air compressor. Everything seems to be running satisfactory now.

Thanks for the help.