Carb Problem?

[adamgagne]

So the starter on my '83 GS850 quit. So I thought it would be a good opportunity to clean the carbs. Soaked all the parts in Berryman carb soak, new O-rings and all. Set all air/fuel screws to 2 turns out.
Newly overhauled starter.
I go to start it up and it starts pretty good, but never allows me to let the choke off. I use my friends handy laser thermometer to see that the #4 cylinder isn't running, I pull the spark plug cap and it verifies that the cylinder isn't running.
The floats are all set properly, and the bowl is full. That spark plug is getting spark (although not super strong, kind of a bluish spark, but consistant)
The bike had some issues prior to the work i did on it. It would hesitate coming off the line, and then the RPM would surge, until the engine was really hot.But I'm pretty sure it was running on all 4.
Any ideas?

[Billy Ricks]

Is the carb getting fuel?

[adamgagne]

yes, I opened the drain on the bowl and it was full.

[Billy Ricks]

Have you done a compression check or run valve clearances? If you have spark and fuel you should have fire.

[adamgagne]

compression check is pretty good, above the service limits....havn't done valve clearances, but the bike only has 9K miles on it.

[Billy Ricks]

compression check is pretty good, above the service limits....havn't done valve clearances, but the bike only has 9K miles on it.

Carbs been synched?

[adamgagne]

No, I need to find a carb sync tool.

[Billy Ricks]

It really should fire once off idle even if the synch is off a little. You have a tough one here. Sorry I missed the part about them all getting fuel earlier. Try swapping plug wires around on 1 & 4 and see what happens.

[adamgagne]

then it would fire at the wrong time,wouldn't it?

[katoranger]

The coil actually fires both at the same time. The one the is not on the power stroke is a wasted spark.

Allen

[adamgagne]

#4 still dead

Ok, swapped plug wires on 1 & 4. The #4 cylinder is still dead.

[Billy Ricks]

Ok, swapped plug wires on 1 & 4. The #4 cylinder is still dead.

If it won't run without the choke then you still have dirty pilot circuits. While you have the tank and carbs off it would be a good time to run valve clearances. You may have some valves that are too tight.

[adamgagne]

Can you check valve clearances without the valve compressor tool?
It runs without the choke if i goose the throttle. Are the pilot circuits the little holes near the throttle valve? I soaked the whole thing, sprayed it down, and blew it out with compressed air, how could it still be dirty?

[Billy Ricks]

Can you check valve clearances without the valve compressor tool?
It runs without the choke if i goose the throttle. Are the pilot circuits the little holes near the throttle valve? I soaked the whole thing, sprayed it down, and blew it out with compressed air, how could it still be dirty?

Some of the smaller ports can become completely clogged. If that happens they may need a fine wire run through them. To check valve clearances you just measure the gap between the top of the valve stem and the cam or rocker arm depending on your arrangement. You adjust the 850 with shims whereas the 4 valve models have threaded adjusters and rocker arms. Here's a thread on it. http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...ht=valve+shims