Two issues and a cry for help.

[Guest]

Issue #1:

My engine is leaking oil from two or three spots. So I went out and purchased a new gasket kit from Vesrah. Supposedly complete and specifically for my GS550. Any one install a gasket kit before? How long did it take? Any precautions I might need? Since I have the kit should I tear it down completely and do them all or just the ones leaking? Should i take my newly purchased kit to a dealer or shop and have them install it. I know this is a massive undertaking and I'm willing to do the work myself if I can garnish a little help and guidance. Then again I'm also more than ready to just pay someone else to do it.

Issue #2:

I have an idle and throttle problem that I think is related. The idle is way high at 3K RPM... Greg and I have set and reset the idle screw on my bike and it will work for a time but after a few miles while waiting at a stop light the idle will creep from 1100RPM to 3K RPM and lope between 3K and 3300... At the same time if the engine is below 3K RPM and I open the throttle it chugs and gurgle a bit before it catches and goes. I've checked the battery and I checked the voltage going into the coils. I checked for spark on all 4 cylinders and that seems to be OK. I've also taken off and cleaned and re-oiled the K&Ns. I'm guessing it's a "no gas" issue so I'm looking at the carbs. I also have the wonderful "popping" when I let off the throttle.

The previous owner did not do any work on the bike what so ever. Yet, having said that he took the bike in for work having a shop install a K&N pod filter set and a Vance & Hines 4 into 1 exhaust set. I've taken the carbs off before and done a rough shod cleaning. That didn't seem to fix anything.

This points that I might have a carb or jetting issue. Unlike the task of the gasket kit I don't have an issue pulling the carbs apart.. How do I know what jets are installed? Is there a guideline on what new ones I should get if any? I have a Hayne's and a Clymer's manual so I'm confident I can get the information I need on what was original but where do I need to go from there?

The Cry for Help:

I have no problems doing this work myself. Problem is I don't have too much confidence in my abilities and doing this "by myself" is a rather daunting task. A consummate wrench turner I get flustered when things aren't exactly the way they are listed or shown in the books. Anyone in the Chicagoland area that's free for a weekend or a night or two and willing to help, I'll supply pizza/brats/whatever and beer/soda in exchange for on site guidance and help...


All suggestions and comments greatly appreciated. Especially other avenues of trouble shooting that I can do easily and haven't done yet.

[Anonymous]

A wandering idle typically indicates an intake leak. Here:

http://www.cycleorings.com/intake.html

This will cause numerous other symptoms. I'd also suggest a thorough carb cleanup as shown in the Carb Cleanup series, using the gallon can of Berryman's solvent. $13 last I checked. Tedious work, but unless the carbs are clean internally, troubleshooting / synchronization attempts are a waste of time.

[skreemer]

excellent, that looks like something I can check when I get home. I wonder if they'll have those in the gasket kit I bought.

[first timer]

my garage is open if you need a hand, i love working on carbs (i'm sick)

i would like to guess but maybe your intake boots are cracked, once the engine is warmed up spray some silicone lub on and around the boots, ( this will temporaly seal any cracks) while the bike is running this will cause the rpm's to change usally run higher if the boots leak.

it probly wouldn't hurt to give these carbs a good cleaning too,

about the gaskets what is leaking maybe you just need to retorque some bolts.

-ryan

[skreemer]

I'll hit the local shop tomorrow and see if I can pick up some O-rings for the intake seal. Wether the ones I have are good or not won't make a diffrence if they are cheap enough I'll pick up a set just to have.

Anyone else? Suggestion? Helpful hints?

[Anonymous]

My local shops didn't even carry an air filter, much less anything more special like intake o-rings. (I ordered my o-rings from Bikebandit).

In fact I just pulled the intake boots off of mine a couple of hours ago. The difficult part (aside from getting the carbs out) is getting the stupid philips head screws loose that hold the boots to the cylinder. My little hand impact driver got all but one, it's hard to get a good shot at them. One head got completely buggered up, but I slowly ground the head off with my Dremel. I advise replacing these with stainless socket head cap screws. (Fortunately I was able to locate some screws this afternoon free of charge)

The old rings were squished, dried, brittle, and hard. Their sealing capabilites were gone, zero, zilch, nada.

While you have the carbs off I would think about replacing the float needle valve, in fact I'm going to replace the floats as well as the float needle valves. And of course the float height must be set.

As you mentioned, perhaps the jetting is off as well.

A good manual is essential, I think mine is a Clymers.

[skreemer]

Any particular reason why Issue #2 clears itself up if it's really cold out? For the last few mornings it's been dipping into the low 50's here and on the commute starting at about 6:45am. The bike starts up just fine and after letting her warm up for a good 5 - 10 minutes the idle settles in at 1K - 1300RPM. The commute is about 26 miles and by the time I hit the 18 - 20 mile mark the sun's heating everything up nice and the ambient temp comes up to the mid-60's low 70's... At this point the engine is nice and warm too. This is when the wandering idle happens, or more often it goes straight to 3K RPM and won't settle down. If I throw it in neutral and rev the engine out to 8K or 9K sometimes when it comes back down it'll settle about 2K to 2500RPM for a few minute before creeping back up to 3K...

more than anything else it's annoying and sucking gas mileage outta me...

[redliner1973]

Probablt because the choke is 'covering it up' when cold, and while your riding you won't notice it too much...then you stop, bingo, the high idle returns...

[Planecrazy]

Also, the rubber fittings shrink in cold weather ... If you have an air leak from a rubber boot, for example, the fuel air mixture will be fine until the rubber heats up, expands, and allows too much air to get in causing your wandering idle. After everything cools back down and the boot shrinks again, back to normal...

Steve 8)