topgun3690
Lieutenant Junior Grade
- Joined
- May 7, 2019
- Messages
- 1,034
Take nothing for granted when acquiring a new to you engine. He may be honest and "done" the carb (there are 3) but no telling if he did a good job or knew what he was doing.
Take nothing for granted when acquiring a new to you engine. He may be honest and "done" the carb (there are 3) but no telling if he did a good job or knew what he was doing.
Need to specify this location. Normally, for troubleshooting purposes the fram fuel filter (see thru) should be after the fuel pump and before the carbs. Also, there is a built in fuel filter on top of the fuel pump and can be easily removed with a flat tip screw driver. This is nothing but a very fine mesh of stainless steel mat. Ensure this is clean also.
Here's the filter. I'll check the mesh filter under the flat head.
photos.app.goo.gl
photos.app.goo.gl
With nr 3 wire plug disconnected and engine shutting down, tells me there is a misfire and obviously it is not on nr. 3. The reason it shuts down when you took off wire plug 3 because that particular cylinder is actually working. So you can still do the same with nr 1 and 2 but have to do it quickly while listening for change in rpm. If there's no change in engine rpm or tone when you pull a plug wire that is an indication that cylinder is not firing. Either due to fuel-air mixture problem, lack of compression or lack of spark.The mesh filter looked ok. I do see a little speck of something floating around inside of the clear filter when I pump the ball pump to prime it. I'll replace that filter.
I ordered some spark plug testers so I can verify if I have spark on all 3. I jumped the gun and didn't research this first and removed the boot 1 at a time to see if I could see spark when I put the boot close to the plug.. I thought that I had seen that on a video, but now I have to bow my head in shame and own up to it... Couldn't see anything on any of them.. I was using an insulated spark plug remover with a glove on, but my finger grazed the metal on number 2 and I felt a little electrical jolt slightly. When I removed the 3rd one, the engine died. (I was doing them 1 at a time).. engine wouldn't restart.. I let it sit for about 15 minutes and it started, with a single "pop" backfire when it did. Shut it off and started it again with no pop. Now, I see I shouldn't have done that because the plugs need to be grounded and I could've fried the CDI units, which I see there are 2 of them (one for 1 and 2 and one for 3)... I think they're probably ok since it started up after the fact (I hope)..
The in line spark testers should be here tomorrow, so we'll see if I'm getting spark on all 3.. (if not, that would be likely why the engine is running slow at about 8mph as was mentioned to me in an earlier post).
I see a random connector plug just sitting there behind the coils, but it looks like all 3 coils are connected, so maybe that second CDI that powers the number 3 coil has an extra open 4th connector?
New item by Marcus Gutierrez
I didn't notice any change when I pulled 1 or 2 (other than the tiny little electrical jolts I felt when I pulled 2). I guess that means there's a SOME electrical going to 2.. compression was good on all 3. Assuming they pass the spark test tomorrow, it's looking like something with air/fuel.
No it's not possible for a 3 cylinder motor to run on just one cylinder, even at no load. If the motor is firing on all cylinders, pulling one plug wire will definitely give you a change in rpm corresponding with change in engine noise or tone. Again, you will need to familiarize yourself on how it sounds or even better with a tach to see the change in rpm. Make sure you pull the plug wire far enough that it doesn't allow arc jump to the spark plug itself. A good two or three inches from the top of the spark plug at least.
Basically, you can only replace the plug wire boot but not the entire plug wire as it is permanently connected to the coil packs. When replacing the boot, make sure you do not cut off the wire too short. Instead, open the old boot with a sharp knife, de-crimp the existing connector terminal and hopefully have enough wire length left to crimp a new terminal and boot. Hopefully, this will fix the low spark. Or else, you might have to buy new coils or maybe a CD module.
photos.app.goo.gl
The initial setting of 1 1/4 turn out is more like a good engineering practice when recommending settings on the fuel air mixture. Technically, the initial setting (take note initial setting is not the same as recommended setting) per manufacturer's document is 1 turn out from lightly seated. However, on the same document it also tells you not to set it below 1 turn out from lightly seated. As a personal precautionary step, I always recommend 1 1/4 turn out (as initial setting) instead of 1 turn out to give some leeways of adjusting it to either CW or CCW to 1 - 1 1/2 turn out. Others had better idling as 1 turn out but that is the minimum setting. While other had it better at 1 1/8 turn out and a few as high as 1 3/4 out.
Thank you for all the info and help so far.. where are the adjustment screws though? Just so I know.
Thanks for that picture.. I still had trouble and was looking all over with the camera.. only to find it was staring me right in my face LOL.. embarrassed.. it is right smack in the top center of each carb, but was recessed like you said.. I put them all at 1.25 turns back from lightly seated.. once I get all 3 coils firing, I'll take it to the lake and fine tune these as well as the idle screw.. (800rpm idle and 700 in gear).. I took it to the lake 2 days ago just for a hour so the dogs could test their new life vests with my wife... And I noticed the engine ran really good.. but when it was warmed, I had trouble starting it.. I had to put it in neutral high for it to start.. seems like maybe the idle screw is a tad too low probably? (I forgot to bring my tach that day).