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Did the Doo. Bike idles, dies with throttle

6K views 19 replies 8 participants last post by  JTCrow 
#1 ·
So I just did the doohickey and buttoned everything back up. The bike started up fine and sounded great, idled fine, but as soon as I put on any throttle, it would die.

I'm pretty confident that this is strictly a carb issue but just wanted to make sure this is not a symptom of me messing something up doing the doo.

The bike has been sitting for about a month (its winter here), the fuel tank has a minimal amount of fuel in it with seafoam mixed in, and the float bowl was drained. So even though it would be kind of perplexing if a jet got clogged up, I'm hoping that is what happened, and not me messing up something in the engine when doing the doo.

Again, could bungling the doo cause a "die on throttle" symptom?

Any help is appreciated!
 
#3 ·
Blocked needle or whatever the carb uses to accelerate from the sound of it (I still don't understand these carbys!).
Try flicking the throttle back and forth really quickly as you try to build up revs. This might let the bike rev up but it will be ragged until it gets some revs up. It will probably stall again when you let it get back to idle and try again though.

The "old get it revving then block the air inlet" trick might work to clear it as it has only just started doing this. I'm out of time so someone else can explain that one.

Hope that helps.
 
#4 ·
Having the bike layed up for a month can easily allow fuel (especially fuel with ethanol in it) to set deposits in the idle circuit. Aside from the ~.015" drilling in the pilot jet, there are some very small passages that are just at the edge of the throttle plate. Everything in the idle circuit needs to be clear and able to pass fluid.

The passageways and pilot jet should be able to pass carb cleaner that is sprayed through the idle jet.
 
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#8 ·
@JTCrow,

As a possible quick-fix, you might try rotating the carburetor (pull the choke fitting out of the plastic housing so you don't break the housing when you rotate the carb; it's in the 22cent video, IIRC), removing the bowl, removing the idle screw, and shooting carb cleaner for a good blast into the bottom fo the idle screw port. Make sure, of course, that you get the washer and packing out of the bottom of the port.

Put the screw back in and adjust it as it was when you took it out, then move over to the idle jet and shoot a good blast through the idle jet. Let it all sit for a few minutes, then blast it again.

Put it all back together and see if it got better.
 
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#16 ·
Thanks Everybody!

This interests me big time because I do take the KLR out on long trips and I dread having a carb issue 1k miles from home. It hasn't happened yet, but it is in the back of my mind.

If my carb were to act up on a long trip far from home, what is the best way to deal with that? I understand that the carb can be rotated for easier access, but I have the "STEAD" choke on the carb, so it's actually just as easy for me to take the carb off as it would be to rotate the thing. And then I could actually see what I was doing. It only takes a minute to get the carb out.

I guess my question is, if I start having carb issues, can I take the carb out, float bowl off, take the mixture screw and jets out, detail clean them, and then spray into where they were without damaging the slide diaphragm and coasting enricher valve diaphragm? Or are you better off taking the slide diaphragm and the enricher diaphragm out before spraying carb cleaner into the orifices? The last thing I want to do on the road is destroy a diaphragm I can't easyily replace trying to clean a clogged jet.

I hope my rambling make sense. Could you clear this up for me and advise me on what would be the best process? Thank you sirs!
 
#9 ·
Thought idle was o.k. (first post).

Not related to the doohickey upgrade, but . . . diaphragm air leak, as in punctured or improperly sealed diaphragm will produce the symptoms mentioned (idles, but dies when throttle opens). Putting the "choke" ON may reduce the tendency to die with throttle opening if the diaphragm is punctured/improperly sealed (for diagnosis only; by no means a fix).
 
#11 ·
Thanks guys! The carb was going to come out anyways but now it'll get a full cleaning. Ethanol is nasty stuff. I thought I was doing pretty good due diligence but I guess from now on winterizing will include completely emptying the tank on top of emptying the carb. No non-ethanol fuel around here, unfortunately.
 
#12 ·
Oh No! Winterizing even with the crap fuel...Put a good dollop of your favorite fuel stabilizer, I use Seafoam, then fill the tank. Run it for a bit, shut off the fuel tap. Then run it until it dies. Leaving the tank empty may cause it to rust. Cleaning rust out of the system sucks.
 
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#14 · (Edited)
Thanks guys.

I have the carb out and soaking in pine sol. Even though it looked pretty good, (compared to when I bought the bike and it had been sitting for years) it's a long winter, I'm not in a hurry, so I gave it a dunk and will blow it out and detail it tomorrow.

Very small signs of varnishing at the absolute bottom of the float bowl and in the gas tank under the cap by the little vent there. I disassembled the cap and detail cleaned that area maybe 6 months ago so seeing it varnishing there is worthy of note and something I'll keep an eye on. No debris in the carb that I could see but I know it doesn't take much to clog up the works in there.

I drained the small amount of gas with seafoam that was in the tank, put in sta-bil stabilizer additive for ethanol fuel, and filled it with fresh fuel. Hoping that does the trick and it will be good until spring. That's what i've done the last few years and it was fine. This year I guess I got lazy and thought the seafoam would be enough but apparently it wasn't.

I'll get it running tomorrow and update you guys on how it went. Thanks again for your help
 
#17 ·
IMO, the best procedure is always the full & complete removal for cleaning, but.

If the rubber air ducts & general area above & around the carb are covered with dried mud & general road grim and one couldn't wash that off in the middle of a desert area, I wouldn't want mud, grit & grim getting into the rubber spigots while removing & reinstalling the carb. So simply loosening the clamps enough to rotate, remove the bowl & jets is probably the better plan, in this scenario.

With the float bowl & jets removed from the bottom & the carb still 'in-frame' there are NO Passage ways from down there to allow aerosol carb cleaner to get UP To either of the diaphragms, imo.
 
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#18 · (Edited)
While Sta-bil is a good storage product, IMHO, Seafoam is better as it also is capable of cleaning carb passages.

"My habits protect me but may assassinate you." -Mark Twain
 
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