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Message started by conlime on 09/01/09 at 20:53:00

Title: First Bike...Many Questions / Problems Help Please
Post by conlime on 09/01/09 at 20:53:00

Hello all! I'm a brand new owner of an 86 Suzuki savage (8660 mi) and I have a few questions and concerns. I've read most of the topics / posts but I wondered if someone could personally tell me what some solutions to my problems are...

- Took out spark plug and indicated dry fouling (tip was caked with soot) is this a carb issue?

- Won't idle in the on / res possition....will on pri - will this hurt the engine / damage carb?

- Oil pours out of the head while running...and when the engine gets hot...well you know it smokes like a SOB. Is there anything I can do for this without doing major surgery?

This is pretty vauge so if you need any more info I'd be glad to give it to you.

Thanks.

Title: Re: First Bike...Many Questions / Problems Help Pl
Post by verslagen1 on 09/01/09 at 21:11:10

"Took out spark plug and indicated dry fouling (tip was caked with soot) is this a carb issue?" Most likely the carb is adjusted rich. How long did you run it? enough to warm it up? If you had the choke out, may be why it's rich. Try a new plug.

"Won't idle in the on / res possition....will on pri - will this hurt the engine / damage carb?" No, indicates 2 possibilities. Either the vac line is rotted and needs replacement or the diaphram in the petcock is bad.

"Oil pours out of the head while running...and when the engine gets hot...well you know it smokes like a SOB. Is there anything I can do for this without doing major surgery?" No, most likely head plug leak, a real bad one. Need to take head cover off to replace.

Title: Re: First Bike...Many Questions / Problems Help Pl
Post by serenity3743 on 09/02/09 at 07:42:01

Oil pouring out of head, depending on exactly where, would be (in order of difficulty):
(1) one or both of the outer head bolts (pointing downward at the front and rear of the head) are loose and need tightening; (2) in the head cover/cam assembly, the bolts are not tight enough and/or sealant/gasket maker is needed between the cam assembly and the head; (3) the plug already mentioned is leaking, which still requires you to take off the cam assembly/head cover and seal the plug or replace it; (4) the four head bolts under the cam assembly are loose and need to be torqued down; (5) the head gasket is bad and needs to be replaced, which will require pulling the engine (or possibly just tilting it forward) to get to it.

Start with the easy ones and analyze from there.

Title: Re: First Bike...Many Questions / Problems Help Pl
Post by kenshi on 09/02/09 at 07:51:44

Verslagen1 said it all.

Smokes out the exhaust? If so, what color?
Could be bad rings/cylider scoring due to sudden lack of oil/rich condition removing oil from cylinder walls and rings.

Head plug leak can be deadly if anyone ran it that way for more than a minute or two..

Considering the spark plug condition, hopefully it's not getting any blowby.

Try fixing what Vers said first, then go from there.

Title: Re: First Bike...Many Questions / Problems Help Pl
Post by verslagen1 on 09/02/09 at 09:24:26

The head plug is not readily accessible w/o removing the head cover.

But I've been looking at it to find a temporary method to slowing the leak down.

Now besides the obvious tighten and seal bolts on top of the cover and retorque the 2 head bolts underneath the head (fore and aft) getting at that last leak requires some forethought.

Can't be accessed from below where it is leaking unless you got really wierd fingers. but can be pushed up by a rod with a 45° bend in it about 1" from the end.

Can't be accessed from above, valves in the way. But that's what I'm thinking of. Taking a small wedge shaped square of rubber. Slipping it in behind the valve spring and using various tools to shove in between the plug and the cover. Forcing it down tight.

Not a permanent but might get a gusher down to a weeper.

BTW, conlime what city are you in?

Title: Re: First Bike...Many Questions / Problems Help Pl
Post by conlime on 09/02/09 at 20:57:54

Thank you guys for responding. Like I said it's my first bike so I'm learning a lot. You know it seemed to be running quite well (aside from the oil) until I changed the spark plug. Now I'm not a complete moron and did a decent job on the spark plug. I looked at the vac line and it looks a-ok to me.

Here's the thing...when I took of the gas tank the tube that ran to the petcock to the carb fell off....and to my surprise no gas leaked out of it. Should it had? So I reattached it but on further inspection I found a tube really flimsy and flexable coming out of the carb (not the carb overflow) and it runs to the back of the bike but it's not attached to anything. Looked in the manual and it said that this is the vent??? Very confused because this line has gook at the end of it and it's not attached to anything?

Uhg, one more thing. There are two nossels on the petcock one that points at 6 o'clock and one that point at about 3 o'clock. The one that fell of (3 o'clock) I put back from the petcock to the carb...what the F is the other one? Is this where my mystery tube goes. Any help be appreciated.

I guess one point of good news is kenshi that there's no blue smoke coming out of the exhaust...it's just leaking it :)

verslagen1 I live in chicago...

Thanks guys

Title: Re: First Bike...Many Questions / Problems Help Pl
Post by verslagen1 on 09/02/09 at 21:10:49

big nozzle out of petcock is the gas line, connect to similar sized nozzle on the carb (near side to petcock)

small nozzle connects to far side of carb.

there are also 2 vent hoses from the top of the bowl on either side that go up above the carb into the frame, there's a hole.

hey, we're always looking for new buds to ride with. put your city in the profile so we can find you.

Title: Re: First Bike...Many Questions / Problems Help Pl
Post by conlime on 09/06/09 at 17:08:34

Well now I feel like a total idiot...found the problem. I didn't have the vac line attached to the petcock. It must have fallen off when I took off the tank to get to the spark plug. So that's why it wouldn't idle or run unless it was on pri. Thank you guys very much for helping me work out this problem!

Adam