SuzukiSavage.com - I keep making things worse!

grapefruit423

YaBB Newbies

Offline

SuzukiSavage.com
Rocks!

Posts: 7
Rochester, NY
Gender: female

I keep making things worse! - carb help!
06/21/19 at 11:14:55

Hi everyone

I bought an 04 savage a few months ago and have been learning on it, but lately everything seems to go wrong! I tried to search this forum, but was having a hard time so here's the backstory and maybe you all can help!

-The bike sat for 2 years, but got a new battery within the last year and has 12k miles on it. The woman I bought it from took good care of it as her and her husband worked for a bike and snowmobile dealership.

-I changed the oil, brake fluid, new air filter, new spark plug, new gas & seafoam because it was running kinda jerky. Seafoam seemed to fix it

-Went for my longest and fastest ride on it (maybe 6 miles, max speed 40mph) outside of learning in my neighborhood and it starts getting so jerky that I thought I should pull over. It's also backfiring like crazy, mostly when letting off the throttle. Before I could even come to a stop on the side of the road the bike died. It didn't want to start but eventually did so I rode another mile and it did the same thing. Restarted it again and luckily made it the half mile home.

-bike sat for another week until monday when I finally got my actual license so I tried to take it for a ride and see what was going on, but didn't even make it 1/4 mile down my street before it completely died and I had to walk it home. I thought I was having an embarrassing newbie stall from a stop, but it just wouldn't start again. Then I had a hard time getting it into first from neutral. I was told I need to adjust the clutch free-play for this issue....?

-I figured the seafoam probably dislodged some gunk and the carb needed to be cleaned which was causing it to die.

-so I took off the carb, removed the jets, couldn't get the float pin out so I left the float in there and sprayed everything with crab cleaner and let it sit. The carb actually looked way cleaner than any of the ones in the youtube videos I watch where people said that their looked pretty clean.

-also changed my petcock to the raptor at the same time since mine was stuck.

-put the carb back on, fire her up and she's back in business! woohoo. go inside to get gear on and take her for a ride and the bike won't start because the battery is too low from all the times I tried to start it when it died on me earlier.

-Put the trickle charger on it overnight and go inside frustrated that I still haven't gotten to ride the bike since actually being legal!

-next morning.. hmmm smells like gas out here.... tip bike upright and gas pours out of it. My air box is totally flooded! And the rubber on my new $80 air filter is all warped and melted from the gas so that's a loss. I left the petcock in the ON position, but from what I've read this shouldn't be an issue as the floats in the carb should stop the flow of gas.

-I guess I have a float issue? What do you think? How do I fix it -carb & clutch please! I'm starting to get so frustrating with this new hobby. I have zero experience working on any sort of engine so I'm quite proud of everything I've done so far, but I haven't even really gotten to go for a real ride yet!

Back to top

IP Logged

stewmills

Serious Thumper

Offline

Imagination is more
important than
knowledge

Posts: 2630
Auburn, AL
Gender: male

Re: I keep making things worse! - carb help!
Reply #1 - 06/21/19 at 13:11:46

First rule is do not put carb cleaner on anything plastic, that includes the float needle tip. It will eat it up and is probably what happened in your case since you did not remove the needle. Either that, or you bumped the float and bent it to a point where it made the float level too high.

Many people that have converted to the raptor DO turn off the fuel valve for this very reason. The stock petcock will not flood (unless it fails inside) because it is vacuum driven so you don't have to turn off the stock petcock like you do non-vacuum driven petcocks.

Also, what city/state are you in. There may be help close by if we know where you are...

Back to top

IP Logged

grapefruit423 YaBB Newbies Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 7 Rochester, NY Gender:	Re: I keep making things worse! - carb help! Reply #2 - 06/21/19 at 13:26:28 Dang! I'll take it out tonight and check. Any tips for getting the float out since the pin seems to be so stuck? Sounds like I need to order a rebuild kit to replace the needle. Thanks for your reply!
Back to top	IP Logged

verslagen1 YaBB Moderator ModSquad Online Where there's a will, I want to be in it. Posts: 28790 L.A. California Gender:	Re: I keep making things worse! - carb help! Reply #3 - 06/21/19 at 13:44:15 Be careful with that pin. The supports are cast and will snap if too much force is applied. You can buy the float needle separately, but you can find a kit with a needle and gasket with shipping cheaper than just a oem needle.
Back to top	Versey's Place Tech Section Index IP Logged

grapefruit423 YaBB Newbies Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 7 Rochester, NY Gender:	Re: I keep making things worse! - carb help! Reply #4 - 06/21/19 at 15:17:13 Well I finally got the pin out. Needle tip is intact and looks fine! Float wasn't stuck either. Hmmm anything else to try?
Back to top	IP Logged

DragBikeMike

Serious Thumper

Offline

SuzukiSavage.com
Rocks!

Posts: 4248
Honolulu

Re: I keep making things worse! - carb help!
Reply #5 - 06/21/19 at 15:27:12

You can't rely on the float needle & seat to hold tight when the bike is parked. Always turn off your petcock when you aren't using the bike.

To avoid damaging the carburetor, why not test the needle and seat to see if they hold. That way, you might be able to avoid removing the float pin. As previously stated, if you aren't real careful, you can break off the post that supports the float. There are special techniques required so get help if you go down that route. You said you were new at wrenching so I would hate to see you get started by breaking a $500 part.

To test it, remove the carburetor from the bike and drain all the fuel out of the carburetor Remove the fuel bowl. Gently move the float up & down and verify that it isn't binding. Observe that the needle moves with the float.

Attach a clean fuel hose to the carburetor. You will be putting the other end of the hose in your mouth so "clean" is important to some folks. Old goats like me don't care too much.

With the carb in the upright position, put the hose in your mouth and gently blow. Sort of like inflating a balloon. Air should flow through the hose and the needle/seat.

Turn the carburetor upside down and blow through the fuel hose. There shouldn't be any air flow. The needle should hold. If air leaks by the needle/seat, apply a very, very light pressure to the float with you finger. Like placing a feather on it. If it holds when light air pressure is applied, it's probably OK.

When all that gas dribbled out of your carburetor, some may have run down your intake manifold and into the cylinder. That's a common problem. Check your oil level. If its high, change your oil and fill to the proper level.

There are two drains in the bottom of your airbox. One has a clear plastic cap covering a nipple right in the bottom of the airbox. The other is a long hose with a black plastic plug in it. Both are in the bottom of the airbox. Remove the cap and plug and allow any remaining fuel to drain out. Let it air out for awhile, then replace the cap & plug.

Regarding your $80 air filter, I'm willing to bet that if you leave it out and let it dry up there's a good chance it will return to normal.

For now, I bet you could adjust your clutch by simply backing out the adjuster on the lever assembly on the handlebars. Don't take all the slack out of it. There should be about 10-15mm of free play at the lever end before the clutch begins to disengage. Your owner's manual discusses this in section 7, Inspection & Maintenance.

If you don't have an owner's manual and a tech manual, I suggest you get at least the tech manual before you do any more work on the bike.

Back to top

Knowledge is power.

IP Logged

grapefruit423

YaBB Newbies

Offline

SuzukiSavage.com
Rocks!

Posts: 7
Rochester, NY
Gender: female

Re: I keep making things worse! - carb help!
Reply #6 - 06/21/19 at 18:47:10

Well as an update I'm back in business and it seems to be running better than ever. I had to riase the float. When it's upside down the manual says it should be 1.04-1.16" and I was only at like 0.75". And now I need to put a little sticker above the the key with PETCOCK OFF to make sure I always turn it off haha

Back to top

IP Logged

batman

Serious Thumper

Offline

SuzukiSavage.com
Rocks!

Posts: 3806
osceola new york
Gender: male

Re: I keep making things worse! - carb help!
Reply #7 - 06/22/19 at 00:33:23

! You don't set the carb float level when it upside down , you hold it side ways with the float hanging down ,so the weight of the float isn't pushing the float needle in ,just touching it lightly closed. the float height doesn't include the bowl gasket if it stayed in place in the upper body of the carb. , when you pulled the float you should also remove the screw holding the horseshoe shaped clamp that holds the float valve seat and pull it straight out to inspect the O-ring on the outside of the seat and the filter screen above it , that can be removed and cleaned.
Perhaps it would be better to come here and ask questions before trying repairs to avoid possible damage , and get a few tips.

Back to top

my old work mates called me MacGyver

IP Logged

grapefruit423 YaBB Newbies Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 7 Rochester, NY Gender:	Re: I keep making things worse! - carb help! Reply #8 - 06/22/19 at 01:42:50 Maybe I described it wrong - I don't know. I just followed what the clymers manual said for float adjustment. I did remove the horseshoe clamp thing and inspect the o-rings and filter. seems to be running fine?
Back to top	IP Logged

batman

Serious Thumper

Offline

SuzukiSavage.com
Rocks!

Posts: 3806
osceola new york
Gender: male

Re: I keep making things worse! - carb help!
Reply #9 - 06/22/19 at 19:40:26

I guess the confusion comes from the fact that the pic in the Clymer shows a arrow pointing to the left marked- upside down . where as if you hold it sideways as the pic shows ,with the float hanging from the pivot pin ,you actually set it right if you didn't have the bowl gasket in place or subtracted it's thickness.

Back to top

my old work mates called me MacGyver

IP Logged