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She keeps quitting on me..

7K views 66 replies 28 participants last post by  lttlleindsey 
#1 · (Edited)
SO now that I have my license and the weather is lovely my bike has decided to take a dump on me. <o></o>First legal ride and she just shut off at an intersection. I try to restart her but she will not ignite. Mike pushed me and I jump started her but she died again (acting like she was out of fuel, I had plenty). Jumped her again and managed to get her home.<o></o>We filled her up with higher octane fuel. Changed the spark plugs. Checked the fuel flow from tank to carb. Checked the float. And tried her again. <o></o>She died again. She dies in 1st idling. And check this.. she dies when I lean her away from the carb which totally sounds like fuel.. But what else could it be fuel related that we did not address? When I lean her she sputters and quits. I initiate that response by leaning her. When she dies upright she just quits like a kill switch.Th<o></o><o>is is a new problem. She ran great when I was illegal. The only thing we changed was adding the lights. But if it is I am baffled. I know you guys have to have some ideas. </o>
 
#41 ·
gas cap vent,condesor have been covered..i would also check ALL grounds make sure they are nice and clean and tight,and make sure they are going to bare metal,if not scrape all paint off where they connect

also for shits and giggles check for an intake leak.spray strting fluid around the intake clamps..be sure not to get it in the air cleaner.should die out if there is a leak
 
#42 ·
Glad somebody said condenser. A Bad condenser will make you nuts. Although the leaner over to one side dying is odd.

On the point make sure not only to check the contacts, but the lil palstic bits that insulate them from grounding out at the pivot. It may very well be a coil, points, or condensor thing, since one can cuase the others to fry a bit.
 
#43 ·
what about float level? has anyone suggested checking it? if you lean it and it runs out of fuel it could be the level is to low. A quick easy way to check the float level is to install a clear tube on the float drain and then hold the tube above the carb then open the drain and see where the fuel stops on the tube compared to the float bowl. a general rule of thumb is it should be inline with the seam of the bowl..
 
#46 ·
Okay folks... we found the answer.. and we truly made it out to be harder than it needed to be. Our first inclination was correct it was fuel. Other than Bozi no one was giving thought to the leaning mumbo jumbo.
All it boiled down to was air fuel mixture. And so my girl is up and running and I'm riding her to work.. Thanks for all your help guys...
 
#47 ·
leindsey, a lot of good advice already but kinda jumping around. start with one system and eliminate it first. on the fuel, there is a brass plug on the bottom of the fuel bowl, have a bowl( i like white, shows dirt better) under it and take it out to see if ya got any dirt in it. Then take the fuel line off of carb and turn it on with the cap on to see if it flows. If it stops take the cap off, if it flows again there you are, if it doesn't stop then look else where. If all of this is ok then I'd move on to electrical, the intake leak could cause you probs but i cant see it killing it and not let ya restart it.
Pull the plugs, leaving the front one in the boot, ground it somewhere(make sure its a good ground) and let mike lean it while you hold to boot, spin the motor over and see if ya got good spark from straight up to leaning over, if ya loose spark, pull the points cover and check the connector at the points( you wouldn't believe how many times I've seen a bad connection here). Someone mentioned a bad condenser, over looked but a damn good thing to look at, besides, never hurts to have a extra set of points and condenser on hand for a road side fix. Swap them out, if its still not fixed, and your damn sure its not in the wiring, check the voltage and make sure your gettin a constant 12 volts to the coil. If all of this checks out then I'd be looking at the coil.
I hope this helps ya and good luck, i know between you and Mike you'll figure it out, d.
 
#49 · (Edited)
+100^^^^^^^

And don't think for a minute the new stuff won't go down either...I spent a LOT of time and effort getting my bike running again only to find out it was the new spark plugs that were BAD!!
A friend of mine had replaced some leaking vacuum lines on his Mercedes due to bad running problems, after this the car ran great but would die in 20-30 minutes....long story short the NEW vacuum lines were thin walled and would ca-laps under vacuum load causing the car to die....no motor, no vacuum, and the car would start right up...20 minutes later ...cut off
 
#51 ·
I know this has been said a million times, but the same thing happened on my ironhead (while riding and idling) and it was my lack of gas tank venting. If i was riding and it died, I would just pop the cap and drop the clutch and it came back, if idling, I popped the cap, gave her a kick and it came right back. Just food for thought.
 
#55 ·
She's bitch. It's all fine tuning right now but dang.. I had to kick her ass. It was funny. She was acting so fickle. She died at a light and I was just growling at her and demanded she run. She runs great when she gets going. But we have lots of little things to mess with and I need to get to know her but I got her to work. Now lets hope I can get home.. that's the important part.
 
#59 ·
Stalling at red lights and stop signs is one of the signs of an intake leak.
You want to make sure your manifold and head flanges line up the best you can possible get or you'll have intake leaks. The way to do this is to lossen up the cylinder base nuts and the top mounts, this will allow you to move the top end ever so slightly helping to line up the manifold with the head. I roll the intake orings up onto the lip of the manifold. Hold your manifold in place line everything up by by moving the top end then snug the base nuts back down. Once everything is lined up, you really need three hands when installing the manifold. What I do if I'm alone is use a small ratchet strap and a peice of 2x4. Wrap the strap around the heads, set your manifold in place holding the 2x4 on the carb flang tighten the snung the strap up a little, enought to hold everything in place. Roll the o-rings into place,put your clamps on and tighten the shit out them until your worried they are going strip. Take the strap and 2x4 off, look inside the manifold you see a seal between the head and manifold flanges. Also use good clamps, the T-bolt type I think are about the best, stock clamps are pretty much junk. The slightest intake leak will have you chasing your tail. The strap trick is just a second set of hands if you don't have a helper.
 
#66 ·
Ittleindsey!

Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?

Rob's pic is no surprise to me, as I have seen such things in real life, even though I have refused sportsters into my shop for years. It's not about the model of machine.... Nevermind.

(Don't take it personal.)

The proof that it was EML is that one cylinder suffered so much more than the other.

Please bubbletest. Please.


...Cotten
 
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