[id4rox]

Aloha all,

I have an 88 zx1000. It runs well, but gets 11mpg in the city and 20 on a good trip on highways around the island. Any ideas where I should begin to fix this, and get the mileage I should be getting (or atleast better mileage)?

the bike came with a vance hines pipe on it. I don't know what the jettings are or anything. I'm going to take the carbs off soon to clean everything and make sure all is sealed well. Theres no physical leaking gas. And sometimes I'll get a backfire where I get a nice explosing in the muffler.

The bike has had new plugs. three looked great, one looked like it might not have been firing, but like I said, it runs well.

any thoughts on the mileage problem or anything to look for when I take apart the carbs to clean them?

mahalo
Brian

 

[benonmsn]

carbs, spark plugs and air filter

 

[id4rox]

Anything inparticular about the carbs aside from the standard cleaning up? Maybe the jets are way off whack and should be changed to stock size, whatever is in now and whatever stock it? Perhaps needs a carb rebuild?

 

[reintr0ducing]

all the salt air is clogging up your intake!

good to see another islander on board.

gl with the bike.

 

[id4rox]

aloha buddy.

nice bike you got there. psssst the air isnt that salty, ever been to the beaches on the mainland where the entire cities reak of saltyness.

Guess first step is to get the carbs off and clean them well. Any ideas what the jettings should be at, so I know if new jettings are neccessary?

aloha

 

[benonmsn]

id say just clean the jets and make sure everything else doesnt look gummed up. make sure plugs are clean, maybe might as well just replace them and make sure air filter is clean. im not the best mechanic but i think you have an air and or fuel issue.

 

[id4rox]

Hi guys. I took the bike apart today.

Changed the oil - the old oil was real clean, no contaminants in it.

The air filter is in good shape.

The plugs, cylinder/carb 1 had a nasty looking plug, carbon fouling. Cylinders 2/3/4 all had great plugs, here is a pic of the difference:

As for the carbs, I checked the jets and all four carbs seem to be adjusted very closely to each other, and the sizes are what is to be expected, either stock sizes or one step larger for the pipe.

What concerns me is the pilot screw. The haynes says not to adjust it and doesn't give any more info other than "see a very skilled mechanic." The stock listing for these are "preset" with no turns out listed (though UK model lists 1.75 turns out). My pilot jets didnt seem to be turned out that far at all, not even a turn. The PO told me something about them when I bought the bike, said he turned them all to the same level nearly all the way down.

Would these screws be worth playing with? It's a pain in the arse, so if I can avoid it, I'd rather not take the carbs on and off over and over, what a pain to get them back in the boots properly today!

Any thoughts on this? Much mahalos all
BRian

 

[fattkaw]

way too much fuel on cylinder 1. that is fuel fouled. I'd look into a bad float that is filled with fuel or a bad needle and seat.

 

[id4rox]

Thanks for writing back, fattkaw. When I had the carbs off, I removed the needle and reset it in the carb and didn't notice any problems. I also noticed no problems with the floats, they seemed to float freely, but what do I know. I do get a strong smell of fuel when I'm sitting at a light, so you must be right.

How might I go about fixing this issue, any ideas? My haynes doesnt say much help. What might need to be fixed or adjusted?

mahalo nui

 

[287]

How about a leaking needle valve on that cylinder ? You are smelling fuel right ? Either that or the plug wire or coil is bad on that cylinder . Something is not lighting off that cylinder or the needle is stuck open a bit . Check for leaking fuel with the bike running . Look around the bottom of the carbs . Good luck buddy .

tberd

 

[id4rox]

Thanks, tberd. I do get a good smell of fuel when I'm sitting. In fact, the last few days, occassionally I'll feel a spec fall on my left foot, like a spec of the lightest rain drop possible. I don't have a leak which is visible to be leaking, the fuel level doesnt change. But I can see one drop of gas accumulate on the drain nipple on the carb.

I think your suspicions may be right that it might not be firing. I'll check later today for spark on that cylinder and get back. Hopefully its just a spark problem that can be fixed with new coils. I will report back later. much mahalos all. safe riding

 

[id4rox]

Hi all, I have an update:

I didn't pull the plug to look for spark, I got caught in massive down poours on the way to the north shore and was in no mood to pull the gas tank to get to the plugs.

Instead, tonight, after a minute ride, I checked my exhaust pipes. The pipe coming off cyl one was not hot at all, while on the other end 4 was really hot. It seems like cyl 1 isn't firing. I hope it's just a problem with the ignition coil. Looks like i'll have to start checking the manual for no firing issues.

aloha

 

[id4rox]

Cylinder is getting spark just fine, FUDGE!! hope i dont have a major engine problem. Maybe its time to sell the bike, it rides nice and I like it, but cant afford 11mpg!

 

[id4rox]

I'd like to update for any future searcher who may have a similar problem.

I think I have a plug problem. The plugs in the bike were CR9E. I put them in shortly after buying the bike and noticed no improvement. I got CR9E since thats what I took out prior to replacing. I looked in the haynes and it specifies the resistor plug for UK model, but for the US model it specifies C9E.

Cyl 1 didnt seem to be firing. Id run the bike for a few seconds, and the pipe coming off cyl 1 was cold while the others were real hot. I pulled the plug and wire, tested the plug and it had a great spark. Figured Crap, serious engine problem. I did a listen for compression then compared it with another cyl, it sounded fine.

then I went back later and for shits and giggles before leaving, i swapped the plugs in cyl 1 (bad cyl) and cyl 4. What do you know, now cyl 1 pipe got hot and cyl 4 was cold. I did this a few times and whatever cyl this one plug was in wasnt getting hot, even though i tested the plug and it sparked nicely.

I bought four new plugs, the right ones, C9E (hard to find locally, had to go to the dealer, probably why a PO settled and got the R's), put them in and fired it up. All four pipes got hot immediately as if they were firing. The bike sounded like it had alot more power and alot smoother.

I am hoping that was the problem, and that I will no longer have 11 mpg and have just gained another 250cc than how I've been riding! I will find out how it runs tonight and take it for a test ride over to north shore tomm and see how the mileage is.

Heres hoping! I found it very odd the behavior that happened when the plug was in a cylinder, since it was a newer plug and had a great spark. Perhaps part of the prob was running the R plug, that will decrease performance since its like doubling up the resistence by having a resistor in both the wire and the pllug.

Thanks to everyone for their help. I'll report back finally tomorrow night on the mileage improvement, hopefully! I hope that someday in the future this might help someone else.

Aloha
Brian

 

[id4rox]

SHIT!!!!!!!

I spoke too soon. The problem is back. After putting new plugs in, I fired the back up many times and felt the pipe coming off cyl 1, got nice and hot, indicating it was firing and combusting. Later tonight I went to work, it ran like a dream, MUCH faster and more power.

Unfortunitely, when I got to work (about a mile away) the problem was returning. That familar smell of unburnt gas returned in the region, that new found power and speed was gone. The bike cooled off and I started it up, the cyl 1 pipe was cold, back to square one.

I ride around campus every night at work. Every start I would feel the pipe, it got hot about 1/3rd the starts, but as soon as I took off I could tell that it wasn't firing because the performance was low as usual, no new found speed like before. I just pulled two plugs and the problem cyl plug isnt covered in anything. Infact, the cyl 1 plug tip looked like it had never been used, atleast the other cyls had slightly burnt tips indicating they were used.

Shit shit shit. What the hell? I'm really at a loss here. I'm about ready to give up, but after feeling how the bike rides on all 4 good running cylinders, I can not. It runs so fast and sweet. I need to get it to stay like that. are there any gurus out there that are just checking in, and read through my drama and still have some advice theyd offer to me on correcting the problem?

Aloha kakou and good night

 

[287]

1. Check the wires that feed the coils for that bad cylinder . Maybe a lose wire or short on the coils .

2. plug wire test . Take a multi-meter and set to Ohms . See how much resistance the bad cylinder PLUG WIRE has . Now check the remaining cylinders . Report back here to me .

3. Take a red rag and grasp the fuel bowl of the bad cylinder while the engine is running . You smell fuel or is it wet ?

I still think you have a bad needle valve in the float bowl . That will cause the overly rich condition on that cylinder . And your 11MPG nonsense . A bad needle valve will cause fuel being dumped from the bowl vent hose . Or you have a spec of dirt causing the needle to hang open on the seat . If you have good spark , and you know your getting plenty of fuel then the needle and seat is left .

Your bike is old . Time for some simple repairs . Several items in the carbs are wearable items . Let me know .

tberd

 

[287]

id4rox ,

your picture of the plugs . How many miles on them ? The good one looks lean . Did you wipe it off ?

Here is a good link on how to read plugs .

http://www.dragstuff.com/techarticles/how-to-read-plugs.html

tberd

 

[id4rox]

The plugs in the first picture, about 1k-1.5k miles on them. I didn't wipe anything off. I looked at the plugs I put in last night, and like I said, the tips on plugs 2-4 have a little color, while plug 1 looks unused (though it WAS firing for some time last night).

I metered the plug wires, and got similar readings (taken at the 200 reading). 1- 50.8ohm 2- 52.7ohm 3- 51.3ohm 4- 51.3ohm. I metered the coil windings as well and they metered according to the haynes manual. The wires have no specs in the haynes manual.

I couldnt do the red rag test. though, I DO smell gas when cyl 1 isnt firing/igniting (run for 5 seconds, other pipes get hot but pipe 1 stays cold), but when cyl 1 DOES fire/combust such as when I had the new plug in (run bike for few seconds, the pipe gets hot immediately as it fires and combusts) i *do not* smell gas.

Theres a rebuild kit (set of 4) on ebay ive been looking at, http://tinyurl.com/plada . Think that might help me, or not really?

aloha

 

[nevada]

the plug is being FUEL fouled..
its a fuel problem. the needle is sticking...or...jets loose allowing too much fuel through? or..????
it worked good when new, it hadnt had time to foul yet.

 

[287]

Originally posted by id4rox
The plugs in the first picture, about 1k-1.5k miles on them. I didn't wipe anything off. I looked at the plugs I put in last night, and like I said, the tips on plugs 2-4 have a little color, while plug 1 looks unused (though it WAS firing for some time last night).

I metered the plug wires, and got similar readings (taken at the 200 reading). 1- 50.8ohm 2- 52.7ohm 3- 51.3ohm 4- 51.3ohm. I metered the coil windings as well and they metered according to the haynes manual. The wires have no specs in the haynes manual.

I couldnt do the red rag test. though, I DO smell gas when cyl 1 isnt firing/igniting (run for 5 seconds, other pipes get hot but pipe 1 stays cold), but when cyl 1 DOES fire/combust such as when I had the new plug in (run bike for few seconds, the pipe gets hot immediately as it fires and combusts) i *do not* smell gas.

Theres a rebuild kit (set of 4) on ebay ive been looking at, http://tinyurl.com/plada . Think that might help me, or not really?

aloha

id4rox ,

that kit looks to be what you need . Two thoughts here , one is replace all 4 while you are there . Then next is you have 3 good carbs . Can't fix what isn't broke . Just hang onto the spare parts incase the other carbs fail later . Your choice on that .

I would check the price at a local Kawi dealer . I would feel better having genuine Kawasaki parts in my bike . Do it right the first time , know what I mean ?

52 Ohms is a good reading . Your plug wires sound ok . That is a low figure . Again I'm leaning towards the needle and seat being your problem .

The Escam link you sent , I see the needle and bowl gasket . What is the brass object ? The pilot air screw ? Can't tell the pic is low on detail .

You should get around 30-40MPG . Maybe more if you are easy on the throttle .

Here is the parts you "might" need . The Kawasaki web site has pictures of the carb parts .

http://www.buykawasaki.com/Default....VIChooseVehicle.asp?intCatalogID=2&intParts=1

16030-1068 SEAT-VALVE,FLOAT
16030-1007 VALVE-FLOAT

Let us know when you get your bike sorted out bro . Take care .


tberd