| Author | Message | ||
     Jrdz |
I am brand new to this forum and this is my very first post, so I am going to ask all you seasoned riders to be a little patient with me. Not only am I new to riding, but I am also new to repairing and maintaining my Blast. I want to hold on to my Blast as long as I can so I figure I should start learning how to do my own repairs and maintenance. I had read that sometimes the auto-choke on the Blast can be fussy, so when my Blast started dying on me when idle, or at a cold start, I figured it was the auto-choke acting up. But, after reading multiple posts on Das Boot, I realized I should replace mine. Sure enough, my old boot was in bad shape, and I replaced it with a new one. Unfortunately my Blast still has a rough idle and it still dies. Sometimes it dies when I open the throttle, and sometimes it dies after being idle for a while. If I run the Blast, the problem seems to go away, and it hasn't turned off at any stoplights. But, I find that once it's been off for a while, when I start it up, it idles rough and eventually dies, sometimes it will start only after multiple tries. I've checked my petcock, and it's set to "on". I noticed my air filter has a crack on the top, and it looks to be in bad shape. I'll be replacing it soon, but I am scared this won't solve the problem either. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks in advance for all your help! If I didn't explain myself right, I'll try to clarify as best as I can. Just tell me what about my post was ambiguous (probably most of it. I'm such a novice, but I'm here to learn). | ||
| Ezblast |
What year is the bike? How many miles? Was it maintained well otherwise - oil changes, primary adjustment (could well be too tight - loosen 10 flats), or badly adjusted clutch. Make sure the new boot is installed correctly. EZ | ||
| Jrdz |
It's a 2005, and it has 10,000 miles, give or take a few. The previous owner claimed to have maintained it religiously, but he never mentioned anything about primary adjustment. I think the boot is on correctly, but I will double check. Oh man. I think things may be getting worse. This morning when I went to start the bike I didn't notice a change for the better. Still acting up on cold starts, and I opened the air box to remove the filter so I could go get a replacement. There was some smoke coming out of the air box. It was not dark. It was a light color, and it seemed to be coming from the Venturi ring (I think that's what it's called). What does this mean? I'm sifting through the forums to figure out how to go about the primary adjustment. It's a little frustrating to work on the bike, because it seems after the bike has been running for a while, the problems go away. Cold starts still result in the same issues, i.e. rough idle, followed by engine cutoff. When I say rough idle I mean to say that the bike thumps real slow, and seems like it's about to die. I think the bike should be a little lively and mine does not sound lively. | ||
| Ezblast |
Change the jetting to 45/170/2 turns out on the airscrew - bike is too lean probably - running regular and not premo probably, and with the new E-10 and E-15 gas these bikes have to be jetted higher to survive - one of the reasons I'm going to a Dial-A-Jet kit by Thunder products, to protect the motor, will probably have to start recommending that at E-15 - which at our mpg will drop to 20 with out a DAJ and regular jetting would be 48/175 - lol, and 30+ with the DAJ jetted 45/160, probably set at half way - lol The new gas is killing us - careful. If the idle is ok after the bike is warmed up, you don't want to mess with it. Primary is easy to adjust - do the sound method with the bike warmed up - chock the tires - loosen till it starts making a sound, then tighten at just where the sound disappears, set, done. EZ (Message edited by ezblast on April 23, 2011) | ||
| Jrdz |
Thanks EZ. I appreciate all the help. I am, however, a little confused. I don't know what none of the numbers you're throwing at me mean, so I will have to read the thread(s) on rejetting the carb to get up to speed. I assume that you are talking about rejetting the carb. Yes? I don't know what DAJ stands for, and I won't even try to guess what the numbers 20 and 30+ are referring too. I see that you are still talking about jetting so I will assume it's also about the carb. Also, to adjust the primary, is it really as easy as loosening/tightening the chain limiting screw underneath the primary assembly and listening for the whine, or lack therof? Lastly, is it safe to use the service manual from a 2002 Blast? I am using one that was posted by another member of another Blast forum, and I am unsure if this is alright. I can't wait to have my Blast start up without any issues! And working on it myself is fun, albeit overwhelming sometimes due to my fear of causing irreparable damage to my beloved Blast. Thanks again for the help. I'll keep posting up my progress, or regress. Hopefully the former. | ||
| Ezblast |
Yes - any manual for any year will work service wise. On the primary loosen till engine gets louder,then tighten up till the louder noise disappears, then set/tighten in that position. It should be a tad loose - which is fine, if you start hearing noise - getting louder, just go in a couple of flats till gone - if you never go in your primary, it should only need adjusting a couple of times - Hope that helps, oh yeah - switch to primo gas! ASAP & ditch the Dunlops!- lol EZ | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
The spark plug needs changing (if its never been changed). 10,000 miles is the limit for a stock plug and no problem is ever solved using a plug that old. Premium and the 45/170 (2 turns) will help (concuring with EZ!). As long as the boot is okay, the enrichener may be or is going bad. Change the jetting and it may not matter and you should only need cold start running for a very, very short time in San Juan. Run premium?- check Boot okay? - check Change plug? - check Adjust primary?- check (look to see if it still has the spacer on the adjuster bolt) re jet carb?- check They all need to be done anyway. And please do not take the carb apart (or let anyone tell you to) just to "give it a good cleaning". It will very likely lead to more problems and wont do any good anyway. Just change the jets and adjust the idle mixture (2 -2 1/2 turns). | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
PS Welcome! | ||
| Jrdz |
Thank you for the warm welcome, and for all the help. I will be doing all of these things on the bike today, and I'll let you know how it turns out. I hope the enrichener isn't going, and it is true that cold-start issues in South Texas aren't too much of a concern. It is hot down here! We get about a week's worth of cold weather down here a year, and that's it. By the way, are parts for the Blasts available at H-D dealerships, or am I going to have to buy online? I'll be replacing the air filter, and the spark plug too, but none of my local bike shops have any Buell parts. I've held off going to the dealership while I look for a cheaper alternative, but It seems I'll have no choice. | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
Spark plugs: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/201 64/12758.html?1295401688 Get a good one, they are worth the money. Only ex-Buell/HD dealerships will be able to get Blast parts, though some parts have HD part numbers and they can be had at any HD dealership. Online is the way to go, imho. Cheaper and shipping is usually the price of tax. But if you need a part asap, contact the vender to make sure you wont be waiting 3 weeks for your order. Badweb sponsors will often give you a Badweb discount if you ask for one: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/171 43/17143.html I've also sent you a "pm". | ||
| Jrdz |
No!!! Easter Sunday!!! My local H-D dealer is closed. I bought das boot there, and I know they used to be a Buell Dealer so I was hoping they would have the jets. Any other place I can get them locally? I'm real anxious to rejet the carb and don't want to wait for the jets to be delivered. | ||
| Ezblast |
Any HD motorcycle shop - same carb that was on 883's, or Kawasaki shop - since the same carb is used on the KLR - can help. EZ | ||
| Jrdz |
What I mean by locally is if auto pars stores such as Auto Zone, Advance Auto Parts, Oreilly's etc. carry them. But I'll probably have to wait to get it from the H-D dealer. Also, I have a question about the terminology on this forum. I have seen the word "lean" used when referring to the way the Buell runs. What does this mean? And, I wanted to ask about adjusting the primary drive. EZ said to warm up the bike, chock the tires and do the adjustments, but does the bike have to be in 1st gear, or is it still in neutral when I'm adjusting? I don't have a stand so I will find it difficult to work on the bike while she's in 1st gear. | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
The jets fit all CV carbs, Big Twin, Sportster or Buell. The 45 is stock on many Big Twins. Beware, the parts guy might look at you crosseyed if you dont have the HD (or Kawi) part number, but the mechanics probably know and the jet number is stamped on the jet anyway. ....and dont mention its for a Blast. They'll tell you they dont have the parts for it no matter what it is you want. | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
PS Your Blast came with a 170 stock so dont bother buying one. Just the slow jet is all you need. | ||
| Ezblast |
Bike is in neutral - lol EZ | ||
| Jrdz |
Ok. I was beginning to worry. lol That could have gone horribly wrong for me. | ||
| Ezblast |
LOL - first time I surprised Scott was on a little inner city cruise, the goal to find a flat spot in SF - took about 45 minutes - lol - parked on top of said flat spot, had Scott watch the bike while I adjusted the primary, a few minutes later he asks - that was it? - I smiled and said - any excuse for a ride - ehh? EZ | ||
| Jrdz |
Well, It seems I've managed to make things worse. The day started pretty good since I was able to get a hold of all the materials I was going to be using for the repairs. I was in a good mood since I was not going to have to wait for any parts. I bought an NGK Iridium plug, the DCPR9EIX, as I had read about the proper and improper heat ranges. I was able to get an OEM air filter while I waited for the K&N to arrive, and I bought the 45 pilot jet. I got to work on the bike and I thought I was doing everything right. I followed the instructions for the rejetting closely. Changing the plug was straightforward, and didn't take too long, and I didn't think I could botch the air filter replacement. When I was done doing all the maintenance, I started her up, and she started up stronger than before, and I was very excited, but about a minute later thump...thump.....thump........dead. NO!!! What could I have done wrong? I will say that on late saturday night/early sunday morning I was coming home and the bike ran out of gas. I was told by the previous owner to refuel at intervals of 100 miles, and the odometer read 90 miles, so I thought I still had a few in the tank. I stopped on the shoulder flipped the petcock to reserve and went on home without any trouble. When I was doing the maintenance I removed the gas tank to change the spark plug, and there was some gas sloshing around in there, so I figured as soon as I rejetted the carb, replaced the spark plug, and changed the filter I'd start her up, "hear her roar," (in the words of 25Psi, whose tutorial I followed for this) and then go fill her up with premium. Finally after all this I would adjust the primary. But I heard her roar, then I heard her die, and even though I was very discouraged I knew it was somehow my fault. In light of this, I loosened das boot, removed the airbox, and got to work on that carb again. I made sure I didn't loosen or tighten the pilot jet too much. I made sure I turned the idle screw 2 turns only. After this second attempt at correctly rejetting the carb, I put the airbox back on, double, and triple, checked das boot, then I started her back up (or tried too anyway). I left the key to the ON position the whole time during Round 2. When I started the bike it would not start and I heard a clicking noise. Now I can't even get it started so I can't I check if my readjustments worked, and I can't fill it up, nor adjust the primary because I can't warm up the bike. I'll recharge the battery tomorrow and try again. I want to fix it today, but I've got to get started on a paper I've been dreading all semester, and I've got a Powerpoint to finish by tonight. | ||
| Ezblast |
Was the fuel on? - sounds like the battery is old, probably needs replacing, but I would tighten all my grounds and battery connections first and see if that solves it. Don't try to second guess yourself yet. You sound like me with all the school projects due - lol EZ | ||
| Jrdz |
Yeah, I'll try that out tomorrow. Thanks for the advice. Between school, work, and the wife I've got little time to work on the Blast, but I'm going to keep at it. That paper I have to write was assigned over a week ago. All my teachers in High School said that college would get easier every year I was there, but I find that even though my classes are neither harder nor easier, I am always pressed for time. I'm a horrible procrastinator. I like that bit Dimitri Martin did on one of his stand ups where he had a picture of a circle on a white sheet and called it a pie chart of procrastination. lol. I probably won't work on the Blast until the end of the week, that's when I'll have a little breathing room. School's almost out this semester, just a couple of more weeks. It's the home stretch. I'll have a full three weeks for me and the Blast before the first summer semester. I can't wait! Hopefully she'll be good to go by then. You in school too, EZ? | ||
| Ezblast |
Yuppers - a part time student - to turn an AA into a Bachelor, wife, house to maintain and 'improve', etc - I keep pretty busy, which is why it takes me so long to do my modifications - lol - that and in my free time I'd rather be riding! Why I have more than 1 bike. EZ | ||
| Jrdz |
Cool. I have a friend who is trying to be an Accountant. I look over his notes sometimes, but I'm horrible with numbers. The last time I saw that many numbers I was closing my eyes and guessing on the mathematics section of my college entrance exam. By the way, I couldn't resist taking a study break to check on the Blast, and it starts up good, stronger than before. It must be the new plug, but she still thumps slow and then gives out. Maybe I should check my idle screw. I still keep thinking I'm not doing that part right. I turned till it was all the way in when I was adjusting it, before I gave it the two turns out, but I think I overtightened it too much, so what I think is two turns may actually be one and a half. I keep hoping that once I fill her up with premium and adjust the primary she'll be good as new. Here's to wishful thinking. | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
Idle mixture screw: Turn in until it lightly bottoms out. Cranking it down will ruin the screw and the seat. Its not that critical of an adjustment. Its really supposed to be done with the engine running and 2 turns is a guideline (but its close enough). If the boot was bad, it probably idled really high so someone might have turned the idle down not knowing there was a problem (FWIW: Carbs usually do not go out of adjustment. If you have to adjust your carb you must ask what changed to necessitate an adjustment). Replace the boot and the idle drops. Your solution may be to just turn the idle up (idle speed screw not idle mixture screw). (I've seen EZ write that a hundred times at least LOL!) FWIW2: The leaner the mixture the higher the idle, richen the mixture the idle goes lower. If you run your Blast without turning the gas on you'll find the rpms usually go up before the engine shuts down. It went lean due to a shortage of gas. If you leave the tank cover off you can more easily adjust the idle speed when on the road. That might be an option until you get it straightened out. Normal (hot) idle is 1200 rpms FWIW3: If you must do a lot of engine cranking or are concerned your battery may go or be going dead, unplug the headlight. The headlight takes more energy to run than the ignition and it will siphon the power away from it causing a loss of spark and no starting. The headlight connector is about 6" down the wire from where it enters the headlight housing. You could also pull the fuse, but that means taking the seat off and hoping the fuse doesnt break (they do). Dont forget to plug it back in. Lastly; Getting it to idle right may be secondary to how its actually running on the road. If it runs great, but wont idle, then its probably something only related to the idle. If it runs bad at idle and all different rpms, then it probably isnt just an idle problem. It makes a difference on how to tackle the problem and where to look. | ||
| Jrdz |
I finally had time to work on the Buell. Thanks for the advice with the headlight, Erik. That was a lot of help. Also, I think you are right about the idle speed screw. Adjusting it definitely made a difference, and it seemed that it had finally solved the problem, but this morning when I started her up, I didn't get the usual thump...thump...thump....dead, she just went dead. It just died all of a sudden, with a very loud pop from the carburetor. That is what I've noticed. It is popping at regular intervals. It sounds like the idle speeds up, and then POP and it goes back down. I am a bit confused about it. Also, to address your question about how it actually runs, it runs fine. Once the bike is warmed up she runs ok, and I have not noticed any loss of power when idle at a light or a stop (yet). In fact once the bike has been running it's fine. It's only once the bike has cooled down that it's difficult to start, or it'll start and then die. If I roll back on the throttle when I start it will either die, or it will accelerate the idle normally. I am sure it is something related only to the idle. Finally, I had a question about adjusting the primary. I noticed that the spacer is still on the adjuster bolt, so to remove it do I have to remove the adjuster bolt completely? If this is the case, I assume I have to remove, or at the very least loosen, the exhaust pipe right? | ||
| Jrdz |
I've been sifting through the forum, and I've noticed that other people have had problems similar to mine. They've replaced the boot, they've changed the spark plug, rejetted the carb, etc. but still no luck. Some of these problems were due to electrical malfunctions. Could I have an electrical problem? Maybe bad ignition module, spark plug wire, or coil? Cecilsan had a very similar problem. My Blast is also spitting out a plume of white smoke from the carb right before it dies. That and the very loud pop are the last thing it does before giving out. | ||
| Ezblast |
First check that the intake boot is good and seated on properly, and tightened down. Check your battery and make sure it is good first as well - batteries with week or dead cells makes the bike act weird. You could try unplugging the enrichner and see if that makes a difference - if you only have to play with the throttle to stay lit a bit, then it - the enrichner could need replacing. TPS same thing. You can pop the ignition cover off and see if its working properly - just watch the light and see if it is corresponding to engine rpm. EZ | ||
| Jrdz |
I hate to ask, but I can't find it elsewhere. How do I disconnect the auto-enrichener and TPS? I know that the cables are colored violet/white and violet/orange for the TPS and auto-enrichener, respectively, but when I peaked down there to disconnect these, I saw a lot of violet/white and violet/orange! I am afraid I'll disconnect the wrong thing. | ||
| Ezblast |
Disconnect the whole electric clip from carb to harness - that would default you to the wot curve and no enrichner, play with throttle gently to warm up, if bike is fine warmed up - then those two come into question, if still the same/no change - they are ruled out. EZ | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
Sorry, but unplugging the Enrichener & TPS defaults to full enrichener. It then should start up fine and then progress to a rich condition when warm causing it to 'lope' at idle and possibly shut down. If there's no change in behaviour at all when its unplugged, then you know in all probability that the enrichener isnt working. The default is to WideOpenThrottle and unplugging it should eliminate the possibility it is vacillating between the two advance curves (but that doesnt sound anything like your problem). The enrichener will not come off on its own (unplugged) just due to engine heat unless it is very, very warm outside and your engine is hot. It will come off some though. Still sounds like you have a lean/bad boot condition. The carb hasnt been apart at all except just removing the float bowl to change the slow jet? Other parts werent disassembled by accident? Did someone else do the work? Sorry, I dont mean to doubt you, but I just want to be sure we're not missing something in the posts or communication. Pieces fall out, a procedure wasnt done correctly, etc. Hypothesis: The lean condition causes the engine rpms to rise up to the point where it becomes too lean and the engine stops firing normally, coughs (or pops) and that gives the carb just enough time to catch up (richen) and the cycle starts all over again. Every time it backfires (pops) through the carb there is the possibility that the boot split or the carb came loose. Could it be electrical?-sure. But electrical problems tend to get worse or more frequent as the engine rpms rise or the engine is put under load. An idle problem is possible from the ignition module, but its rare (but it is possible. Modules can do some weird things). Keep us posted. |
