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There are just a handful of guys who have posted up lots of pics on their alt install.
Chances are good you've seen mine.

You've got at least one cylinder not firing.
That could be an ignition problem, bad plug cap, bad wire, fouled plug?

Can also be a plugged up carb.
At the end of the video when you revved it it sounds to me like that one cylinder either isn't getting gas or not getting a spark. Possible very low compression on that cylinder, maybe from a bent valve.

Bottom line is can be a lot of things.

What is the history of the bike and what have you done so far?
 
Definitely has a miss, you can pull plug leads one at a time to see which cylinder is letting you down. You can also feel the heat in the exhaust pipes and the cold one is the one that is not firing.
 
[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=82141#p82141:ecqjtxv2 said:
Ansimp » Fri May 24, 2013 11:29 am[/url]":ecqjtxv2]Definitely has a miss, you can pull plug leads one at a time to see which cylinder is letting you down. You can also feel the heat in the exhaust pipes and the cold one is the one that is not firing.
Yes that's good.
A spray mist with water at the exhaust headers helped me narrow down a problem I was having to the #2 carb
 
I love my infrared thermometer, you can't beat the lack of batteries in a water spray bottle :good:
 
[url=https://www.forum.classicgoldwings.com/viewtopic.php?p=82140#p82140:127albto said:
dan filipi » Fri May 24, 2013 12:15 pm[/url]":127albto]There are just a handful of guys who have posted up lots of pics on their alt install.
Chances are good you've seen mine.

You've got at least one cylinder not firing.
That could be an ignition problem, bad plug cap, bad wire, fouled plug?

Can also be a plugged up carb.
At the end of the video when you revved it it sounds to me like that one cylinder either isn't getting gas or not getting a spark. Possible very low compression on that cylinder, maybe from a bent valve.

Bottom line is can be a lot of things.

What is the history of the bike and what have you done so far?

Wow, good advise. More than once in the last year and a half I've thought about scrapping the whole project and buying a bicycle. The bike belonged to my best friend. It ran really good and he rode it a lot locally. Only has 52,000 miles on it. The alternator quit charging and instead of doing research and trying to fix it, he parked it in a shed with a cover over it. It sat there for the better part of 7 years. Similar to Ansimp's bike, mice loved the safety and security of stationary bike. When I got it the gas tank was rusty, mouse pee had done it's damage to a lot of the metal parts and old gas had pretty much wiped out the carbs. I took it apart and cleaned it up as good as I could get. I used the electrolysis method of removing the rust from the gas tank, (worked really well). replaced all of the rubber and did the bastardized poor boy conversion with a GM one-wire alternator. I tried :head bang: to clean the carbs, but they were just too far gone. I decided to try to convert it to a single VW carb, but could never get it to work. I then bought a set of 83 1100 carbs and cleaned the up really well and installed them. When I first started the bike it idled for the first with the new carbs, it was running really rich. I removed them again and tried to adjust the floats and re-installed them, but I think I went too far in the other direction. She doesn't smoke anymore and I don't have any leaks. Most of what I've done is wiring and cleaning. I don't have a lot mechanical experience, just a lot of patience and stubbornness! :beg: I won't let the beast beat me and hopefully one day soon...... :moped: If I just had a little of Steve's skill.
 
[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=82158#p82158:3fr999jl said:
stanlw » Fri May 24, 2013 12:49 pm[/url]":3fr999jl]
[url=https://www.forum.classicgoldwings.com/viewtopic.php?p=82140#p82140:3fr999jl said:
dan filipi » Fri May 24, 2013 12:15 pm[/url]":3fr999jl]There are just a handful of guys who have posted up lots of pics on their alt install.
Chances are good you've seen mine.

You've got at least one cylinder not firing.
That could be an ignition problem, bad plug cap, bad wire, fouled plug?

Can also be a plugged up carb.
At the end of the video when you revved it it sounds to me like that one cylinder either isn't getting gas or not getting a spark. Possible very low compression on that cylinder, maybe from a bent valve.

Bottom line is can be a lot of things.

What is the history of the bike and what have you done so far?

Wow, good advise. More than once in the last year and a half I've thought about scrapping the whole project and buying a bicycle. The bike belonged to my best friend. It ran really good and he rode it a lot locally. Only has 52,000 miles on it. The alternator quit charging and instead of doing research and trying to fix it, he parked it in a shed with a cover over it. It sat there for the better part of 7 years. Similar to Ansimp's bike, mice loved the safety and security of stationary bike. When I got it the gas tank was rusty, mouse pee had done it's damage to a lot of the metal parts and old gas had pretty much wiped out the carbs. I took it apart and cleaned it up as good as I could get. I used the electrolysis method of removing the rust from the gas tank, (worked really well). replaced all of the rubber and did the bastardized poor boy conversion with a GM one-wire alternator. I tried :head bang: to clean the carbs, but they were just too far gone. I decided to try to convert it to a single VW carb, but could never get it to work. I then bought a set of 83 1100 carbs and cleaned the up really well and installed them. When I first started the bike it idled for the first with the new carbs, it was running really rich. I removed them again and tried to adjust the floats and re-installed them, but I think I went too far in the other direction. She doesn't smoke anymore and I don't have any leaks. Most of what I've done is wiring and cleaning. I don't have a lot mechanical experience, just a lot of patience and stubbornness! :beg: I won't let the beast beat me and hopefully one day soon...... :moped: If I just had a little of Steve's skill.
Well first I would check the exhaust temp with a spray bottle to find which cylinder is the problem.

Next I'd pull the plugs and make sure you have even spark on all 4.
While they're out, do a compression check, looking for the cold cylinder problem. If you have real low compression it's all a wasted effort. Need to get that up first.

Keep in mind too rich will make the exhaust cooler as it cools any fire there is way down and probably flooding so there's NO fire. Flooding was the problem I had on mine. It would fire at idle and reving but lopey and rich exhaust smell.

Keep it simple. Check the basics first then you can move in for the kill.
 
One day at a time, clean everything, pay attention while you're taking it apart, and consult the book - or this forum - whenever there's a problem. If you can do computers, you can do Oldwings! They're just heavier and dirtier...
 
[url=https://www.forum.classicgoldwings.com/viewtopic.php?p=82162#p82162:7vk8ob1t said:
Steve83 » Fri May 24, 2013 2:03 pm[/url]":7vk8ob1t]One day at a time, clean everything, pay attention while you're taking it apart, and consult the book - or this forum - whenever there's a problem. If you can do computers, you can do Oldwings! They're just heavier and dirtier...
Thanks Steve. That is the way I have been doing it. With the modified poor boy for 1100's I printed out the whole link including all the pics and mimicked all that I could. Used some 1/4" X 3" flat stock and cut it out to the dementions the other guy had done with welding. Took a while with the dremel tool and it wasn't as pretty, but it worked.... I have changed all the fluids. The shocks don't hold air for more than a few days, but I can live with things like that. I have learned that Google is my friend and I visit my friend constantly!
 
[url=https://www.forum.classicgoldwings.com/viewtopic.php?p=82143#p82143:gbo7b3j4 said:
dan filipi » Fri May 24, 2013 12:47 pm[/url]":gbo7b3j4]
[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=82141#p82141:gbo7b3j4 said:
Ansimp » Fri May 24, 2013 11:29 am[/url]":gbo7b3j4]Definitely has a miss, you can pull plug leads one at a time to see which cylinder is letting you down. You can also feel the heat in the exhaust pipes and the cold one is the one that is not firing.
Yes that's good.
A spray mist with water at the exhaust headers helped me narrow down a problem I was having to the #2 carb
Did your spray mist test today, Dan. 2 & 4 instant steam. 1 & 3 not so much... That narrows it down to the right side. tomorrow I will try and see if I can narrow it down further.... If I have the floats set too lean on 1 & 3, would that cause them to not be as hot as 2 & 4?
 
[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=82539#p82539:2yka812n said:
stanlw » Sun May 26, 2013 7:51 pm[/url]":2yka812n]
[url=https://www.forum.classicgoldwings.com/viewtopic.php?p=82143#p82143:2yka812n said:
dan filipi » Fri May 24, 2013 12:47 pm[/url]":2yka812n]
[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=82141#p82141:2yka812n said:
Ansimp » Fri May 24, 2013 11:29 am[/url]":2yka812n]Definitely has a miss, you can pull plug leads one at a time to see which cylinder is letting you down. You can also feel the heat in the exhaust pipes and the cold one is the one that is not firing.
Yes that's good.
A spray mist with water at the exhaust headers helped me narrow down a problem I was having to the #2 carb
Did your spray mist test today, Dan. 2 & 4 instant steam. 1 & 3 not so much... That narrows it down to the right side. tomorrow I will try and see if I can narrow it down further.... If I have the floats set too lean on 1 & 3, would that cause them to not be as hot as 2 & 4?
More likely hotter......well it depends by how much toward lean.
I would set the floats to spec then verify how much is in the bowl.
I know that mine ran way rich with the fuel level in the bowl less than 2 mm too much. Too rich cooled the exhaust.
 
It's more than likely too rich causing the miss, but you could verify this by pulling on a little choke and if it improves then you are too lean.
 
Welcome from Canada. Your Wing is at least all together. Mine came in several boxes! Happy wrenching!!
 
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