SuzukiSavage.com - have a slight issue i need help with

ohio thumper

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have a slight issue i need help with
10/01/10 at 16:07:16

heres my situation. the savage ran good till i ganked into the throttle and then missed 2nd gear. it started popping and backfiring and now it won't stay running. i got it to run for about a half mile, then it died. it acts like its not getting fuel. i turned the petcock to prime and tried running that way and it got me almost home. after a minute it fired back up and got me in front of my house. here are the things i have done to the bike. tank off and cleaned. carb off and cleaned. in-line filter. air mixture is out about 1 1/2 to 2 turns. valves were adjusted a few days ago. decomp piston was adjusted at the same time. have installed a sportster drag pipe but didn't rejet yet because it ran fine and eliminated the previous backfiring that i had. still have stock air box on it. any help or advice into the right direction on how to fix or what to fix is greatly appreciated

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ohio thumper Full Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 154	Re: have a slight issue i need help with Reply #1 - 10/01/10 at 16:08:11 oh by the way its an 86 savage
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Serowbot YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline OK.... so what's the speed of dark? Posts: 29292 Tucson Az Gender:	Re: have a slight issue i need help with Reply #2 - 10/01/10 at 16:13:48 ohio thumper wrote on 10/01/10 at 16:07:16: ran good till i ganked into the throttle and then missed 2nd gear. That might not be slight.... I'd start with a compression check...
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ralfyguy Serious Thumper Offline Posts: 932	Re: have a slight issue i need help with Reply #3 - 10/01/10 at 16:19:50 Sounds like you blew the motor.
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Phelonius

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Re: have a slight issue i need help with
Reply #4 - 10/01/10 at 16:53:16

I'll bet it won't even go into 5th gear. Those 86s had a serious problem with that.

Have you tested to see how far it will compress a lung full of air?
Put a screw driver into the sparkplug bootie and held it while you try the starter?
One test will tell you if the upper end is damaged, the other will tell you if there is any spark.
If both these test out OK then it is the fuel or crabulator at fault.
Diagnosis is simple, just eliminate all possibilities until you find the one that won't eliminate. It is the guilty one.

Phelonius

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Re: have a slight issue i need help with
Reply #5 - 10/01/10 at 17:16:07

Phelonius wrote on 10/01/10 at 16:53:16:

Put a screw driver into the sparkplug bootie and held it while you try the starter?
Phelonius

Phelo, what are you doing?... This guy's already having a bad day... you gonna' shock the sh!t out of him?... Shocked

...
... only Phelo checks for spark that way, 'cause he's got no feeling in his extremities anymore.... Shocked

...

I'd say check for compression first,.. if you don't have a checker, just pull the plug and hold your finger over the hole while you crank, and feel for pressure...
Then put the sparkplug into the plug wire and rest the tip of it on the engine fins, crank and see if you see spark (it probably won't show very bright)...
... if you have both of those,... breathe a sigh of relief and get back to us... Wink

...

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verslagen1

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Re: have a slight issue i need help with
Reply #6 - 10/01/10 at 17:33:39

OK, assuming you did all this stuff prior to the problem and it ran good for a while before this...

How many miles on the bike?
Have you ever checked the cam chain?

go with the basics, fuel, air and fire.

Fuel, open the drain on the bottom of the carb and see what comes out. Water would be a problem, so have a small bowl ready to catch what's there. It should stop at about 4 oz. then go to prime and you should get more. If it don't could be a stuck float, take a screwdriver, use the handle to tap on the bowl.

Air, not much to check, clean air filter is all, or dead cats in the airbox. That would be a problem.

spark, take the sparkplug out or use a spare, plug it in and hold it against the head, you should get a nice blue spark between the teeth if you place your hand on the engine. yes I would concider using insulated pliers.

Also, if the battery is weak and drops bellow 10v while cranking, it's not going to start.

(Yeah I did just copy and paste what I wrote last week, hey it was good stuff and he found the trouble right away)

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ebonysresearch Junior Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 93	Re: have a slight issue i need help with Reply #7 - 10/01/10 at 17:41:47 Did he just say "Dead Cats"?
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Phelonius Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 1897	Re: have a slight issue i need help with Reply #8 - 10/01/10 at 18:20:00 No shock , no fun. Besides, he might get a charge out of it. phelonius
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Oldfeller--FSO

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Re: have a slight issue i need help with
Reply #9 - 10/01/10 at 19:21:53

It's gonna be a long long winter if we are already getting bored and strange acting ....

Huh

The boys are hoping you haven't munched your cam chain tensioner and slipped your cam timing due to the resulting slop in the cam chain.

They are getting you to check all the "other" stuff first, as slipping time is very rare (durn near non-existant) -- as is bending the valves due to excessive float.

More likely your wonky stock vacuum actuated petcock has done gave out on you but it is gonna take them like 16 zillion tests removing all other items to get down that far ....

Grin

(you did say it ran better in prime and got you home, right? And it is acting like it isn't getting enough gas?)

I've gotten funny about mystery bad performance stuff -- jest go ahead and replace your stock petcock with a Raptor and then tell us what the symptoms are after doing that.

A bad petcock mocks so many different strange things that it muddies the water so badly we can waste weeks of your time and our time "helping" you chase non-existent butterflies.

And its not like you won't wind up going there anyway .... eventually.

note -- you are not the first person who "cooked" his motor due to overheating or "blew it up" due to over-revving that wound up jest having a bad petcock diaphragm.

Now, so you can feel better about the accidental over-revving -- the Savage engine can take a lot more of it than you would believe possible.

I know one guy who routinely revvs his up until the valves float in second and in third gear -- he did it again today as a matter of fact. He wangs his bike harder than you did with your missed shift, he does it ROUTINELY and the bike survives jest fine.

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Serowbot YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline OK.... so what's the speed of dark? Posts: 29292 Tucson Az Gender:	Re: have a slight issue i need help with Reply #10 - 10/01/10 at 19:32:00 Oldfeller--FSO wrote on 10/01/10 at 19:21:53: The boys are hoping you haven't munched your cam chain tensioner and slipped your cam timing due to the resulting slop in the cam chain. I knew I was thinking something.... ...
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ohio thumper

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Re: have a slight issue i need help with
Reply #11 - 10/03/10 at 12:01:25

i have compression, just don't know how much. the bike has 14750 miles on it. going for the raptor petcock. its starting to get cold here anyways so i guess its time to start it for a winter project. oh and it did start again just backfiring alot. goin thru carb again and drilling the jets. thanks for the advice everyone, im sure i will have more questions as time goes by.

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BurnPgh

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Re: have a slight issue i need help with
Reply #12 - 10/03/10 at 13:14:25

pop the right side cover off asap and check your cam chain and tensioner just to be sure. You'll probably need a new chain and/or verslagen's modified tensioner with your mileage. Do not start it again until you've checked the chain/tensioner. If the chain did jump time you might have gotten "lucky" and maybe it only jumped one tooth. Maybe not enough to crunch the engine but it would be enough to screw the timing up and make it backfire alot or generally run like crap. If that's the case then its only a matter of time before you ruin the engine if you keep running it.

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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: have a slight issue i need help with Reply #13 - 10/04/10 at 01:56:45 I wouldnt hit the start button again, till I knew the cam chain was okay.
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ohio thumper Full Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 154	Re: have a slight issue i need help with Reply #14 - 10/04/10 at 05:30:04 i have it torn down, so there is no firing it up. getting ready to take clutch cover off to look at cam chain and tensioner. they looked fine when i had it apart 2 weeks ago but it could be a different story now.
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