Hello, I'm a new member looking for some help with my 98 across. Recently cleaned and replaced all jets in the carburetor start of this year, bike ran like a dream for about 3 weeks. At the end of Jan the bike out of the blue just refused to hold its idle and would just shut down. work that has been done on the bike. - carb has been cleaned and all Jets, seals etc have been replaced beginning on Jan 2014 (had 2 main jets stuck) - new spark plugs - fuel tank, filter and lines have been cleaned - new fuel pump (this was done around April 2013 when i brought the bike) I am having trouble stabling the idle/revs on my bike, Can get her going and set the idle at about 2000 (yes a little higher then the recommend 1500-1700 in the service manual. she was fairly warm at the time) bike runs okay for about 2 mins and then it drops off to nothing. If I give it a little throttle to keep it alive (2nd go at starting her) the revs then jump up and settle at 3000-4000 (no not holding throttle on lol). Eventually the bike slowly dies again after a few minutes, back to same issue. I have been looking for possible air leaks but can seem to find anything that stands out. (will keep hunting) Just a little confused as to why it's all happening after I was able to get her going at the start of the year. I have read many of the threads on this forum and checked a lot of the things it might be, now I have run out of ideas. any help would be great. cheers Jess
Jessica Sounds like you have done alot of the right things so very frustrating when it wont run right. One thing I didnt see mentioned is the setting of the pilot/idle/mixture screw..... ? .... this screw also has o rings. As for air leaks , take a very close look at the carb to manifold rubbers ...... you need to squeeze them 'open' as any cracks wont show just by looking In case u havnt already found them , the Resources for the Across are here ..... http://2fiftycc.com/index.php?resources/categories/gsx250f-across.44/
Thank you for the feed back. I did balance the carb (after 2nd clean two days ago) and set the mixture. ( all the way in and 1 1/2 out) Was running a little rich so they are about 2 turns out now from memory. The o rings on the screws are new (done when put the new jets in) I will pull it out again today and check the mainfold rubbers. Thank you again for the advice, will let you know how i get on. Cheers jess
Hey jess Welcome to the fourm, 1 1/2 turns out is correct for the carbs, but if its running rich then I understand why you have would them out another half a turn, where are your slide needles set to, you can use them to adjust the richness of the carbs ? You mentioned you replaced the main jets, did you by chance look at the pilot jets ? They could be blocked and be the cause of your issues. A simple fix might be the actual idle adjuster, have you cranked it up a half a turn ? The idle adjuster sticks out on the LH side of the bike through the bodywork, the rubber does give way and the idle adjuster can fall in behind the bodywork. here are few pics of the loctaion of the adjuster, carb specs and a cutaway diagram. thanks Chris
Hi Chris, thank you for the pics Slide needles? (yes having a girl moment... top or bottom of the carb..connected to? sorry just trying to visualise it) I replaced all Jets (pilot and main) sorry if I didn't word it properly, figured just do them all while i was there. with the idle adjuster, this has been a part of the tweaking processes for the bike, yet still hasn't fixed it. cheers jess
No 7 in the diagram .... the clip can be moved up and down to make it richer or leaner Scroll down this page to get an idea on how the needle works ... its for another bike but its pretty general .... or just google changing needle clip position http://kawtriple.com/mraxl/carb/carbadj.htm
Hey Jess Here is a write up on adjusting the needles from suzukiacross.org http://suzukiacross.org/2007/05/30/adjusting-the-carburettor-needles/ thanks Chris
Awesome thanks chris, Am taking a look the needles now. GreyImport.. I checked the mainfold rubbers and they look fairly new, not a crack in sight.
Okay here is an update. Pulled carby back out and adjusted the needles. They where on #2 so put the to factory setting of #3 as a starting point. Found a gap in the rubber that connects the air box to the carby, patched that up. Seal there is now tight.. Put everything back in and started up the bike, running smoother then before (put that down to the gap on the air box, small happy dance) However, bike running richer now and had fuel running out the bottom from one of the little tubes coming of the bottom carby. New problem Figured the float might have been stuck. ( had same problem when working on carbs back in jan, which it was and fixed that last time) Carby back out checked floats, both seem to be moving freely and are set at the standard hight according to the manual. Pulled needles back out and set them to #2 to lean it back out. Back together, sound check to hear the floats moving freely. All good and carb went back in the bike. Started okay idle felt stable but i still have fuel running out the bottom only when the bike is idling. Again still running richish. Am considering moving the needles to #1 but before i do i wanted to know if there is any other cause for the fuel to be running out? Cheers jess
Hey Jessica My first thought is needle and seat, needle could be old and not seating correctly. Don't worry, it's a common problem on most bikes. You answered my second thought which was float height, no need to go there. Keep us posted, nearly there.
Hey Jessica One other thing that comes to mind, the fuel pump. You mentioned in an earlier posting that a new fuel pump was fitted, was it an original Suzuki one or an after market one. Reason I ask is this, have had issues with after market pumps as they tended to pump more than the original thereby flooding the engine. Pump pressure on the Suzuki is critical, just checking.
Hi Phil, yeah it is a Suzuki part. All new parts that have gone onto bike (in carb etc) have been Suzuki. Update So I have just pulled the needles back out and set them to #1. Back it and bike runs but am still having the fuel running out the bottom. As the bike warmed up a little (the revs went from 2000 to 3000, still have set the perfect idle) the fuel stopped running out the bottom. After about a minute or so the revs dropped back down to 2000 and the leaking started up again. Below are some pictures I took of the needles before i moved them to the #1 spot. From looking at the little plastic bit on the top they seem straight and okay. Nothing like the dark warped ones I have seen online indicating they are no good. But happy to get other views on this considering this is all fairly new to me and not 100% sure of what i am looking at. The springs all had the same amount of "spring" in them nothing felt/looked off there These are the little plastic things I was talking about. They are a bit yellow but all the same shape. the black stuff just wiped off no problem. (sorry poor image) Close up of the needle with the clip set to #2 position (currently now in the bike at #1) All 4 needles as they came out set at #2 with the plastic stopper/spacers on top As they came out of the carby
Hi, Adjusting needle clip position is invariably a band-aid. As you can see the needle has a taper so as it rises it allows more fuel to flow into the carburettor throat. Moving the clip position effectively advances or retards the effect of the needle. Needle clip positions are always set at the middle; the factory having chosen the correct taper and needle jet (emulsion tube) to match the performance characteristics of the engine. Adjusting this clip to compensate for another problem is a bad idea and will lead to a compounding of errors. At the moment you have a flooding problem which is most often caused by the float needle and seat being blocked or worn (as Phil pointed out). Another cause could be the o-ring that seals the float needle seat. The only adjustments you need to make to the carburettors should be to ensure that they are in good running order, synchronized, and that the mixture screws have been set correctly. This is best done by ear with a hot engine; failing that use number of turns out. cheers Blair
Hi blair, cheers for the input Just to be sure are these the parts ( with little dome filter) i should checking out, with finer detail?
Have an update for everyone i replaced the o rings on the needle seat ( thank you blair for making me take a second look at them) and that seems to have solved the problem. I over looked these before due to the rubber being in fairly good condition. The new rings sat out a little past the width of the seat compared to the old ones.(minor aha moment) With the new o rings in place the seats went back in nice and tight. Time to take my little beast for a good, well over due ride. Thank you again for all the great input. I learnt a lot from everyone. Ps i also moved the slider needle clips back to original position.
Jessica So pleased to hear that your problem is solved. Time to clock some k's and enjoy your ride. Don't be a stranger, keep us updated on your Across.
