Carb synch

[mikefootusa]

Hi all, new member here.  Came to recently acquire an '85 FJ1100 off CL and got the usual "carbs need to be synched".  He had just put her down on the right side and put the brake pedal through the clutch cover...thank God for JB Weld...lol.

Just got her back together this morning and got oil in her and got her to start after just a few cranks...but she sounded horrible.  Pulled the tank off and pulled the plugs.  They were gapped at .026 and per manual should be .031-.035...regapped.  Then I discovered the PO had cyl wires for 2 & 3 reversed.  Sounds much better...but it has popped off the right dual pod from a slight back pop.

My question is this...are these the vacuum connections on the carbs to hook the synch tool too?

On my Nighthawk 750 this requires unscrewing ports in the head and threading in tubes to connect the synch tool to.   Sorry if this sounds stupid...but my synch tool sits new in the box as I never felt the need for it after a bench synch made the NH purr.

[yamaha fj rider]

Hello Mike, the vacuum ports are on top of the intake manifolds. Please post something about your self and the bike in the introductions section.

Kurt   

[movenon]

Welcome Mike. Looks like you have a project. Lots of help here and tons of good information. As Kurt said the ports are on top of the carbs. Looking down on the carbs , to the front side, you will see 3 black rubber caps and one rubber hose going forward into the fairing. Those are the vacuum ports. The rubber hose going forward is for a vacuum sensor which sends a signal to the ignition system for advancing the timing.

Looking closely down in that area you should also see 3 adjusting screws. On the left side one to balance the 2 left cyl and one over on the right side to balance the 2 right cyl and one in the middle to balance the left bank to the right bank.

http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=2032.0

Looks like your rear shock has been modified from your picture. Ask questions as you go there is lots of help here. Also as Kurt said go up to the Introductions and tell us a bit about yourself. What part of the world are you located in Mike ?

Oh, and no stupid questions.   Asking first is the way to go.
George

[andyb]

Reversing the HT leads for the 2 and 3 cylinders (the middle pair) won't make any difference.  It's a wasted spark system with two coils, so they fire each plug a pinch before TDC between compression and the power stroke, but also on the exhaust stroke, just before overlap. 

The FJ isn't too bad to synch.

That said, I wouldn't bother just yet.  You know the bike went down and doesn't run well.  And prossibly sat awhile between going down and running again.  That means that you should take the time to pop the carb rack back off, pull the bowls off, and do some work first.

Give the carbs a good cleaning, paying particular attention to the pilot circuits (both the teensy jets and the passageway to where the mix screws are).  While you're in there, get the numbers off the jets so you know what your baseline jetting is.  Also look at the condition of the diaphrams on the slides, the type of needles installed (adjustable ones on a US bike aren't original), and the clip position on the needles (if applicable) and/or the amount of washers shimming the needles (if any).

The FJ is pretty cheerful about running nicely over a surprisingly wide range of jetting setups, but it gets cranky in quite a hurry about having dirty pilot circuits.  Once you've got a known good start in the carbs, and have your air filter working as you want it (be it pods, dual pods, stock, or modified airbox), then you can throw a synch into the carbs and get nice results.  Depending on the mileage, it isn't a terrible idea to pop the valve cover off and check the valve lash, and replace the grommets around the shouldered screws that hold the cover to the cam covers... if they don't leak already, they're going to eventually, and they're fairly inexpensive.

Once you've gotten it running properly, then the floodgates start to open for upgrades... but there isn't much point in a fancy suspension, wheels, paint, or whatever if the thing isn't running like it should oughta!

[mikefootusa]

Thanx for all the advise guys...bike came with a spare rack of carbs that look spotless.  Supposedly it didn't sit for long after the PO went down...he still had the bandages on his palm at the time of the purchase.  I put 4-5 oz of Seafoam into a half tank.  Going to try to hook up the carb tune one night after work.  I know I had to go into my Nighthawk carbs three times before I got it right...won't skimp this time around.

Will post up something about myself in Introductions when I have some time.

[mikefootusa]

The "stable"