today is just not my day

[FJTillDeath]

Its sad day for Jesse today.

So the story, this morning I posted a topic about the bike smoking on oil. I recorded that the bike seemed to be fine unfortunately not so. Unbeknown to me my sudden burst of wfo throttle left one of my needle and floats open.

Funny thing is no petrol leaked from the bike for atleast 1 hour after I parked it at work. So I got to work, surveyed the smoke coming from the engine, and about 30 min after that I happened to walk past it and was still fine(8 30am) then later on this afternoon(3pm) I notice this huge ass leak and puddles under the bike(god knows how long it had been leaking for) my initail thought was that it was oil(due to the gasket) however when I got closer I noticed it was petrol and lots of it. I immediately asked my boss for the afternoon off to repair the damage. I tried to start the bike but it wouldn't turn at all. Eventually it did and sparked and started up however had to use the choke from letting it die.

It was leaking from the right most carb and quite clearly from the bottom most opening of the carb(the overflow -sorry if I'm incorrect)

Eventually I took the bike apart starting with the seat(one thing I've never told you guys is that the right side fairing is bolted to the tank-well it was until I found out it was actually glued and then that broke off) back to stripping the bike, I took off the tank and sure enough the carb was still bleeding heavily. I tried tapping on the heads of the carb but that never worked, so I had to take them out(oh brother this is where it started to go wrong)

I took the carbs off and unskrewed the bottom to set everything right once again, now the problem is there was a powerfailure and all my manuals are on my laptop which was also dead, SO I had to go from my memory of reading Andy posts about how to assemble the carbs) so I took off the bottom and things seemed okay so I put it back together to then test if I had fixed the leak(remember tons of guess work and a shady memory) while I had everything off I removed the tail part of the frame(and that's where shit really hit the fan) I wanted to remove the air box so that I could clean it out a bit(was mighty dirty with all the dusty oil about)and that went fine. Then when I tried to bolt the subframe back( I only removed its 2 bolts to remove it - nothing else, I struggled for an hour trying to wedge the frame back in place to get the bottom 2 bolts in) eventually I had success with the right side bottom bolt(had to hammer a bit) and the second one too(well sorta) u see I got the bolt through the metal piece that holds the foot peg and the tail part of the frame but I couldn't get it into the actual frame and ended up stripping the only socket I had for it)so now the bolt is sitting in only the foot peg metal pice and the tail frame. Otherwise I got the other top 2 blots in fine(the airbox is a bitch to remove and an even bigger one to put back)

Now the problem I am left with, I tried to put the carbs back so that I could test if all was well(it was gettin dark fast and there was no power) problem is I coudnt get the carbs to fit propery into the air intakes(the last time I took the carbs out my gfs dad had to put them back for me)so now its dark, the batteries for my torch are dead, there are wires I'm not sure if they are breathers or need to be connected to anything. In short the FJ is sitting outside with its carbs half attached in complete darkness(oh its under a cover atleast to protect the carbs - the tank still isn't on)

Sorry if this message is crappy its off my phone and as luck would have it is on the verge of dying as well so this is my last post til tomorrow.

Moral of the story stiCk to one thing at a time and make sure u can finish something u can start. I should have just taken the tank off and left it there. Oh I took pics of the condition of everything, the inside of the carbs looked clean but hey what do I know? Still getting them cleaned on the weekend. Even though I'll only be able to read this tomorrow has anybody got tips on how to make the airbox fit into the carbs easily? And easy way to deal with the tail part of the frame?

I'll sort out the fairings later and when I can connect everything up again I'll see if I actually fixed the initial problem-the fuel leak(smashing head against the wall)

No power, limited knowledge, limited tools, limited time and just pure rotten luck all add up to one big fail and a very sad FJer

Jesse signing out/passing out

[FJmonkey]

Then when I tried to bolt the subframe back( I only removed its 2 bolts to remove it - nothing else, I struggled for an hour trying to wedge the frame back in place to get the bottom 2 bolts in) eventually I had success with the right side bottom bolt(had to hammer a bit) and the second one too(well sorta) u see I got the bolt through the metal piece that holds the foot peg and the tail part of the frame but I couldn't get it into the actual frame and ended up stripping the only socket I had for it)so now the bolt is sitting in only the foot peg metal pice and the tail frame.

Jesse dude, you really need a 6 pack of beer or two and some relax time...I know, hard to do when your FJ is knackered and nothing seems to go right. I don't think I have much to offer on the carbs as I have only taken them off once and that was years ago. But I remember the tail section to get the air box out. If you need to do more than lift it back into place then you have something jammed, and it is squashed if you needed a hammer to line the fastener holes up. When you have light and time carefully check out what might be restricting the tail section from swinging back into place. Hopefully it is just some rubber bit and not wiring. Best of luck getting her back in the Kookaloo zone.

[FJTillDeath]

Thanks FJ monkey, unfortunately power didnt come back at all so this morning I was at it again trying to fit the carbs into the airbox with no luck.

As for the subframe/tail frame there arent wires stuck anywhere. The bottom 2 bolts should not have been removed in the first place, I would have been able to bend back the frame just enough had I removed only the top 2. For the bottom 2 I really should have disassembled the metal pieces that hold the foot pegs and I would have been able to line up the tail frame nicely without forcing it in anywhere(no rubber either - just pure metal to metal. I will try post the pictures later today.

She should be up and running by the end of today though when I get back home, as I said I just need to correct the bolt and fit the carbs properly in place, see if the leak is fixed and if not then kookaloo for an afternoon ride

Still looking for tips though. I have though about just gluing the fairing back to the tank like it was but now I am not so sure

[FJTillDeath]

Okay so I took a quick ride back during my lunch break and with a lot of trial and error I got the carbs to fit nicely to the airbox.

As it seems, no leak -yet-although I am hoping I did fix it.

One thing troubles me slightly though. I connected everything back as I think it should be, fired the bike up and sounded good at a standstill. Now I havent put the side fairings back yet as I still have to repair the connectors of the one. When I started the bike and the drove it off back to work, everything was roughly fine until I hit just over ~3700rpm and I hear a noise from the bike that sounded like uhhh "zzzzzzzzzzz" until I changed gears and got into a lower rev, then again when I got to the 3700-4000rpm mark the bike made the same noise. I didnt really do a thourough test but it seems the bike only makes this reatrded sound at the given rpm mark. Perfectly fine under it. I really dont know where the soice of the noise is coming from but it sounds maybe like its coming from the front. Any ideas as to wtf is going on??

As for the bolt i couldnt get back in it turns out I cross threaded it, luckily I had another one of the same size(just not the head part) which worked perfectly.

[Sideburns]

I'm not saying this is your problem, but FJ's have the tendency to resonate around that RPM.
Try and find where the sound is coming from

[cyclenutk75]

When I started the bike and the drove it off back to work, everything was roughly fine until I hit just over ~3700rpm and I hear a noise from the bike that sounded like uhhh "zzzzzzzzzzz" until I changed gears and got into a lower rev, then again when I got to the 3700-4000rpm mark the bike made the same noise. I didnt really do a thourough test but it seems the bike only makes this reatrded sound at the given rpm mark. Perfectly fine under it.

Is your FJ an '89 or later?  On my 89 the plastic trim that covers the choke and fuel reserve switch on the side panel between the fairing and the tank buzzes in that rpm range.  Never did it until the last time I had the tank off.  I had removed that side fairing panel, too.  Seems when I put it back on, it didn't line up exactly as before, and the trim piece isn't perfectly centered.  My right mirror buzzes, too.  Drives me nuts.  Good luck.

GT

[FJTillDeath]

Its an 85 1100. The sound if I can more accurately describe is like something spinning(metal on metal) but a buzz sound. I can really locate it other than its coming from infront of the seat onwards towards the dashboard.

I think it would be a problem as its never done it before.

Anyway I gave it to my dealer(the exhaust I ordered is supposed to be in today soo they are gonna fit it and check out the sound when they take it for a test ride. I am also inclined to think the sound is coming from the exhaust itself-if it is then my exhaust system instantly went SUPER bad.

I took a look at everything and saw that I had put everything back correctly(the pipes breathers) except there was one cable that was meant to go on the inside of the frame that is now on the outside of it. Doesnt look like its the problem so I am leaving it until I get new pod filters from  Randy(still gonna order) to put it back on the correct side.

The only other source I can think of is the throttle cable. when I was putting things back I accidentaly put the tank incorrectly on the cable and caused it to stick, took it off though and it seemed fine?

As is said It only makes this spinning buzzing sound after the 4k rpm mark when I actually twist the throttle open..

[Arnie]

My wild ass guess is that your "spinning/buzzing" sound is an exhaust leak.

Arnie

[Sideburns]

A friend of mine has 3 FJ's
One of which is an old one that was falling apart when he got it.

He has since only topped up the oil and looked after brakes, tyres etc.
No extra/other preventative maintenance to the engine.

6 years on, this bike is still running.
Uses some oil (did that already when he got it), but other than that no problems
His motto with this bike: "leave well enough alone"

maybe a way to go with this bike?

[FJTillDeath]

Update! and finally some GOOD news!! My new exhuast has been put in, I recieved the tensioner gasket from Randy, I fig :rofl:red out why I was getting the buzzing sound and also know wh the bike just died.

I will start a new thread for the gasket and the exhuast though.

With regards to the noise(buzzing whirring or whatever, my fuel tank is not mounted correctly and my gas cap is the part rattling when it hits the rpm range I mentioned. My dealer took the bike for a ride and pointed it out to me. I then rode it put my one hand on the cap when i heard the noise and the noise was gone. Dealer said all I should do is stick some rubber or double sided tape on the sides of the fuel tank which will soften the vibration. As far as I can tell the cap is the only thing making the sound, so I want to ask if I might have another problem on my hands? Dont see why as I have never messed with the cap.

As for why the bike just died. My dealer explained to me that I had mounted the breathing pipe on the fuel tank incorrectly(The guy I had asked to put the pipe back actually put it back wrong as I was holding the tank up, but anyway), I also spoke to my one friend knuckles about it and he told me all I needed to do was to open the gas tank and it would have been fine.

I am just glad that things are starting to fall into place and most of the major problems are being sorted out, thanks for everybody who has put in input and taken the time to listen