1986 Ambulance revival

[ribbert]

I hate to agree with Noel............

Dave

Awww, come on Dave, it's not that tough. It makes you stand out from the crowd.

Noel

[JPaganel]

My avatar is the actual Jacques Eliacin Francois Marie Paganel, Secretary of the Geographical Society of Paris, Corresponding Member of the Societies of Berlin, Bombay, Darmstadt, Leipsic, London, St. Petersburg, Vienna, and New York; Honorary Member of the Royal Geographical and Ethnographical Institute of the East Indies.

[ribbert]

My avatar is the actual Jacques Eliacin Francois Marie Paganel, Secretary of the Geographical Society of Paris, Corresponding Member of the Societies of Berlin, Bombay, Darmstadt, Leipsic, London, St. Petersburg, Vienna, and New York; Honorary Member of the Royal Geographical and Ethnographical Institute of the East Indies.

That's a very impressive CV, but he still looks miserable.

Noel

[rlucas]

Awww, come on Dave, it's not that tough. It makes you stand out from the crowd.

Now that's funny. 

My avatar is the actual Jacques Eliacin Francois Marie Paganel, Secretary of the Geographical Society of Paris, Corresponding Member of the Societies of Berlin, Bombay, Darmstadt, Leipsic, London, St. Petersburg, Vienna, and New York; Honorary Member of the Royal Geographical and Ethnographical Institute of the East Indies.

That's a very impressive CV, but he still looks miserable.

Noel

He's probably thinking about what a pain-in-the-ass it is to recite all that when someone asks, "So...who are you, again?"

[JPaganel]

Bloody hell.

I was all set to get the carbs back in. Got them mounted, put gas to them. And got steady stream of gas out the vent tubes on # 3 and4.

It didn't do this at the seller's, so I'm guessing I bent a float when cleaning.

On the other hand, it runs smoothly and returns to idle.

Ugh. 

[JPaganel]

So, that fuel line.

Apparently, it's developed a kink in one of the tubes going from Y to the carbs, just while sitting. This does not bode well.

I found something on eBay that I think should fit the bill better - 5/16 ID/12mm OD (yes, that's how it's listed) Viton tubing. They sell it for $20 a meter. The dimensions look like an exact match for the OE hose. Viton is good stuff - carb parts made from it hold up well. 

Meanwhile, I might have to put in a couple of elbows.

[56 CHEVY]

Jpaganal,
I did away with the factory routing 20 years ago on my 86. I run a longer line from the petcock down between the center two carbs where the aircleaners go and put the Y fitting underneath the carbs. Then rotate the inlets down and run the two lines up to them from the Y fitting. No kinks...ever and I run automotive fuel line.
Here is the best pic I can get without pulling the tank.

[56 CHEVY]

Shit...the pic is upside down. You get the idea. I hope this helps.

[JPaganel]

Chevy, I might give that a try. I did order the Viton hose already, though.


So, carb issues are squared away. 


HOWEVER.


I put the carbs on, buttoned it up, it started, ran. I decided to do a synch, shut off the bike and went to get the manometer. Come back out, bike doesn't start.

It will crank, but not catch. Have air, have fuel, ran two minutes ago... Must be spark. Sure enough. The spark is so weak, you can barely see it. I figured the coils warmed up and that made them go out. Swapped coils from the old FJ - no effect. Spark is still close to non-existent.

I am guessing I have a connection somewhere that heats up and gets some resistance going. Not quite sure what to do about that yet. Maybe a fat wire direct from battery to coils and a relay?

[Urban_Legend]

Hey

I had similar issue with my FJ. With the new lease on life you have given the carbs, your plugs could now be getting over fuels, this happened with mine. I thought it was an electrical issue. Did all the test, checked the resistance and ohms etc. Turned out that I needed hotter plugs than standard (I had replaced with new ones with out checking what was in the bike already, took 2 days to figure this out.) Put in plugs I grade higher and fired first go. Been running sweet ever since.

[JPaganel]

Aaaand...

Resolved.


The reason spark was weak was bad ground. I am guessing that a lot of the relay coil mods are compensating for this.

I put a jumper (fancy word for a random piece of wire I fished out of a box) from the ground terminal of battery to a bolt on the frame. When I touched it to the frame and cranked, it got hot and the bike started.



So, I yanked the ground cable, cleaned terminals, and for good measure made the jumper from the battery to frame permanent.





It runs.

[fj1289]

It runs.

[ribbert]

......I did order the Viton hose already, though.

JP, you seem reluctant to take advice on this subject (having already been given a solution)

Viton is rated very highly for ethanol but KINKS easily.

Also, if that jumper earth wire is taking the load, cranking the starter is going to melt it (that's why it got hot!). Have a look how thick the standard one is.

Noel

[JPaganel]

When I said I made the jumper permanent, I meant I made it out of 10 gauge wire with ring terminals.  I don't think it's taking the starter cranking load, it's taking the coil load. Starter cranking would have melted that tiny 18 gauge test jumper.  I think the real issue is connection between tail frame and main frame. Also would explain the massive voltage drop when using turn signals.

I'm reluctant to go with the standard parts store hose because I tried it before and had trouble with it not fitting, hardening, and generally being a pain.  I am going to have to do something other than that polyurethane line I tried, though. It proved to be problematic already, being a royal pain to get onto the petcock and kinking.  I have a couple of ideas bouncing around.

Incidentally, is there a reason that the splitter has to be a Y and can't be a T?

[FJmonkey]

Incidentally, is there a reason that the splitter has to be a Y and can't be a T?

The line routing can be altered to suit your comfort. So a T vs. a Y is not a problem as long as it all fits under the tank and allows the fuel to flow. The air box adds to this challenge as it eats up some room that could be used for alternate line routing. If you find a way to make it work and it does not affect your safety then I say go with it.