Bringing FJ out of hibernation

[zz28zz]

Hey everyone! New guy here with some FJ questions.
Bike is an 84 FJ-1100. Bought it in 1991 with a FZR-1000 front-end (forks/wheel/brakes) already swapped on.
Not long after buying bike, a guy next door to the shop I worked at, sold me a Kerker 4 into 2 exh, K&N individual air filters (air box was removed) and jetted it. He sounded like he knew what he was talking abt in the beginning, but after a couple of trys at jetting he said he didn't have time to tune it anymore. 
Bike ran pretty good but the gas mileage dropped considerably and there was a considerable flat spot at 3K RPM. I tweaked the idle mixture and installed a washer under each needle clip which improved the flat spot. Never messed with the jetting any more. Rode the bike fairly regularly up until around 2006, then parked it.

Fast fwd to present: Removed tank, removed fuel petcock and drained tank. Didn't see any rust, old fuel still smelled like gas (I'm pretty sure I put stabilizer in before parking). Disassembled carbs and cleaned everything. Verified float levels.  New gas.
Installed new batt. Bike fired right up. Idled perfect. Everything seemed fine until I went WOT in 3rd gear. Starting at around 6-7K rpm, engine misses/stutters. It still accelerates past 7K rpm, but not like it used to. 5th gear roll-on is strong and very smooth.

Pulled plugs and they look OK. Pulled cam covers and measured valve lash between .004 and .006" on intake and between .006 and .008" on exh, so I think that's OK. Can't find my compression gauge, but I think it is OK.

Now for the questions:
Any thoughts on next course of action for high RPM miss?
Anyone have recommended jetting for a 4 into 2 Kerker on a 1100?
Any suggestions for turn signals that only work when they want to?
Anyone switch fluid types for the clutch? I'm loosing case paint beneath the clutch slave cyl!! (Would like to try hyd oil, but afraid seals might not like it)

Thanks in adv for sharing any info,
John C.

[fj11.5]

did you take out the emulsion tubes , all the small holes in them could be blocked with dried fuel , , as for indicators , could be dirty connections or switch contacts

[rktmanfj]

Anyone switch fluid types for the clutch? I'm loosing case paint beneath the clutch slave cyl!! (Would like to try hyd oil, but afraid seals might not like it)

When I swapped to a YZF750 clutch m/c & braided line last year & rebuilt the slave , I also filled it with DOT5 fluid, which won't eat paint

So far, so good.

[FJmonkey]

Welcome to the club, as you can already see we are a helpful bunch.

[yamaha fj rider]

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like you have a nice FJ. The problem sounds like, something still plugged in carbs. Did you sync the carbs after the rebuild? Jetting help contact Randy at RPM. Hope this helps.  http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=69.0

Kurt

[oldktmdude]

  G'day and welcome John. You can't use hyd oil in the clutch master and slave as it will destroy the seals. My advise is to buy a seal kit (RPM Randy is a good source for them) and fix the leak. You could use Dot 5 as has already been suggested. The miss at 6-7k rpm could be as simple as plugs breaking down but sounds like a dirty carb condition. FJ11.5 might be on the right track with the blocked emulsion tubes. May also be partially blocked main jets, low float levels also springs to mind. Hope you get it sorted soon so you can enjoy the Kookaloo feeling again.  Regards, Pete.

[zz28zz]

Thx for the replies guys. Lots of good info already. I didn't pull the emulsion tubes. I've lost track of how many times I have cleaned the carbs since I owned this thing and never pulled the emulsion tubes. Maybe it's time..
I usually go thru a whole can of B-12 cleaner during the clean and follow-up with compressed air thru all the passages , but this last time I only had an ounce of two of B-12 on hand and no air compressor, so I did short-cut it a bit.

I didn't sync the carbs. I recently moved and my home-made manometers got tossed-out. Need to get another set. Which brings up another question, what do you think abt vac gauges VS monometers? I saw a mechanical gauge set on PRM's site, but I've always used manometers.

The clutch slave cyl is holding for the moment, but will get some seals coming. Does the sys need to be flushed to install DOT5 fluid or just drained?

[FJmonkey]

Randy likes his gauges for syncing, flush out all traces of dot 3 or 4, the cleaner the better. Replace every year, dot 5 will not abdorb water and prevent rust.

[zz28zz]

Took a stab at the turn signal issue today while my clutch master cyl woes have the FJ out of commission.

After pouring over the schematic and taking some voltage measurements (so to appear that I knew what I was doing),, I discovered if I tap on the flasher relay I could get the turn signals to work. Verified connections were clean and came to the conclusion the issue resides within the relay box.

Decided to try my elec repair skills and began to disassemble the relay. Released the locks on both sides and the end-cap came off easy enough. I see a coil and a relay, oh this looks promising.. My enthusiasm quickly diminished as I tried to remove the PCB from the case.

They really don't want you to remove that PCB. Figuring I had nothing to loose, I persevered. Sliced the bottom of the case on both side and peeled off the bottom side below the PCB. It was glued on really good. Then discovered, towards the back of the relay, everything is encased in glue. With patience running out, I tried one last time to separate the board from its' enclosure. PCB broke in half.

I'm now hunting for a replacement flasher relay.

If someone wants to try repairing one,, good luck!!

[fj11.5]

have one here , I'm in TASMANIA so postage may be expensive if you can't find another ,  , as for the indicators, I swapped my standard 84 switches out for xjr ones , anyway the brass contacts bend away from the contact points of the switch so no matter how clean they are they only worked when they wanted too

[I make oil]

Contact Randy at RPM.  You'll be amazed by what he can get you.  He recently got me a brand new right side '86 mirror.  It's so nice now I have to get the left side to match.  If it's out there he can find it and for a reasonable price. 

[rktmanfj]

The clutch slave cyl is holding for the moment, but will get some seals coming. Does the sys need to be flushed to install DOT5 fluid or just drained?

I've swapped all my my bikes over to DOT5, following the recommended procedure from Motorcyclist magazine several years ago, which was to flush the system with contact cleaner.  No problems, so far.

[zz28zz]

I did a little research on the subject of swapping to DOT5. There was conflicting info abt what to use for the flush agent.
Haven't heard of using contact cleaner. I'll be going back with a completely dry system. Suspect I can just install the DOT5.

Have you been replacing the fluid every year?
I've heard it doesn't absorb moisture that accumulates in the system and can cause corrosion if it isn't replaced annually.

[fj11.5]

maybe it could be flushed with .5 before filling and bleeding and blowing it out with compressed air ??

[rktmanfj]

I did a little research on the subject of swapping to DOT5. There was conflicting info abt what to use for the flush agent.
Haven't heard of using contact cleaner. I'll be going back with a completely dry system. Suspect I can just install the DOT5.

Have you been replacing the fluid every year?
I've heard it doesn't absorb moisture that accumulates in the system and can cause corrosion if it isn't replaced annually.

I've never had anyone tell exactly where they think that water is going to come from.  If the system is properly bled, there's no water there for sure.  If water were getting there from the outside, then you'd think there would be a problem keeping it bled, because air would surely be getting in, right?

The stuff was developed for military and other vehicles that might see long periods of storage between uses.  I've never found any water in my brakes and no problems with them.

The FJ clutch might be an exception, since I can see where it might draw water in past the slave cylinder seals.  We'll find out this fall, since I need to service the slave cylinder soon.

No, I don't change out the fluid every year.  YMMV