iwantmybustorun wrote:RSorak 71Westy wrote: You need to learn about your carb
YES, exactly. I will take a look at removing that main jet tomorrow morning.
My fuel filter is brand new. I just replaced it before I left CT. In fact, I also changed the fuel hose before the fuel filter. Colin had mentioned that the hose I had from my gas tank to the pump had diameter that was too large. Could that have changed the amount of fuel getting to my carb or wll the pump still push the same about of fuel?
Gypsie wrote:
I am getting the inkling that you are describing enriching the "idle mix" and not the "operating mix".
Yes I was talking about enriching the idle mix. I thought that was what Colin said to do in his post. So I gave it a shot.
Gypsie wrote:
Just for clarity, you are saying that, (with the vac advance pinched off) when the engine reaches 3200 you are at 28* and it will not advance any further with an increase of rpms above 3200 rpms?
I would not be surprised if, at hiway speeds, your engine is near 4000 rpms. maybe I am wrong, but if this is the case then you want to know what your timing is at these rpms. in another thread there seems to be some discussion about the advance curve maxing out above 3200 rpms. Just want to be sure that you are checking for 'full advance' no matter where that is on the rpm scale. It should be somewhere between 3200 and 4000 rpms. You want max advance (with no vac) at 28*.
My rpms are below 4000 on the highway if I stay below 70-75 mph, which is usually the case. When I checked the timing I did bring the rpms up past 3400 with no vacuum.
Gypsie wrote:
If you have a infrared surface temp reader (
http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... JsBEPMCMAU) Can also be found at most HVAC suppliers, home depot, and flaps
You could double check though finding the proper location to get a read is difficult. (I have pointed it down through the spark plug hole for a read.
good luck.
I just bought a "cheap" one of these for $40. I drove it down the road and by the time I could pull over, shut the engine down and run back there to pull the spark plug wire on #3 the temps read 350 on my VDO and the infrared gun read 352 as a MAX temp it found while pointed in the spark plug hole. I will try and test that again tomorrow as well as look for another main jet for my carb.
I can't thank you guys enough for sticking with this. Your feedback is sooo greatly appreciated.
I say rip the damn gauge out.
Go get the engine "horribly hot" again. Pull over. Smell the engine compartment. Check the dipstick temperature. Check your valve adjustments cold, and pull all the plugs to look at their color in the morning. If your senses do not find a problem, if your feeler blades do not find a problem, if your plugs are black on the outside ring and grey/tan/ a little white is OK on the porcelain, I say
you don't have a problem. Most importantly, if your plugs are not dusted white
on the outside perimeter, particularly if they are still black, and if the porcelain insulator is not bleached white, drive! drive! enjoy the day! to hell with the VDO gauge!
Note too, that if the ring terminal on your CHT plug allows any blowby whatsoever, the temp will skyrocket, it is like the difference between a shuttle reentering the atmosphere with hot ceramic tiles and a shuttle reentering the atmosphere
missing a hot ceramic tile. Any black soot past the ring terminal or on the side of the plug outside of the combustion chamber, and you have a little combustion air leak that is blasting the terminal. Is #3 plug a different color than the others?
I ran 460* with RandyInMaine's VDO gauge in the Road Warrior from San Marcos to El Centro CA and couldn't care less! I knew my engine! It was happy! Dipstick was easy to touch! Rocker boxes smelled like good clean hot oil, no burnt stench. Valve adjustments never changed! My laser thermometer read 750*-900* on the exhaust pipes after I climbed out of Death Valley in the 125* ambient.
Just make sure that your timing is correct at 3,000-4,000 rpm, your mixture is decent (plug color at shell), your oil level is good and the dipstick is not branding your finger with a stripe of burnt flesh, and
use your senses to ask the engine how it is enjoying the day. P.S. IS IT HOT OUT? If it is 90*-100*, your engine will run hotter.
ColinStupidGaugesRuinEverything
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles