Kawasaki Zephyr Rough Running

Hi all
Any pointers as where to begin? 1100 is rough as a pig on the righthand pot
coughing and spluttering alot. Happens all through the rev range tickover or
flat out. Exhaust does get hot so it is obviously going bang in there every
now and again. Can I rule out the coil with it being fed by two different
ones? I guess with the other trhee cylinders running sweet I can rule out
timing. I know reading this is pointing me in one direction but does anyone
have any ideas that I can try before I take the carbs off . If it comes
to carbs off time is there anything in particular I shold look out for? If I
can sort out this missfire that will be me a happy boy for the summer!
Cheers
Trev

 

Swap the righthand and left hand spark plugs. If the symptom moves to
the left hand cylinder, it's a defective plug.

If that doesn't locate the problem, add about 5 ounces of Berryman B12
Choke and Carburetor Cleaner to a full tank of gasoline and ride the
bike until the solvent cleans the crud out of the ports and passages
of the carburetor.

B12 is handy because it comes in liquid form in a 15-ounce can.

If you can't find B12 in a local store, use a clear aerosol carburetor
cleaner like STP or GumOut and spray it into a small container so you
can measure it into the gas tank.

Don't get any on your paint, it contains acetone and toluene and
methyl alcohols.

 

It probably isn't the coil if it's just the one pot, but are you *sure*
it's just the one cylinder? Defective coils are, um, deceptive, and the
symptoms you describe are exactly the same as my old air-cooled GT750
Kawasaki shortly before a coil died.

If you're certain it's just the one cylinder, swap the plug to another
pot. Then the plug cap. Then swap the coil. See if the fault transfers.

Ignore Krusty's blathering about carb cleaner unless the bike's been
laid up for a long, long time.

 

its got two plugs per pot and the ht leads come from different coils id have
to look at the book to know which feeds which. The bikes new to me but I
know it has been stood for a while as the mileage was 10446 in 2000
according to the mot sheet ive got for it its now just short of 12000 so I
guess its been stood a long while.its had loads of work for the mot

2 tyres
back shocks
chain and sprockets
new exhaust 4into1
rear disc
Which do point to some time off the road. So its carbs off time then ho hum
if theres one thing I dont like to fiddle with its little things with
pingfuckits inside!
Thanks all
Trev

 

Oh yes, so it does. I forgot that. It's not going to be a duff plug,
then. Odds are against it. ISTR those things run quite happily on one
firing plug, although you lose efficiency. For *both* plugs on one
cylinder to be duff...

...well, it's possible, but unlikely.

One coil will feed pots 1&4 (counting from the left) and the other will
feed 2&3.

Thing is, if the fuel had turned stale it would probably have gummed
more than just one carb. I really would check the ignition side of
things first before you start pulling the carbs.

 

I'm not thinking straight tonight.

It's looking increasingly likely, but we don't actually know that it has
been sitting for all that time. It could have done 100 miles a year or
somesuch - that would keep the problem at bay. It's just odd that it's
only one carb.

When my 750 cooked a coil I was *convinced* it was a fuelling issue,
because it only seemed to afflict one pot, at least initially. It
started running onto three, intermittently. When the coil finally cried
'enough" and two cylinder died, it was obvious, of course.

 

If it's really just one cylinder, it's unlikely to be a coil but
could be in the coil lead. to the spark plug. I don't
know how well or badly a dual plugged engine
would perform running on one plug only.

Assuming one coil sparking two cylinders using a
wasted spark setup, you ought to be able to read
continuity from the end of one plug lead through
the coil to the end of the other lead. If you can't,
there's a problem.

Could also be a carb or compression problem of
course.

 

I wouldn't pay much attention to "The Older Gentleman" if I was you.
He's not that much older than you and he's no gentleman.

If you go along with him, he'll have you kissing his arse and
apologizing to him before you're done.

Carburetors plug up after only six months from the gasoline turning to
gum and varnish.

That plugs up the little ports and passages, especially single port
that aligns with the idle mixture screw which is under the carburetor.

I believe that you are talking about the ZRX1100 in this case.

http://www.bikebandit.com/houseofmo...00c3-us-1999-carburetor-parts/o/m4676sch76701

92066 is a plug that conceals the idle mixture screw in countries that
are concerned with air pollution. The plug can be removed by drilling
a tiny pilot hole by hand, then screwing a sheet metal screw into the
plug and pulling it out with a
pair of pliers.

The next step is to screw the idle mixture screw all the way clockwise
until it just stops, counting the turns and writing the information
down.

Then you can remove all four screws, keeping them separate. Don't lose
the tiny o-ring, spring, and washer.

Once the idle mixture screw and the pilot jet # 92064 have been
removed, you can spray aerosol carburetor cleaner through all the
holes.

If you look at the intake bell mouth of the carburetor body, you'll
see two round holes. Squirt carburetor cleaner through the smaller
hole and it should squirt
out through the hole the pilot jet came out of, the hole the idle
mixture screw came out of and it should also squirt out of three small
holes near the bottom of the throttle butterfly.

Sometimes it's necessary to hold your fingers over the idle screw hole
and the pilot jet hole to get the carb cleaner to spray out of the
three holes by the butterflies.

When you reinstall the idle mixture screws, assemble the spring,
washer and o-ring on the mixture screw and gently screw it in until it
just bottoms out.

Then back the screw out the same number of turns you wrote down when
you removed it and your idle mixture screw is back to the original
factory setting.

 

My money's on TOG being an obnoxious arsehole.

 

Bwaaahahahahahahaha!

And with so few words, you manage to screw up again.

The clue is in the header.

 

Doesn't matter, the information I gave about how to clean out
carburetors is
generic.

 

No, a 4-bbl carburetor won't work right on a small I-4 engine because
the
intake port velocity wouldn't be high enough. That's why I-4's have
had individual carbs on individual intake ports since Heck was a pup.

 

BAsed on what you said in this post you have a lean condition. Carbs!
Just pull the carbs and clean them out WELL.

Clay

 

Oooh, *nice* swerve.

 

Projectin' again pig fucker? You forgot to mention he has more
experience than you.

Well yeah, real men apologize when they screw up. It's part of being
an adult, something a loser like you wouldn't understand.

Oh really little liar? It does? Gee I guess you are lying again. Laid
up the bikes this winter without bothering to use anything except fuel
in them. Guess what? Soon as the ice was gone I went out and started
them up. Ran just fine with no problems through the whole range. One
is brand new and the other is older than dirt.

No nothing in the carbs, sat for some time without being touched in an
unheated garage where the temprature got below -20F on more than a few
occasions. huh, did hurt the coolant in either, didn't hurt the
batteries, carbs never gummeed up and frankly your assertation is
hokum.

 

Won't do you any good to sweet talk me, you'll never toss my salad
with your
pointy tongue.

 

They might gum up in a really hot part of the world, where the fuel
volatiles can be counted on to evaporate quite fast, but it really
isn't a problem in Britain (where the OP is based). And in cold
weather it's even less of a problem.

I've encountered gummed carbs, but invariably on very old bikes that
haven't been used in a number (like a lot) of years. My own Honda 400
Four tends to hibernate in winter, as does the Ducati, actually, and I
never get a problem.

When I do get severely gummed carbs, they're so bad that pouring some
magic goo in really won't do the job. Most recently, I had a carb
ultrasonically cleaned, as this was the only sure-fire method of
fixing the problem. Trouble with Krusty is he thinks his experience
is Universal Truth, when the only truth is that he just doesn't have
any experience worth counting, and any that might be useful is based
on his experience with a 30 year-old air-cooled Suzuki.

 

Blow me.

My Yamaha isn't 30 years old, and I have to clean out the carburetors
at the
beginning of every riding season.

 

Do you have a comprehension problem? You live in California, where the
sun shines hot and long. And I said (and you snipped):

"They might gum up in a really hot part of the world, where the fuel
volatiles can be counted on to evaporate quite fast, but it really
isn't a problem in Britain (where the OP is based)."

Interested question: why did you snip this? To make it seem as if you
know what you're talking about? To make it seem as if I don't? To fuel
an argument? Enquiring minds and all that sort of stuff....

 

Look you waste of carbon. I spoke the truth and YOU. You lying
igonorant sack of hippo shit continue to spread like diarhhea.

I suggest you take more of you drugs and contemplate your life as a
drug addicted chickenhawk.

obtw...howzit feel to be a never was?