This weekend i installed my K&N Power Kit and now i'm having carb troubles. On Friday i went riding after the rain we had. As i am crossing the pond, which i normally make it through fine, the Cat sputters to a stop, it's rack high. As i push it on to the bank i am able to get it going really fast, almost on the first crank. The thing is that when i pressed the throttle it would die. I could see the water spraying out the exhaust, even at an idle. After about 10 minutes at idle it would let me slowly increase the throttle, but then sputter and lose power and i would have to back off and it would idle good. Well after about a half hour or so i am able to get it onto the trail and drive, occasionally, while driving it would lose power and sputter, and i would stop let it work its way through then start driving again. It took a while to get home becouse it kept doing this. Well on Saturday i took it for a ride and everything seemed to be working fine and no more water out the exhaust, plenty of power and it didn't sputter once. On Sunday i installed my K&N Power Kit with little difficulty. Once the jet and new slide was in i put it back together and tried to find the fuel adjustment screw, which they tell you to turn 2.75 turns out, i couldn't find the screw so i put it back together and get it all ready to ride. I let it idle and warm up which it did smoothly, once warmed up i took it for a ride and at low rpm's she does fine and if i slowly apply the throttle she works fine but when i floor it from a stop she dies out as though she has water in her, but there isn't any, i don't think. I also checked the spark plug and it looks just like it had before installing the kit, so it's not running to rich or too lean. I was wondering if you guys would know what this could be? Is it becouse i didn't adjust the fuel mixture screw,becouse i couldn't find it? if so where is it located, becouse i can't find it based on the K&N diagram. I don't think there is any water in the carb becouse we drained it when we put the new jets in, so what could it be? Thank You for your advice![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

 

I would make sure my fuel lines and carb vent lines are free of kinks and tight bends first. Carbs rely on atmospheric pressure to meter fuel properly. The main jet should control the majority of your throttle. I don't think you can get a very good carb/plug reading if it isn't running well for most of the throttle range. I would go back to stock first and get everything working top notch first. Drain the fuel from the carb again and refresh the tank too. Run it for a few days and make sure it is all working right 100% of the time to eliminate anything else that might be causing the problem. Then find that adjustment screw and try your jet kit again. I tune engines all the time in cars and truck and I live by some advice my grand dad gave me, make sure it works first and then make small changes and evaluate. Don't go to big or too small to start. I'm always tempted to make a big change. Hopefully someone on here knows where to find the adjustment screw. Good luck!

 

If you had water in your exhaust, still coming out a half hour later after running, chances are you have water in the engine. Did you drain the oil, change everything out, replace it with all fresh fluids? You'll have to drain the carb too, as you say you did, and I'd drain the gas tank too-water will suck up into the breather tube, mix with your gas. I'd go back and pull your kit back out, drain EVERYTHING, make sure there is no water anywhere first off. You can run water in an engine to gain hp, though IN VERY SMALL QUANTITIES. We did experiments in an engines and tractors class by injecting water into a running engine to see the hp gains on a dyno-it was pretty cool with small amounts, a huge gain in hp because water does not compress or ignite-though when you put too much in, guess what-no more engine!

Anyway, drain everything first, replace all fluids, etc. Second, how did you check your spark plug before? If it is the same now as it was before you put it in, yet you say you can't get it to full throttle, that is not the main jet anyway. Your main jet is only in use during 1/2 to full throttle, and if you can't even get the machine to run full throttle-ie. it dies on you, you aren't checking your main jet reading by pulling the plug. Your idle and pilot are what operate up to about 1/2, that is what you are seeing with the spark plug. Did you pull the plug, turn the engine over with the plug out? If not, you need to do that, to remove any water that may be in the engine. Also, get a brand new plug to do the test with. Oh, also pull the plug to your muffler, elevate the front end a little, and try to blow out any other water or even carbon build-up that may be in your muffler-it will help it run better that way.

To do a proper plug check for your main jet, when the machine is warmed up, run it full throttle for a good distance. While running full throttle, and the gas full on, hit the kill switch to shut the engine down. Do not let off the gas till after you hit the kill switch. This will give you the proper testing for the main jet on the plug. From there, you'll know for sure whether it's lean or rich. Without adjusting anything, changing the jet, installing the K&N filter and with the pipe (did you get a pipe?), you may be lean, possibly needing to adjust your needle-if you have the adjustable needle type. The Keihin on my '00 Auto 500 does not have an adjustable needle, though you may use a different carb-I can't remember for sure.

If everything I've said has already been done, it is still running bad, cutting out on you when you get on the gas hard, that sounds to be too rich. A good plug check will tell you that, though if you can't get it to full throttle anyway, I don't know what to tell you. Put it back to stock, check that to see how it looks, make sure it's running good before you put the kit back on. That screw you're talking about adjusts the air/fuel mixture, and is located on the bottom of the carb, looking down into it. It is deeper down inside, so you'll need a smaller bit screwdriver.

BTW-I sunk my 'Cat in a river a while back, completely under my head even. There was water in everything, all the vent tubes to the gas tank, carb, etc., the carb was full of it, in the engine, everywhere. After thoroughly cleaning everything out, replacing all fluids, it is running great, even today. I just swapped my stock 150 jet out for a 140 main, and found it to be a tad bit on the lean side. I have both a 142 and a 145 sitting at the dealer waiting for me, so this weekend, I'm going to swap the 142 in to see how that does, if need be, I'll jump up to the 145-going a little at a time, till I get the perfect match. The combination of the new jet, running semi-synthetic blend oil and diff fluid, and thoroughly cleaning the tranny, my 'Cat is running better, smoother, and quieter than it ever has-even better than brand new. With a little patience and care, you'll get it just right. I got a TON of great help from several of the guys on here, I'm sure you'll get it all fixed up perfect in no time.

Best of luck,

Mike

Oh, talk to Boner if you can, and check out TexMudders site-he's got a great web page with tons of information on carbs, jetting, etc.