83 200 wont idle very long

[tri guy]

Hey all. Im sure this question has been asked 1000 times before. I bought a non running 1983 red 200. I got it running again even though it had very weak spark. So I cleaned out the carb good , blew out the carb orfices w/a air compressor but this thing still acts goofy, like the RPMs stay up for a bit even after I release the throttle to shift to a higher gear. I call it fluttering ? I checked for vacuum leaks all over with carb cleaner so that's out. When its sitting it will idle good for a minute or so then slowly dropping RPMs until it dies. >>ALSO<< I had to fully seat the idle mixture screw to obtain the highest idle . So do I rebuild the carb? Would the weak spark affect the idle? The gas is new, the air filter is clean .Im just STUMPED What do you suggest? Im so happy to get this thing running but now kinda bummed I cant get it purring like it should be Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

[Bear E]

Sparkplug alwas helps ..cheek the trotilcabal

Sent from my LGL31L using Tapatalk

[ironchop]

In my experience, carb cleaner never really cleans a carb good enough and neither does blowing out the jets and orifices if it's ever had fuel set in it for a long period of time. It takes a long time to get fuel varnish to loosen up sometimes. I boil my carbs in water on the stove and I add about 1/3 lemon juice to get them clean after removing the jets (which get boiled too) and all gaskets, plastic float, and rubber parts (which don't get boiled).

The only time you usually need a rebuild kit is for new floats, float needle valve, and orings behind the air screw or the bowl gaskets. As someone here mentioned before, jets don't wear out, they just get clogged with crap....I've bent a slide needle before and used that out of a rebuild kit but it's rare.

I've had carbs I "cleaned" with solvents thoroughly twice over, blew them out with air and turned out to still be plugged...which is why I started boiling them for 45-60 minutes so I only have to do it once. I've also put new clean jets in a carb I thought was cleaned and it still ran like crap until I boiled it.

Your other option is there's a guy on here who cleans them ultrasonically for a fee which is probably even better than boiling.

Point is, don't be surprised if your carb clean job didn't cut it the first time. They're a pain in the butt sometimes.

As for dropping idle, one thing to check is pull your fuel cap off and see if it still drops off and dies. Those have a vent on top that can be manually closed if I recall correctly your vent could be closed or not working properly and it's cutting off the fuel supply to your fuel bowl on the carb once you get a vacuum inside the tank. Blow air into the tank thru the petcock too, in order to make sure it isn't clogged as well and slowly choking off the fuel bowl.

On that carb, is the air/fuel screw on the bottom or the side? The bottom style is a fuel screw and not air if I recall correctly (I could be wrong so I hope someone corrects me if that's the case)... anyway you should figure out which if you want to correctly diagnose the carb issue. If it's fuel from the pilot jet, you've cut it off completely by screwing that all the way in closed in order to get the idle to come up would indicate that you're too rich somewhere else.

Make sure you didn't accidentally turn the choke on. I've done that once.

Check the float height! It has way more of an effect than people realize and can make you run lean or rich.

A carb has to be absolutely certain of being clean or any and all adjustments to the fuel/air screw would be chasing a ghost and aggravating you



Sent from my Z958 using Tapatalk

[tri guy]

Wow ! That's the THOROUGH answer I was looking for!! I will check it out and post the results! ( or continuing issues ) Also the screw I had to bottom out was the one right in front of the float.( scewed in upside down) Thank you

[tri guy]

OK Ive been messing with it for a WHILE, so far the biggest contributing factor has been the CRUD in the TANK. Cleaned that all out good. ( got a wad of rusty gas tank crud blown in my face! Fun! ) Now Im looking at to why there is air pockets in the fuel line ? ( see thru fuel lines of course ) Would a bad cap vent cause that ? I am getting so close to getting this problem FIXED!!

[350for350]

A bad cap vent could be the problem. To check this, just leave the cap off and run it to see if you still have bubbles in there.

[tri guy]

OK, you've convinced me to try my hand at "carb soup" Question ,Is the only small rubber O ring under the idle mix screw and one larger one where it attaches to the jug? Just wondering before I start cookin ! Thanks again. Im really hope this will work!

[tri guy]

WELL I boiled the carb it for an hour, it came out super clean! Blew everything out, put it on ,and it still idles down to where it sounds like a hit and miss engine ? Or maybe like a two lunger John deere tractor...I don't know what else to try …..

[ironchop]

Check the o-ring in the intake manifold where it bolts up to the head for cracks or flat sports of you haven't already

Sent from my Z958 using Tapatalk

[tri guy]

Check the o-ring in the intake manifold where it bolts up to the head for cracks or flat sports if you haven't already

Sent from my Z958 using Tapatalk[/QUOTE]


Will do . I will also test for a vacuum leak there with carb cleaner. Question could it be the throttle slide O ring on top of the carb? Also Does the e-clip location on the slide have ANYTHING to do with the idle? Ive got to much (time) invested to turn back now !! I am SO close !! I Will let you know if this helps ! Thank you!