185s carb problems

[jleebesaw]

hey guys. im new here and thought i would ask for your expertise on my carb issue. i just bought an 83 185s. it starts right up on the first or second pull. it idles ok and has what seems to be a normal throttle response. the problem is that anything over half throttle it starts running like crap. the guy i got it from said that it didnt run when he got it and that he cleaned the carb to get it going. he mentioned that there is a hole for a pin in the side of the carb that is worn and he thinks thats the problem. i dont know what hes talking about. its been a long time since ive looked at a carb on these things. i know its just a fuel problem because if i leave the choke in the middle position, it runs much better but idles very high and still lacks some power.
anyway, i havent taken the carb off yet or really done anything to it. i was thinking about buying one of those chinese ebay carbs for it. has anybody used one? i heard that they actually work pretty well. i may try to clean the carb myself aand see how that works. the guy i got it from didnt look like he would do a good job at it.
well, any advice would be appreciated and let me know about those cheap ebay carbs if you have any experiance with them. thanks.

[dustrunner]

i would take yours and inspect it and clean it..if it's missing a jet , get it the hole will have threads in it.....

[jleebesaw]

i dont think it would run at all with a missing jet. would it?

[barnett468]

Hello

Someone just bought a carb from amazon.com and said it worked fine. Yes its lean. No you are not missing any jets, it wouldn't run ever. Probably jut have too small of main or partially plugged main. Need photo of missing screw. I would try to fix this carb first.

[Worden18]

If you want to ride right now, buy one of those ebay carbs. I did, and it actually works very good. I have the same machine you do. Come warmer weather when I feel like working in my garage I will put a kit in the original and put it back in....

[dlmeyer0325]

I had the same problem on my 185s. there's an adjustment screw on the front bottom of the carb. ill have to get the specs from my manual but you need to adjust that screw as well as the side one. also check the fuel line. I had to put bigger line on mine

[jleebesaw]

thanks guys. i pulled the carb off today and took it apart. the slow jet was completely plugged up. to the extent that what i thought was full choke was actusally open. it would only run with the choke on full. i thought that i had problems with the idle speed screw because it was bottomed out, but i guess thats where the guy i got it from had to have it to get it to idle on full choke. what the ? lol. the main was pretty clogged too. i had to use plyers to get the idle mix screw out. i guess thats a good indicator of the job the previous owner did when he cleaned the carb. i just cleaned everything up and put it back in and it ran fine after adjusting the idle and idle mix. also, the c-clip on the needle was on the bottom groove. i put it on the second one from the top, thats what it said in the manual i believe. after that i adjusted the cam chain. i didnt even have to do the old 3mm screw trick. it actually worked on its own. anyway, shes running real nice now. now i just want a new plug and an air filter, shell be as good as new. by the way, i noticed that the air filter was gone and someone put a damn tube sock in place of it. i figured the slide was going to be scored badly after i noticed it, but it was actually in good shape. once this snow goes away i can go ripping around on it. the snow here in the adirondacs is still about 2 feet deep in the back yard so i had to test it out on the road.

[Big G]

Hey jleeb, what`s the old 3mm screw trick you`re referring to

[barnett468]

hello

jets plugged just like i said! glad it was an easy fix.

i've heard of those tube sock filters, do you know where i can buy one, lol.

[jleebesaw]

got to ride it today. i woke up and it was only 10 degrees outside after being up to 35 degrees yesterday. i fired up the 185 and managed to stay on top of the crusty snow long enough to get to the snowmobile trail. the wheeler ran great. its been a long time since ive bombed around on one of these. it only stalled once but that was after i stood it up on the rear bar after falling off doing a wheelie down the backside of a dirt pile. its so fun doing wheelies and stuff while running up small hills . when you roll over or fall of the back you dont get hurt because youre going so slow. one hour on this and im thinking of getting another 2 stroker and getting it running!

[jleebesaw]

big g. the cam chain tensioner tends to stop working on this after about 25 years. lol. to adjust it when it works, you just loosen the adjustment lockbolt with the engine running and it wil automatically adjust itself. then you just tighten it back up. if it doesnt work, there is another bolt threaded into the top of the adjustment lock bolt. you take that all the way out and then you can reach down inside with a 3mm(i dont recall the thread pitch) bolt and thread it into the adjuster itself. then, after starting the engine, you loosen the lockbolt and pull up on the 3mm bolt with pliers and then tighten the lockbolt back down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpoHh9EMhaU
i found this video on you tube that shows it perfectly. he has videos on the carb too. i should have looked on you tube the other day before i worked on mine. anyway, its an old trick that may have saved a lot of work over the years.