85 ALT 125 - Won't Stay Running

[atc007]

I pulled this quick off the interweb. I have a Suzuki manual buried away somewhere. But here is what I found quick.


I received my manual today, it's not the full manual but a supplementary service manual for an 87 LT125 (I'll have to order another one). It shows compression @ 142-199 psi with a limit of 114 psi (i assume this is as low as it can be). It does not show a gap but does show the magneto coil resistance, the pickup coil (blue to grd) is 130-200 ohms. The primarty coil (black/red or brown/black coming off CDI to grd) is 350 to 450 ohms and lighting coil (yellow/red or white /red to grd.) is .2 to .8 ohms. Hpoefully someone will answer your gap question because I'll going to order new coils for mine.

[TripleOG]

coolpool, as atc007 said.. The fuel is getting to the carb, because every time I remove it i have to drain it. And every single gas and vacuum line has been blown clear and checked for leaks. They're all good. Although I'm not quite sure how to check if my gas cap is plugged. While I'm at the hardware store I'll be grabbing a drill/socket adapter which I don't currently have. With that I'll be able to check the spark better.

danbur55 these are exactly like the quads except 3 wheels instead of 4.

[TripleOG]

I pulled this quick off the interweb. I have a Suzuki manual buried away somewhere. But here is what I found quick.


I received my manual today, it's not the full manual but a supplementary service manual for an 87 LT125 (I'll have to order another one). It shows compression @ 142-199 psi with a limit of 114 psi (i assume this is as low as it can be). It does not show a gap but does show the magneto coil resistance, the pickup coil (blue to grd) is 130-200 ohms. The primarty coil (black/red or brown/black coming off CDI to grd) is 350 to 450 ohms and lighting coil (yellow/red or white /red to grd.) is .2 to .8 ohms. Hpoefully someone will answer your gap question because I'll going to order new coils for mine.

I appreciate the information.. I'll check the ohms next time I get a chance to get out there and work on the trike. I have a few manuals, if you'd like.. send me your email and i'll shoot them over to you. I also have the condensed manual but I have a full one for all the variants of the 125/185. Actually I think it might be too big for email so I can upload it to google drive and shoot you the link.

Unfortunately, it has been raining here the past few days from sun up to sun down and I haven't had an opportunity to do anything regarding the trike. Look forward to getting back out there and getting this thing running though.

[danbur55]

Might be a crazy thought but you stated "it will run all day as long as you have throttle open" try turning idle screw in while on the throttle then while running loosen off that screw to see if it will idle. Also might try moving needle clip to a lower slot. My thought is ma e things are shut off internally not allow the proper siphon effect to run. Good luck

[TripleOG]

Might be a crazy thought but you stated "it will run all day as long as you have throttle open" try turning idle screw in while on the throttle then while running loosen off that screw to see if it will idle. Also might try moving needle clip to a lower slot. My thought is ma e things are shut off internally not allow the proper siphon effect to run. Good luck

I have already tried with the idle as high as possible.. figuring if I could only get it to stay idling, i could always turn it down. No go. And about the needle, I already thought to change it to a lower setting but haven't yet. Reason is.. I did have this thing running good at one point, and the needle is in the same exact spot that it was when it was running good. It's right where the manual says it should be. So, I'm gonna try a few things first once I get a dry day (should be tomorrow).. check for spark, adjust valves to spec and measure ohms.. if none of that works.. then I will try lowering the throttle clip down 1 notch.

[TripleOG]

Got out late today.. Got all the parts that I needed from the hardware store, but didn't have a chance to work on the trike today. For that reason, I ended up getting a bucket of chem-dip and currently have the disassembled carb soaking in it as I type this. I'll let it soak for approximately 12-16 hours before blowing it out with the air compressor and shooting some more carb cleaner through the ports. Hopefully all these issues are from some blockage inside the carb that I'm not getting to and the chem-dip will break it loose. Time will tell.

More updates tomorrow.

[TripleOG]

So, I was out there today.. for the past few hours. Cleaned the carb one final time after soaking overnight in chem-dip. Put it all back together and hooked it up. Hooked all the lines back up. Readjusted the valves and checked for spark. Put a cap full of gas inside the spark plug port, topped it off with oil. Tightened everything back up. This time I'm using a drill to start it. I switch ignition to On, put the drill on and pull the trigger.. it just rotates and rotates. It gives me resistance but doesn't start. I pull the choke, doesn't start.. I put it in winter mode, it doesn't start. I tried every combination except for putting starter fluid in it. It just doesn't want to start now.

I'm at the point where I either want to take it to a shop or sell it and try to recoup at least half of the money I've put in to it recently to try to get it started. It's a shame because thing thing used to fire up on the first pull, idle and run great. Then it would run but wouldn't idle, now I can't even get it started.

I really don't know what else it could be.

[TripleOG]

So I've been working on this thing a little over 2 weeks.. Here is my update.

I've got some good news and I've got some bad. The good news is that we've (I got my pop over here with a degree in engines for an extra set of eyes) ruled out Compression, Spark and Vacuum. The bad news is that it still won't idle. I tried putting a cap full of gas into the spark plug port and it wouldn't fire. I tried one last ditch effort with starter fluid in the air box.. It started up on the first pull. It ran until when we believe the starter fluids assistance wore off. So, at this time I am going to strike the earlier comment I made about it running forever once started. I now believe that I didn't wait long enough to see if it would die.

Moving on from here.. I am going to assume 100% that the Carb is at fault. As far as the carb goes, I've rebuilt it; shot all the ports out; let it soak overnight in chem-dip; shot it out again; and shot it out again. I believe at this point that something inside is malfunctioning or still clogged up. My question is.. Can anyone that's very familiar with this style or similar carbs (vacuum fed), shed some light on what port or ports could be causing me this issue?

From this point, I am going to once again dismount the carb and take it apart. I am going to let it soak in chem-dip once again overnight. Tomorrow I'll re-examine it again and I would love if someone could elighten me on any key components or ports that would be causing trouble like this. I usually give all ports a brief, thorough brushing with a toothbrush, but I'd like to know if I should be giving a single one more attention. Also, I believe I read either on this forum or one other that I take part in.. that someone removed the ball and retainer clip that's inside the primer and leads to inside the carb. I believe he said his wouldn't start at all or wouldn't run right.. so not exactly the same issue I'm having. Just wanted to know if anyone has heard or tried that method and had success with it.

[TripleOG]

It's ALIVE!!

I finally got this beast to start and idle on it's own. After letting the carb soak for 2 more days in chem-dip.. I once again blew all the ports out with compressed air. Took one final reading on the float (since I had it apart) and it was off by 4mm. So I got it back to spec. Put everything back together, said a little prayer.. and pull it a few times. Now she starts right up on the first try and purrrs.

Along with the good, must come the bad. So now I have a new issue. As I said before.. It starts on first pull and idles good, just to make sure i walked away from it for about 10 good minutes. Never even stuttered. The problem I'm having now is that whenever I give it throttle, she starts bogging down and stuttering. If I hold the throttle down, after a few seconds it will just die.

So my issues have completely reverse. Before I couldn't get it to idle, now I can't get it to throttle.

[TripleOG]

FIXED!!

This was my first time troubleshooting Any ATV like this. And I must say, I've learned a lot.

I don't know exactly what I did to fix it, but I can tell you what few things I did.. And I know that one of them fixed the issue.

I dismounted the carb once again. For some reason, I was suspecting one of the parts from the rebuild kit. And sure enough, when I put the pilot jets side by side.. they were different sizes. The OEM pilot jet was slightly smaller with slightly bigger holes.. and the air screw was also slightly smaller (the OEM screw). Everything else was exactly the same size so I left all the new components in. I put the OEM pilot jet and air screw back in. Also, before putiing the carb back together.. I removed the ball and pin in between the primer and carb itself. I read on this forum or another, that someone was having a similar issue (but not exactly the same as mine) and doing this fixed it. After that, I put the carb back together and remounted it back on the trike. After I pulled a few times, it fired right up. I let it idle for a few minutes and started to give it some gas.. it didn't die or even sound like it wanted to. She's back. I put the back fender and seat back on and took a few laps around the block. This it the first time this thing has moved on it's own power it probably 18 years.

I'd like to thank everyone that helped me along the way by steering me in the right direction and giving their 2 cents. It's much appreciated.

[Shep1970]

Great!!! They are fun bikes, if you havent yet change that oil and filter. I ended up putting a block off plate on my primer years ago,(oneway valve ball seized). It just takes a couple extra pulls to get gas up there. Again whichever issue it had, congrats on figuring it out.(probably jets or air screw).

[TripleOG]

Great!!! They are fun bikes, if you havent yet change that oil and filter. I ended up putting a block off plate on my primer years ago,(oneway valve ball seized). It just takes a couple extra pulls to get gas up there. Again whichever issue it had, congrats on figuring it out.(probably jets or air screw).

I'd really like to know the process of the block off plate, in case I decide to do that in the near future.

[Shep1970]

I think all i did was remove primer-
Traced outline onto piece of 1/8 aluminum plate
Drilled holes into new solid plate
Used the factory o-ring, i think one of the pics on first page shows it
Never had a leak, but the correct parts could always put back on
Cant remember but the little ball may still be in there????? (Long time ago)
Todays gas(ethenol) i think would destroy that thin rubber diafram in primer in no time.

[TripleOG]

So, we finally got some good weather this week.. The past few days I've been out ripping up the streets and trails. Today, at the end of my ride.. I turned around and noticed a lot of blue smoke. This wasn't there when I first started the trike and after revving it a little bit. I first noticed it after about 45min-1hr of riding. I heard there are 3 different colors of smoke. Black, white and blue. And each one is caused by something different. But I couldn't find a definitive answer for the blue smoke.

Has anyone experienced this issue and fixed it or at least figured out what it was?