1st Generation Specific (1979-1985) 1979-1985 Discussion including performance modifications and technical support sections

Common cause of power loss on Nikki carbureted models

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Old 07-12-08, 05:59 AM
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Excellent. It would seem that for the first time since I've gotten this car, something is as it should be. I am pleased.

As for the choke issue, 75, the cable may be rusted out and sticking. THis happened to me a little while back. Take some WD-40 and spray the hell out of the cable. You should be able to find it fairly easily. It leads to the left side of the carb and it is covered by a rubber line. There is a small open section as you approach the carb. Lube it.
Old 07-15-08, 07:28 PM
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Just checked my carb, same deal! Too dark to fix right now, maybe I'll beat my son's vette in the next autocross.
Old 07-15-08, 08:07 PM
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Originally Posted by Jaime Enriquez
Just wondering...does an Rx2 carb have the same type or hookup for the secondaries?
Can't speak for RX-2 carbs, but the RX-4 and Cosmo Hitachi carbs I have are very different. They do have two return springs, but they are identical and are hooked to a stationary bracket. No tetter totter.
Old 07-17-08, 06:53 PM
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ON

I hooked it up correctly and can't believe the difference in power delivery. First time I have followed a performance tip and actually had seat of the pants results, makes you want to believe in the tooth fairy.
Old 07-17-08, 10:21 PM
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Just noticed my carb (now off the car) is missing the "teeter totter" bolt completely...could this be the source of my problem (see post titled "Help! '85 GS Rough/Hunting Idle/Surging") I documented the disassembly via camcorder just in case something like this came up...went back and checked and that thing was disconnected all along...guess one of the PO monkeyed with this stuff and lost/disconnected this linkage. I have a '79 w/ the same pivot bolt so I just stole it off of her for the time being and I'm about to reassemble everthing...let you know how it turns out.

What does this linkage affect? Anyone have a definitive answer?
Old 07-20-08, 12:04 PM
  #81  
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anyone know how to check this on a Holley carb?
Old 07-22-08, 07:14 PM
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Man, I thought my 7 was fun to drive before. I just checked this on my car and sure enough it was not pulled up to the fingers. For anyone who is interested below is an image from the carburetor manual showing the correct setting for it.
Attached Thumbnails Common cause of power loss on Nikki carbureted models-throttle-sub-return.jpg  
Old 07-23-08, 11:52 PM
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Originally Posted by RotorPoke
Just noticed my carb (now off the car) is missing the "teeter totter" bolt completely...could this be the source of my problem (see post titled "Help! '85 GS Rough/Hunting Idle/Surging") I documented the disassembly via camcorder just in case something like this came up...went back and checked and that thing was disconnected all along...guess one of the PO monkeyed with this stuff and lost/disconnected this linkage. I have a '79 w/ the same pivot bolt so I just stole it off of her for the time being and I'm about to reassemble everthing...let you know how it turns out.

What does this linkage affect? Anyone have a definitive answer?
Can't say that I have a definitive answer, but when I hooked mine up correctly I noticed a couple of things. 1) More noticeable power increase when the secondaries kicked in. 2) Smoother acceleration overall. The pedal even seems a little lighter in that before it was a little rough and felt like it had some resistance compared to now.

One thing that I noticed and would be a definite plus if you like doing burn-outs is that from a stopped position it seems like now it's easier to rev it up above 4000RPM real quick and take off. (had to have some fun
Old 07-24-08, 12:22 AM
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Hey

Wow mine is off to i should try it my power sucks after 3500 too.
Old 07-24-08, 12:43 AM
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Slack

Is it important to have slack?
Old 07-24-08, 11:00 AM
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Seeing as my carb is currently a real-life "exploded view" (rebuilding it), I'll see if I can reverse-engineer the impact of this. At first glance, it seems to just be an emergency throttle-closer in case the main throttle return spring breaks, but that wouldn't explain the reported behavior changes in the car.

Will post more later.
Old 07-24-08, 05:19 PM
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Good description of how my car responded. For the first time since I've owned the car I understand the attraction of the rotary, beyond weight etc. It's addictive.
Old 07-24-08, 11:50 PM
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Originally Posted by Elijah18
Is it important to have slack?
No, I notice that post as well, but when I looked in the carburetor manual the picture said not to loosen the T-nut so I just pulled up on the bottom spring so that I could tilt the front of the teeter totter down enough to pull the T-nut up onto the fingers. When I got it I could feel it kind of snap into place, and it's nice and snug. I'm thinking that they might have been referring to the actual accelerator cable that should have some slack.
Old 07-25-08, 09:33 AM
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Originally Posted by RotorPoke
Just noticed my carb (now off the car) is missing the "teeter totter" bolt completely...could this be the source of my problem (see post titled "Help! '85 GS Rough/Hunting Idle/Surging") I documented the disassembly via camcorder just in case something like this came up...went back and checked and that thing was disconnected all along...guess one of the PO monkeyed with this stuff and lost/disconnected this linkage. I have a '79 w/ the same pivot bolt so I just stole it off of her for the time being and I'm about to reassemble everthing...let you know how it turns out.

What does this linkage affect? Anyone have a definitive answer?
do you have mechanical secondaries? because mine does not have the teeter totter but i still have secondaries, what happens is that you have a semi hard spot about half way through the gas pedal, if you go past this spot your secondaries open up....that's the easiest way i can explain it :P btw you won't feel it when the car's turned off lol.
Old 07-25-08, 04:41 PM
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I am missing the "teeter totter" bolt on my 85 GSL. Any one have an extra one they can sell me?

thanks
Old 07-26-08, 03:23 PM
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Originally Posted by galco
I am missing the "teeter totter" bolt on my 85 GSL. Any one have an extra one they can sell me?

thanks
I may be able to get one for you, but I don't know when I'll be getting out the parts cars that I have access to next. I know there is a junked carburetor in the back of one of the cars, but can't say for sure what all is still on it. I'll let you know next time I get a chance to go out there and see if you still need it.
Old 07-27-08, 11:42 AM
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Originally Posted by grandgarson
I may be able to get one for you, but I don't know when I'll be getting out the parts cars that I have access to next. I know there is a junked carburetor in the back of one of the cars, but can't say for sure what all is still on it. I'll let you know next time I get a chance to go out there and see if you still need it.

Thanks. do keep me posted.

cheers
Old 01-22-09, 03:57 PM
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GOTTA REMEMBER THIS when i look at my next projects!
Old 04-13-11, 01:12 PM
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Bringing this up again - considering that this is a HUGE difference, and looks like a lot of us have had this tiny problem, I humbly submit that a link to this thread be put on the First Gen FAQ page.
Old 04-13-11, 09:19 PM
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I'm so pissed... i did not see any change up top but the idle is smoother and it back fires less and is does not surge as much (although this was one test drive). The surges are also much much less noticeable. All the looking i have done... and never even heard of this...

There any other items we should know about?
Old 04-13-11, 10:30 PM
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Originally Posted by Shadow2
I'm so pissed... i did not see any change up top but the idle is smoother and it back fires less and is does not surge as much (although this was one test drive). The surges are also much much less noticeable. All the looking i have done... and never even heard of this...

There any other items we should know about?
Are you running mechanical secondaries? If so, have someone step on the pedal and make sure they are opening. If you are running vacuum secondaries, switch to mechanical.
Old 04-14-11, 06:34 AM
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I'm just trying to keep the car on the road. I keep telling people i'm going to do a motor swap on the poor thing, but i have a GS and so i think i am just better off finding a gsl-se. The whole rear diff and front struts make the car very limited. But i will keep looking maybe some day i find a cheap parts car that i can drag home. But no mechanical Secondaries, and i still have all the emissions items.

I still think i am either missing, or maybe my shutter valve is dieing or hooked up wrong.
Old 04-14-11, 10:25 AM
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Originally Posted by Shadow2
I'm just trying to keep the car on the road. I keep telling people i'm going to do a motor swap on the poor thing, but i have a GS and so i think i am just better off finding a gsl-se. The whole rear diff and front struts make the car very limited. But i will keep looking maybe some day i find a cheap parts car that i can drag home. But no mechanical Secondaries, and i still have all the emissions items.

I still think i am either missing, or maybe my shutter valve is dieing or hooked up wrong.
I think the GS is only limited when compared to the SE when being placed in racing situations. For daily driving, you will never know the difference between the rear ends of the two cars. Same goes with the struts, unless you are autocrossing and take hard corners. If you find a GSL-SE, that is awesome and I would say buy it just for the fact that it is an SE. But I wouldn't spend time swapping out SE parts on a GS unless you need it for a race car.

You would be amazed at how much power your 12A GS has if you take a weekend and give her some maintenance. For starters, go the FAQ page and de-carbonize the engine. Then take off the carb, remove the rats nest, plug all the un-needed vaccum lines, re-build the carb and switch to mechanial secondaries. It's a couple days worth of work and less than $100 in parts but the return is amazing.

BTW, I removed my shutter valve entirely while doing the above recomendations and I never get backfiring or other associated problems.
Old 04-14-11, 10:07 PM
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I just don't feel the same. I have an open diff... and as far as i can see no way to change that. I am stuck with this horrid 4 bolt pattern. There just feels like no after market support for the sub gsl-se models. No EFI... there is a reason all new cars are EFI.

Now don't get me wrong, i love this car, and the 12a. I have driven it broke to school and back which was 86 miles one way. It has a 100k miles on the motor and it still feels "good". Every time it has broke it has been something i have done to it. It has never left me sitting on the side of the road. The car will just keep coming back alive.

I have just rebuilt the carb, but after reading sterling's walk through i think i missed some items. (lets be honest, just did it plain wrong.) So i think i am running rich. I also think with this change it will be much easier to set. My idle is much much smoother now. It was bouncing around so bad i could not get the screw driver on the adjustment screw.

I wish i had a good running 12a near me so i knew what i was aiming for. It is hard to compare it to my Rx8. There just too different. Still like the feel or the 7 better. Less grip, and less power but just feels so true. Really i would just be happier with a LSD.
Old 04-15-11, 07:07 AM
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Way to go off topic for this thread, LSDs on a Nikki thread...

Anyway, the other weekend I put on the RB street port full exhaust system and didn't notice anything great in power increase. I found this thread a little later and sure enough mine was off.

Once I fixed it, there was a significant feel of power.


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