Just early this week I picked up myself a 1984 GS. It has clutch problems and starting problems.

Clutch I believe just needs a slave cylinder and a bleeding.

It will start if gas is poured directly into the carb. I pulled the fuel lines out, and saw that fuel is indeed getting to the carb.

But it looks like this.
Normal on the left, what ever is in the tank on the right.





Also, I don't thing the tach or gas gauges work.

 

Drain the tank, refill and try again

 

That's plan! I just need a hose long enough send it into another container. I just hope that the tank is actually empty, and not just the gauge working improperly.

 

The tank has a drain plug on the bottom towards the drivers side. Just put the car on jack stands, place a bucket under the drain plug and remove the drain plug.

 

I did not know that.
Thanks!

 

Over the weekend I was able to wrench on the 7 a little.

I started by tearing out the interior to get to the fuel pump connector to disconnect it. There was more rust than i hoped. But this isn't a build thread, so i won't go into detail.

I removed the fuel pump as I didn't hear it humming/running. After I "accidentally" dropped it, I managed to get it to work again.
Some fresh gas into the tank (Which was VERY empty) and I was able to start it up.

Now the problem is that I can get it started without the choke, but it won't stay running if I don't play with the choke/throttle constantly. Does anyone have any input/advice?

Also I didn't realize how much amperage it took to turn these motors over.

 

1. Replace fuel filter if you already didn't.
2. Test to make sure fuel flow to the carb is adequate. Just unhook the hose and
see how long it takes to get 1.2 gallon in the jug. Should be 30 seconds or
something like that. I don't remember the maths but you can figure it out. Just
make sure the flow is good and strong.
3. Run some seafoam through the tank and see if it clears out the carb.
4. May need to rebuild the carb if it won't idle. Could be gunked up from old gas
sitting in it.

 

Replacing fuel lines, cleaning tank and installing new sock on pickup, and rebuilding the carb are or should be part of the price of admission to the new 12a owners club.

 

I'm almost positive that the fuel flow is good. It's pumping quite a bit of gas. (Will fill a 500ml water bottle in a few seconds)

I'm wary of the seafoam treatment. I know people have done it in the past with success, but I'd rather just take the carb off and rebuild it.

I think that fresh gas should be adequate enough to clean the tank out. It's already helping.
Fuel lines could definitely be replaced, same goes for the filter.


Are there any carb rebuilding how-to threads that someone can lead me too?

 

As in...

 

If you google 'the wayback machine sterling metalworks' you'll find a great one. The same information can be found on this site, but mostly in bits and pieces. Reading is a wonderful gateway to knowledge.

 

You dribbled some Molasses in your carb right before that shot, didn't you. lol

 

About that consistency - - very tarry & was all through the carb. Took a lot of soaking in solvent to get it really clean.

 

Still looks tasty. Which solvent did you use? I'd imagine simple brake cleaner could soften it up some. But the carb death dip would be my guess.

Hmm, thinking about it, my broken 6 port manifold had some molasses in it too. It came off with brake cleaner. Then I used engine degreaser and other stuff to clean it up.

 

I used both. I wish you could still get the old-school mutate-your-genetic-material carb dip; the modern stuff doesn't work very well.

 

Rebuild the carb and replace fuel filter. Don't bother with anything that's not rebuilding the carb. In the end, all will fail and you will rebuild it. Sterlings write up is very good. Welcome to the club.