#2 Cylinder Finicky at Low RPMs

[NotSoLilCrippseys]

After running quite well and reliably for about a year, my 82 GL1100 started some rough going behavior a couple weeks back. It seemed to coincide with some heavy rains, but the bike was covered. I'm probably just turning coincidences into possible causes with that comment. Probably it was something else.

I'm getting the primary chain rattle type thingie on launch, and some rough going (under load) up to about 3k rpm. Much above 3k and things smooth out and run normally. It's a rocket (ok, not really, but she scoots like normal) again by 3500 rpm. Rolling at 2k or 2.5k rpm with traffic is smooth enough, though I can feel something amiss (a miss...) or "chuggy."

This is a new thing for the bike. There was no engine wrenching prior to noticing the issue. (I've been busy on other bikes - ones I'm not riding daily.)

Last week, I changed the oil and checked/adjusted valves (stone cold in the early AM). All were pretty close to spec - I adjusted a couple to bring them all to .006 but left most alone - and there was no issue in the oil change.

Also, fuel was really low around the time I noticed the issue, so I thought maybe I was having a bad gas scenario. (That's still possible.) I refilled (just under 5 gallons, so a pretty fresh tank) and added a bit more Seafoam than your standard maintenance amount - but not a bottle. About 50-75 miles later, it's still an issue. (No surprise, really.) It might actually be getting worse - creeping up above 3k rpm - but that's likely my imagination.

This AM, I decided to check the carb sync. (Why? Chain rattle behavior.) Things were not that far off, but I played a bit to get them closer to pulling the same vacuum as #3. (3 was low, 1 was high, 2 was a little high - but all right in the shop manual's definition of synced.)

I also noticed that exhaust header for #2 was cold-ish. OK. It was hot because it's in the sun, but it didn't get sizzling like #1, 3, 4 after a minute or so after start - at idle speeds. (OK. No fire or sporadic fire in the #2 hole!)

I pulled the plug. Nothing particularly odd there. I tested it, and I have consistent, good spark coming from the wire through the plug. The plug-to-wire connection seemed a bit sloppy, as compared to the fit on #4, but that's not new. Thinking maybe there's sporadic loss of spark due to vibration, I secured it a bit better.

Thoughts?

• Clogged jet that delivers fuel from idle up to about 3k in carb for #2?

• If so, Should I expect have to pull my carbs and inspect to have any hope of finding the issue?

• I'm 98% certain that the issue started about 5 days before I did the valve adjustment, but would an intake slightly too loose yield this behavior? - It's easier to check valves than to pull apart carbs, but easy-to-hard isn't always the best order of operation

• Would Seafoam even help clear a clogged idle or low rpm jet if I'm riding the bike well above 3k rpm?

• Maybe I put in a bit more Seafoam and gently ride in that sub 3k rpm zone for most of a tank - maybe that's a waste of time/effort/gas/Seafoam.

• And maybe I just bite the bullet and budget a couple hours to pull the rack, clean the jets in #2, and see if that solves things.

Probably not related, but I noticed that the bolts for #2 intake were looser than the others - tight but not torqued. I noticed a little "blackish" dirt/grime/soot around the connection from intake to head - could just be road grime. I cleaned it off and tightened down the bolts a bit. It didn't solve either my cold header or stumbling behavior on launch.

[Whiskerfish]

You can try the easy stuff certainly. Seafoam and make sure the intake boots are very tight at full operating temp. almost sounds like a sticky slide. if you can hold it in the spot where you feel the issue then give the choke a quick out and in sometimes that vacuum surge will change things. For a sticking slide a bandaid may be some MMO. if that provide relief then a slide is the issue.

[redglbx]

My thoughts,

You can just chase ghosts hoping to find a magic cure or just pull the carbs and clean them, all ! What you are experiencing sounds like a plugged idle/low speed circuit, a clean and properly functioning 1100 carb idle circuit should be able to have carb cleaner sprayed into the idle jet and come out of the idle mixture screw hole with the idle mixture screw removed, easily ! Seafoam or any carb cleaner will not fix a plugged circuit, no flow so it can’t clean it.

You need to take take the carb cleaner can “straw” and sand one end down to a point so you can put it down into the idle jet and squirt. Protect your face and eye’s as it can shoot back into your face & eye’s.. Also you need to check that the idle hole in the throttle body that the idle screw goes into is free and clear

While you have the bowls off clean everything including all the jets and their corresponding circuits. Just clean, clean,clean and once YOU think it’s clean, clean it again !

Once you are sure that you have the carbs clean and reinstalled then you need to check the plug caps, if you still have the oe Bakelite caps they have resistors in them that should measure less than 5k ohms when measured across the plug cap. Now myself, I have taken to just removing the resistors and replacing them with apiece of heavy solid copper grounding wire ( some use a cutoff #10 screw ) and then just run the correct spark plugs in a resistor type, you probably need new plugs anyway, right ?

With all that said, all of my GL’s will easily & smoothly pull down to under 1000rpm and smoothly pull back up in 5th gear. No chatter, or chugging unless something is not right !

Pull & clean your carbs !

[flyin900]

My thoughts,

You can just chase ghosts hoping to find a magic cure or just pull the carbs and clean them, all !

You need to take take the carb cleaner can “straw” and sand one end down to a point so you can put it down into the idle jet and squirt. Protect your face and eye’s as it can shoot back into your face & eye’s.. Also you need to check that the idle hole in the throttle body that the idle screw goes into is free and clear

While you have the bowls off clean everything including all the jets and their corresponding circuits. Just clean, clean,clean and once YOU think it’s clean, clean it again !

Once you are sure that you have the carbs clean and reinstalled then you need to check the plug caps, if you still have the oe Bakelite caps they have resistors in them that should measure less than 5k ohms when measured across the plug cap. Now myself, I have taken to just removing the resistors and replacing them with apiece of heavy solid copper grounding wire ( some use a cutoff #10 screw ) and then just run the correct spark plugs in a resistor type, you probably need new plugs anyway, right ?

With all that said, all of my GL’s will easily & smoothly pull down to under 1000rpm and smoothly pull back up in 5th gear. No chatter, or chugging unless something is not right !

Pull & clean your carbs !

The possible clue is when you indicated the gas was very low in the tank. Once you pull through some crud into your carbs fresh gas and Seafoam isn’t likely to cure a blockage.

Check the electrical wires and caps first as the easiest check, if not off come the carbs. If your still running the old spark plug caps from the 80’s, even though they seem good a new set maybe in order.

[NotSoLilCrippseys]

Thanks, all.

Good news: Whatever it was, the ghost is gone.

I was thinking idle/low speed jet clog, but perhaps sticky slide was the thing.

After posting my query, I took her out for a couple rides to catch some waves. (It's the only bike I have with a surf rack on it.) The ride to the beach was as rough as it had been before. At some point on the ride home, though, things smoothed out. Today I put about 25 miles on the bike running out to the beach and back for a couple surf sessions. She's back to where she was: no rattle on launch, no chugging below 3k. Just normal, smooth power through the rpm range. This morning the #2 header warmed right up alongside the #4, so we now have reliable fire in the hole. In total, I think I'm somewhere around 100 miles into the tank with the stronger dose of Seafoam.

I'm running new plugs (6k miles), and I pulled and cleaned the carbs 6k miles/12 months ago. And I put in a new fuel filter as well. Sticky slide or semi-clogged idle/low speed jet, it seems to have cleared out/loosened up.

I swear it seems that these Hondas have a way of fixing themselves if you run them. (Obviously, that's not really the case. Or is it?)

If it happens again, carbs are coming off. It's not "that big" a job.

Also, I'll try harder not to ride her down into the bottom 1/2 gallon in the tank.

[flyin900]

Glad to hear it resolved itself without any carb pulls or other parts needed.

A tip I use to monitor my fuel level and keep it above a low level is the trip reset meter on the speedometer. I can get 300+ kilometres out of my Wings without running into reserve. Once I hit 200 klms I am looking for a gas station.

[pidjones]

Draining the carbs before long layups, running a very light dose of SeaFoam or Techron in most gas, and running only pure gas can help any carbureted engine run reliably.

[redglbx]

At this point, I would keep a light dose of carb cleaner in the fuel for the rest of the year, and I definitely would post up a picture of that Wing with the surf board mounted up, gotta see that !

[Fred Camper]

Sure seems to me that a small Crack in a Coil could could let moisture in on a wet day and take some time to dry, but that would affect two cylinders not just #2.

So the slide or circuit on that carb now seems more probable. Good advice above.

[pidjones]

Ride it more is probably the best cure.

[redglbx]

A couple of thoughts on this,

The idle & low speed jetting provides fuel up to around 2k-2300rpm before the slides start to pull up and add fuel through the main jets. Because the idle jets are only slightly over .013in (smaller than a human hair!) they are easily plugged and sometimes extremely hard to clean.

On the coils, as Fred mentioned above a cracked coil (not uncommon) will be weather sensitive, shorting when it’s wet out or high humidity, while some may still work I would recommend replacement, the oe’s aren’t all that great to start with imho. To check if yours are cracked run your bike in the dark with the tool tray removed and look for sparks arcing from them, they may also have a blue aura around them, if so, I would replace them, again my opinion. The oe’s only make about 3500volts vs most aftermarket like the Dyna’s or Accel which are 35,000 volts , much stronger.

Some have had good luck using a set of gl1500 or cbr coils which seem better made but I don’t know what their output is. Again just some thoughts.

[Sidecar Bob]

I'm happy with the 1500 coils on mine.

But before you start thinking about replacing the coils, how old are your spark plug wires & caps?
Even the best spark plug wire insulation will deteriorate over time and develop microscopic cracks that can allow water to short out the spark when it rains. I remember limping home on 1 cylinder on my '77 one rainy day in the '90s and replacing the coils with ones made for Harleys shortly after in order to install new wires so that wouldn't happen again. There is no excuse for having the original wires on an 1100.

And as for the caps, about 10 years ago I had to have my CX towed home because one cylinder was cutting out on a rainy day. I tried just about everything but I eventually figured out that the culprit was one of the rubber boots on a spark plug cap that had started to let water in. I replaced that and the problem never came back.

If you really think the problem is related to rain try spraying it with a garden hose while it is running and see if the problem comes back.

[Dirty Dave]

Funny mentioning how these Hondas seem to heal themselves.

My 79 was suffering from near identical problems, including backfires as well as the
rough running up to 3000 rpm. Everything magically cleared up one day after a 100+
mile trip. I still have a hard time, after all the "fixes" I did accepting that it decided
to run well.

[NotSoLilCrippseys]

It's been a couple weeks, and the riding has been good with Cabernet. I've run some Seafoam in the fuel, which I'll continue to do. I don't think it's a crack in the coil, but I'm prepared to swap in another set should that be required.

This bike is now my main surf ride, and I absolutely love it. Here are a couple shots of the bike out and about.

She easily transports my Dewey Weber Performer to my quiet break south of the house.

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Another shot. I tend to surf early - no crowds in the lot or the break.

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Same parking lot, different board - sixties-style pig, a la Magic Sam, for those who know old school boards.

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My '60s style pig at the break 5 minutes from my office.

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[Fred Camper]

Watch for high winds... But nice setup for calm days.