idling problems on cb550, please help

[Johnwebley]

get the battery charged,

 check the plugs for colour,and gaps,

 and start from there,

 whats the air cleaner like?  clean or dirty

 

[Ashdowner]

Get the timing right. Points gap ok? Condensers ok? Which carburettors do you have? Are the float levels correctly set?  is the exhaust original or aftermarket and if so are the jets the correct size? Are the needles in the right position? Are your throttle and choke cables correctly adjusted?  Are the carb slides synchronised to start off with? Are the carbs properly fixed with no manifold air leaks? What is the lowest rpm that it will run without dying and is the throttle stop screw set below that? When it died on you and wouldn't restart, did the starter turn over well or did the battery appear to be flat? Were you on headlight at the time? If flat then get the battery tested and check the alternator output. What colour are your spark plugs, and if they're all a very different colour then that should tell you something about the carb adjustment? Is the air-filter clean? Is there an-air-filter there? If you can get it running then get hold of some vacuum gauges to check the carb balance. You have to do all the basic checks to eliminate the potential problems one by one which hopefully (but not always) will lead you to an answer.

[tom_b]

I'll make a check list and go through everything... When the weather gets better...
Thanks for the advice guys

[mihai.i]

Mihai, how did you find the air leaks and where exactly were they?

I sprayed some brake cleanner on the carb manifold..the ones from the engine. When i sprayed the engine started to rev more.
The o-rings from the manifold were in real bad shape..i replace them and the air leaks stoped.

[Ashdowner]

If you went for a ride and it died was the battery discharged? Have you checked the voltage across the battery when it's running. When not running you should be getting 12.5v or so and when running it should give you anything up to 14v at about 5000rpm. I'm trying to sort out my charging system at the moment because I'm not getting over 12.8v no matter how hard it's revving, and if my battery is giving less than 12v mine won't start - especially as it has electronic ignition. All that's not to say that you haven't got carb problems as well because getting mine to keep going on idle is a constant nightmare and try as I might I can't get it running smoothly

[Bodshit]

Thanks! But I think the problem that i have is that one of the cylinders is not working, I might need to replace the ignition coil, because there is no change when I unplug the spark plug cable, also that side is much cooler that the other side.
So I'll try to sort this out this week and then see if everything is alright.

Hi try looking at the o ring on the spindle that goes into the carb the one you are having problems with they have rubber o rings on the spindle to seal the vacuum to the carb my was no good . I had the same problem as you changed the o ring and the cylinder fired up on 1

[Bodshit]

Hi tom have you sorted your problem with the carbs thanks Gary