Will the insanity ever end?

[dc112675]

I must say I am pretty dissappointed . . . I bought my 95 Magna a year ago, and it seemed like it needed a tune up from the get-go (it had 7,000 miles on it).  It sputtered and hesitated on occassion, backfired every so often, and got relativly poor gas mileage 30-35 mpg . . . even on freeway.  Then about 3 months ago it wouldn't even start.  When I bought the bike it had just been tuned up, to the "tune" of $500 according to a receipt from the previous owner.  But I just didn't know what really had been done.

To make a long story longer, I took it to my dads (he lives in DFW) to find someone who could fix it.  So it goes into the mechanic who replaces the "bad" plugs.  I suppose they could have been bad, but I had just replaced them less than 1,000 miles ago.  Then he says the air filter was bad and I needed a new one.  He suggested a K&N filter.  Again, that would be a great suggestion if it weren't for the fact that I just installed a K&N filter 800 miles prior.  

At any rate, after several weeks and $600+ I get my magna back.  Apparently the problem was an exhaust gasket that had come loose.  While it was there, he also put in dyno-jets in b/c it has a corbin exhaust on it.  When that was taking place I asked (through dad) about putting in DD shims, and the mech said he had never heard of them.  

Anyway, it ran great for about 15-20 miles, but now it is sputtering real bad, especially at low RPMs.  From a stand still I have to go super easy on the throtle or it bogs down, and even stalled once.  In addition, it backfires on decelaration, and I think I can smell gas when it idles (that might be my imagination).  I think it has a 60-day warranty, but that means I have to cart it the 200 miles to DFW (that comes up to 800 miles to drop off and pick up).  Plus, who's to say I won't be charged more.  I've already put my old man out enough, and don't want him to have to keep meesing with this.  

Any suggestions?  I've heard the Corbin exhaust and the dyno-jets are both bad additions . . . will I ever have the reliability of a Honda?  Sorry for the long post, but thanks for letting me rant.

[Magnum Magna]

Make sure the battery terminal are tightened with a wrench.  Some of the symptoms you described I was experiencing because my terminals where not tight.

[Greg Cothern]

Guess I should have scheduled a wrench session and saved you all that grief and $$$, sorry about that...
Seriously guys/gals if you have a poorly running Magna get a hold of someone in the group we have good mechanics in this group who will help.
Please do not hesitate to let me know if I can help...  And if you have and I forget (which I do regularly) please tell me to wake up and help!!

[Magnum Magna]

I agree with Greg that there are many good people with good suggestions.  I am not one of the highly experienced wrenchers.  It was Greg that made the suggestion of checking my batter terminals that fixed my problem.

[roboto65]

Yes depending on where you are heck I will even make housecalls... Good excuse to ride    But really if anyone has issues post it and we will get you fixed up!!!!

[kdf9511]

Yes depending on where you are heck I will even make housecalls... Good excuse to ride    But really if anyone has issues post it and we will get you fixed up!!!!

House calls huh....Might have to take you up on that offer....I just got the wheel berrings punched out of my '82 wheels last night.  Once I get them cleaned up and new bearings in there I will be needing to swap the tires that are on the bike to these wheels.

[Gloveberg]

You have carb problems without a doubt and it will take someone familiar with those carbs and not some yahoo just shooting in the dark.  Where are you located?

[roboto65]

Also just so it is noted there is a vent that goes up to the top of the carb bank to allow the bowl pressure to even out Greg and I tore the carbs apart and cleaned them and still ran like crap found out that they were the culprit and Seafoam will not help there because they just allow air to enter the bowl but if they clog you will be chasing your tail for sure and to make matters worse they are not removeable either  

Oh and I will be off the boat the 3rd of April so kerry would you be able to come to the house and we can call it a wrench session or I can zoom to your house which ever let me know and I will get it posted either way!!!!

[dc112675]

Thanks for the support on this issue.  I actually posted my dilemna before taking it to the shop, hoping for some suggestions as to where I might be able to take it.  I even received a PM from someone who was going to look into doing the work, but I never heard back.  To be honest, that was nearing the middle of December, and everybody's schedule gets a little tight.

At any rate, through a strange occurance of events, the bike (as of yesterday afternoon) was running like a champ.  What led up to that point is quite confusing.  

Yesterday morning the sputtering reached an all time high (or should I say low?).  It got to the point that I almost couldn't get it going from a stop.  I had to rev the engine to several 1000 RPM to sustain enough power.  It sounded like a 16 year old trying to drive a stick shift . . . uphill.  I would rev it enough to get it going, but once the RPMs dropped it would sputter.  I stalled several times trying to finesse the throttle.  

I also noticed that at around 3,500 rpm the sputtering went away and it ran much better.  This leads me to think that the slow jets are/were clogged.

As I mentioned early, all of these things took place 3 months ago, just before it petered out.  For that reason, I was not suprised that as I began to lose power, that it died right there in the middle of the road (at 40 mph).

I coasted into a parking lot and tried to start it a few times, but to no avail.  I decided to check the petcock, and sure enough, it was off.  I turned it on, and with a couple pushes of the button it fired up.  

Oddly enough, the running out of gas (only a guess?) dislodged a clog or did something, as it has run like a top since then.  I know that the petcock had to have to have been recently flipped off, b/c I have gone 20+ miles over the last 10 days.  In addition, the gas can't be the culprit, b/c it ran better at higher rpm, when consuming the most fuel.

So the good news is, it is working.  However, the question remains . . . how long?  Does this phenomenon (running out of gas = fixed bike) occur more often than I think?  I know ivory soap, microwaves, and corningware were all made by accident, but can my ignorance (or a 4-year old with wandering hands) fix such a problem?  I guess time will tell.   Any ideas ony how/why this happened?

Again, thanks for your time, replies, and all-around encouragement.  I really wish I could contribute beyond "which seat feels softer" and "what is your favorite grip" but I'm not there yet.  Until then, maybe I can humor you with my stories of stupidity, and cross my fingers and hope that running out of gas might   have fixed it.  Doug

[MagnaDaddy]

Hey,
Just glad the insanity has ended!
I know that sinking feeling of having it die on the road a 40 and all the wild thoughts that go through your mind before you figure out it was just the fool petcock  

[Greg Cothern]

Could have had a "clog" somewhere and it moved out, time will tell.  Another MOOT'ster had a intermittently progressing to more often situation like this and it turned out to be the auto fuel shut off diaphragm...

I am not very trusting of the dealerships and such on carb issues, had one in the past that they did the same type work on and bike never ran right.  Got it over here and we pulled and cleaned the carbs and it ran like a champ, go figure.  

But Allen stated earlier he and I also pulled a set and couldnt get them to run right (ran much better but still not right) until he found that an air passage (which was the first time I had encountered that) was clogged and not allowing proper function.

[silveradocowboy]

Doug,

Glad to hear you got it going but to be on the safe side you might try and make a wrench session and let Greg or some of the others with carb experience show you how to clean them. If it wasn't for this group and all they have taught me I would be bald by now.    If you ever have any questions this is a great group to ask and with everyone that joins the knowledge base just gets better.