In Santiago, CHILE: '02 1150 GSA Idle Question

[stevie88]

Go to the shop and get that fucker fixed. It sounds like you might have a worn out tb.

[mudmullet]

I had a problem with the idle on my 2004 1150gsa. Sitting in traffic, out of town, engine got really hot (almost to redline) and the idle was just high and wouldn't drop. Ended up screwing in the Big Brass Screws until it dropped down an acceptable amount--nothing else to do while sitting in traffic. That might be what Steptoe was talking about. The guy's a genius. Figure out what he's saying and do whatever he says, first.

Anyway, I stopped at a hardware store, got about 10 or 15 feet of small, clear tubing and made a synchronizer with some zip ties and a little 30 wt. oil that I carry with me, and a straight-ish tree branch I found. Worked fine. Suck the oil into the tube as if it were a straw. Pouring it in won't work. A couple of feet of oil is all you need. Fold tube in half (equal length each side) without kinking the bend, and zip tie it to the branch. Yardstick or wooden dowel would work better.

Big Brass Screws adjust the balance at idle and the cables adjust the balance "at speed." Set cable freeplay, and then work from one side. The Hall of Wisdom link at the bottom of the page, here, will tell you all you need to know.

Dan Cata (I think that's the guy's name) makes rebuild kits for the throttle bodies. You can find his link around here somewhere. I haven't gotten one, yet, but I need to. It sounds like you might need to get one, too.

[Aventeren]

Okay, so I went to Moto Adventura, and the consensus was just to run the damn thing, as they don't think it will out and out fail.

Therefore, I'm typing this from a small restaurant in Chaitan, Chile at the top of the Carretera Austral (2 ferry rides to get here today), and I'm about to dive I to a plate of fries salmon and fries.

So keep your fingers crossed, as I have all of mine and my toes crossed!

When I get back to the real world, I'll rebuild the damn TB and get it back to normal.

And it probably goes without saying, but Patagonia is amazing. But this place on your list.

Thanks everyone! I REALLY appreciate your help and input. Now I just hope the bike holds together on this unbelievable bumpy road.

[LaurelPerryOnLand]

Don't camp near the river!!!!
Picture from the 2008 eruption.

Now...back to that salmon and fries.

[stevie88]

I took this photo 2 months ago.

[def]

From your description, it sounds like a worn throttle body. You won't really know if it is the shaft or the bushing until you remove it and take it apart.

When the TB wears, it passes more air into the intake, almost like opening the throttle slightly, and the engine idle speed increases. As recommended, reduce the idle air by screwing the BBS screws in.

Until you rebuild the TBs, you'll have difficulty achieving proper idle RPM.

More photos please...

[Jarvis]

Roberto and Sonia are good people. I'm glad you got to meet them!

[kellymac530]

Aventeren,
If your issue is a worn TB or TB shaft causing air leaking and rough idle because of random leaning I doubt that is anything catastrophic. It will idle funny and random and maybe even run rough a bit but as long as you do not let it sit and idle a long time {not reccomended anyway} it will not likely run hot from the lean.

A simple but very temporary fix is to take some grease and pack it around the TBs anwhere there is an opening, like around where the shaft goes out the body to the linkage. The heavier the grease the better. The fix will attract dirt and cause its own issues like dirt and grime, but that can be cleaned off with some carb spray and new grease.

The thick grease will sort of seal off the air passage sometimes and prevent the air from passing by the shaft. I have done this on old Weber and Kadron carbs for VW bugs. It may work even better on the FI bodies since there is no fuel in the TB until after the injector.

Worth a quick try and see if it helps for now.

[legasea]

Originally Posted by Steptoe

Turn the idle screws inwards 1/2 - 3/4 of a turn each side. Job done

Did you read this?

[Aventeren]

Funny thing, I actually camped behind the Copec gas station (for free), and my bike was parked on this old washed out boardwalk, and I was thinking to myself, "Huh, that's weird. There must have been a major Pacific storm that came through here and wiped this damn boardwalk out." And then I went to sleep. I then woke up and had breakfast, and the place had WiFi, so I searched Wikipedia for Chaiten, and lo and behold the boardwalk had been wiped out from the damn river that cut the damn town in half for the damn volcano, which was the largest pyroclastic volcano since something like 1912. So I went exploring on my bike after breakfast, and was blown away by the devastation. It definitely put nature in perspective. I was floored.

In any event, thanks for the tip!

Originally Posted by LaurelPerryOnLand

Don't camp near the river!!!!
Picture from the 2008 eruption.

Now...back to that salmon and fries.

[Aventeren]

I did, and I tried it, but I have bigger problems with this TB. Basically the pulley that receives the throttle body has a shaft on it that connects into the body of the TB. From what I can see, this shaft is beginning to wear, and so the whole shaft/pulley assembly is beginning to wobble like a born bearing. I'm one day out from Ushuaia, so I hope that I'll be okay--and I think I will. This bike is so damn resilient...just so long as this damn TB does not physically blow up, I'm going to finish my trip, get the bike back to the US and then tear into it.

There is a time to tear into TBs and there is a time not to. As it turns out, I have decided that tearing into a TB in a foreign country to attempt a repair on a problem that is not a trip ender (yet) is not a wise use of time and energy. I'm therefore in finger crossing mode. As long as I'm making km, my predilection is to continue south...and then deal with this later.

Thanks for thinking of me!!!!! I really appreciate it!!!!

Originally Posted by legasea

Did you read this?

[LaurelPerryOnLand]

Originally Posted by Aventeren

Funny thing, I actually camped behind the Copec gas station (for free), and my bike was parked on this old washed out boardwalk, and I was thinking to myself, "Huh, that's weird. There must have been a major Pacific storm that came through here and wiped this damn boardwalk out." And then I went to sleep. I then woke up and had breakfast, and the place had WiFi, so I searched Wikipedia for Chaiten, and lo and behold the boardwalk had been wiped out from the damn river that cut the damn town in half for the damn volcano, which was the largest pyroclastic volcano since something like 1912. So I went exploring on my bike after breakfast, and was blown away by the devastation. It definitely put nature in perspective. I was floored.

In any event, thanks for the tip!

Well...glad to see that due to your observant nature and curiosity you were able to learn (firsthand) some of the history of Chaiten...rather than simply riding through the town like most of us would have done.

Interesting that your 'reasonable' explanation would be: Pacific Storm, Sounds like a high probability answer!

Who'd a thought that the better answer was "the largest pyroclastic volcano since 1912"...yikes.

Note to self: Never camp near rivers in mountainous terrain.

Another pic of Chaitan volcano erupting: if you see anything even close to this...get out of Dodge!
http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/p...m/16044322.jpg

Ride on!

[legasea]

As you are in control, all I wish is that you ride safe, enjoy and make it to the end.

Cheers