Wilsons Sandbox

Drain the fuel and fill the tank with cheap 10 w 40 oil from Wal Mart. Rrturn later drain oil and use it in somthing rinse tank with gas then fill tank and go ride. ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ Sent using Spitfire Communications, Inc. spitfire.net --- [This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus]

Hi DSN Riders, I have a problem with my 1998 KLR fouling plugs after making a 2 Day 450 mi trip to Manila. Im Sorry that this is a little long, but I felt it was better to have the most info so you could better respond. Background, My '98 KLR purchased in Colorado Springs, CO ('99 w/ 3,400 miles on clock) & had Supertrapp IDS installed there. Then Air Freighted to Taif, Saudi Arabia (Both cities are at about 5000 ft in Altitude) where I rode for about 700 mi in Saudi before contract ended. Then shipped KLR to Philippines '1/'01. Had about Four (4) Months of riding time in PI (Sea Level to about 3-400' ft above) before putting bike in storage while I did another 1 year contract in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Returned to and rode in Philippines from July '01 -Jan.'02 before next job overseas. Jan.02-Feb.05 working in Amman, Jordan while KLR at home in Storage. Ended Jordan contract in Jan.05, so between March-May '05 with only 7,035 mi on the clock I did a complete CLS of my KLR at our home, + did the Doohickey (Thanks Cris Krok) and modified the frame, flushed and changed all fluids, drained and flushed Gas Tank with fresh gas, + new oil & filter, coolant etc.  Additionally, I installed a K & N Jet Kit w/ 150 Main, Needle Clip at Mid-Position, Mixture Screw out 2 Turns. Plus also cut out (L) the Air Box, and installed a new DP8EA-9 Plug & Air Filter. Margaret went to Manila (30 Oct. to visit her Mom) which is an hour flight time and I will bring the KLR to Manila in 2 weeks via roads and two (2) Roll On / Roll Off Ferries (Ro-Ro's) There are 7000 +,- islands in PI (depending on the tide) so a lot of boats & Ferries to get around. Timetable & Experiences on this Trip 1 Nov (8,022 miles) Just under 1000 mi. since complete service so time for Oil & Filter Change, Cleaned Gas Tank & Petcock of some rust flakes and Installed Iridium Plug. Noticing that the DP8EA-9 looked OK. 5 Nov. (Test Ride) Rode 2 hours to Kalibo (113 mi.) 20 min break and could only get Super Unleaded (97?) Gas for the return trip. Then ride home in 2 hours. At approx 107mi, bike started to spit a little, went to reserve and no further problem. 12 Nov. Going to Manila Have my Clymer Svc Manual, spare Clutch & Throttles, Mechanical seal, bolts/nuts wires/fuses + 2 Standard Plugs. At about 50 miles (3pm) into journey need gas (again only = Super Unleaded) about 8 liters as I hope to get some regular in AM. (In the Rural Philippines it is very Rural and I have not been on this road before) Between 75 and 125 miles I ride in intermittent showers. At 130mi, KLR starts coughing/ sputtering, go onto reserve no difference. Pull Over & Park for night. 13 Nov. Pull bodywork, Pull Iridium Plug-Soot Coated/ Fouled /// Install New Stock Plug (DP8EA-9) and only get 3 miles before it craps out again. But at least I made it to the Port (Caticlan) for the Ro- Ro to another Island. 13 Nov. Clean Iridium Plug / Put Carb. On it's side and set Mixture Screw out 2 turns out- My Mistake, did not read the Manual carefully enough. Bike starts and I am able to get on the Ro-Ro for the 2 hour ferry ride to the Port of Batangas, on the Main Island of Luzon. 13 Nov. From Batangas Port I get only 50 Miles before the KLR Craps Out Again right at the exit of a expressway. Pull all the Bodywork, then totally drain the gas tank, pull the petcock apart to check for rust. With the assistance of the Expressway Police, they get me 4 liters of regular gas while I clean the plug again. And I re-assemble everything get suited up, Fire up the bike and get another 8 liters of regular gas, jump on the freeway for the last 35 km's to my Mother in'laws house. I make it, Yahoo. 14 Nov. Trying to get to a Bike Shop 12 km's away (Sells Moto Guzzi, MV & Aprillia) only get 3 km;s before the KLR says no go. Call shop, 2 hours later Bike and I get picked up and taken to the shop. End of another Frustrating Day. 15 Nov. At Bike shop-Pull Carb and Mechanic is surprised it is so clean, all looks good except Diaphragm is a little difficult to get back on. Supertrapp is filled with carbon black, and Mechanic wants to wash it out with soap and water !! (They sell 4 cyl. Performance Aprillia' and MV bikes but the head mechanic never heard of carb. syncing and I could not find any Carb. Styx. or Vacuum Gauges in the shop) I assemble and ride 9km's to Mother in-laws house before she craps out again. 8500 miles on the clock. So now what do I do??? I assume that for the past 2000 + miles I have been running too Cold (DP8EA) a Plug for the lower altitude and higher humidity that exists here in the Philippines. And then 1500 miles ago I installed the K&N Jet Kit, and Modified the Air Box. Then 1000 miles ago installed the Iridium Plug. And between 400-600 mi. ago tried to run 20 liters or so of Super Unleaded. So there is got to be some carbon on the Piston, Cylinder Head + Valves causing the Plug to Foul and try to exit through to the Supertrapp. Q- Can I get rid of some of that built up carbon and get an acceptable running condition by: Pulling and cleaning the Supertrapp, Adjusting the Carb Mixture Screw to 1 3/8 as a Starting Point for a 1 Range Hotter Plug, then Installing / Cycling through 2 to 4 DP7 Plugs as I try to ride around Manila trying to bur the excess carbon off?? All my spare engine gaskets, fluids HD Tools and support items are 450 miles away at my home on Guimaras Island. I would like to ride there BUT I need some guidance and long distance assistance/ recommendations. OR Do I have to take the engine apart to get rid of the build up in the cylinder ?? I will be looking for some DP7's tomorrow while I wait for some suggestions/ recommendations from the group members as I have to start to do something by Monday. Thank you again for being there. Sincerely, Chris Rea (cmrf90x2k@...) US Army, Retired

It sounds to me that you are running rich. (Bad grammar but that's how it is expressed in the trade. VBG) Carbon build-up won't be an issue so far as continued fouling of the plug because carbon build-up on the combustion chamber will act to increase compression ratio. Increased compression ratio leads to increased compression pressure, faster burn rate and possibly detonation. Increased compression pressure will tend to tolerate rich mixtures a bit better. Hopefully, once the problem causing the fouling is rectified, the build-up will burn off as normally occurs. Is there any possibility that your air filter is plugged? Did some small animal build a nest in the air inlet? If you have a paper air filter, moisture has been known to swell the paper and cause restriction which can result in a rich mixture. I suggest that you rectify the carb problem which is causing the rich mixture and then "keep an ear out" for pinging under heavier loads. The high humidity in your area will help to mitigate detonation a bit. If you are experiencing pinging (detonation) you may wish to try using a product such as GM's Carb-out but I wouldn't bother unless you detect a problem. I suggest that you be cautious in moving to a hotter spark plug because running a hotter plug can lead to much grief if the plug runs too hot. An over heating plug will cause pre-ignition, high combustion chamber temperatures and may burn a hole through the piston, cause a piston seizure or other nasties. A hotter plug will not solve the root problem and has the risk of catastrophic engine damage if you go too far with heat range so it is best not to go there. The first thing to do, IMO, is to pull the carb, strip to down and subject all the passages to a blast of high pressure air. Some carb cleaners can be OK as an added precaution but nothing seems to solve carb problems like a blast of high pressure air. You will need to address the root cause (rich mixture) or will be chasing your tail and injecting other problems into the equation. If it were not showing symptoms over several tanks of fuel from different sources it would be worth draining and trying another source of fuel. When fuelling in 3rd world countries be aware of the possibility that you may have a mix of diesel and gasoline which will behave in much the same way as you describe. This is not likely your problem however since the signs & symptoms remain over several fuelings. HIH Norm