550 LTD high idle after assembly

Hey guys, just finished assembly on an 82 550 LTD. Quick run down;
Bought as basket case,
#1 piston fried
Honed and replaced with NOS piston / rings
replaced all top end gaskets
painted top end gloss black
lots of elbow grease - clean inside and out
new plugs D8ES
New Fram CH6012 oil filter (nothing else available for 3 days)
3.2 quarts Castrol 10-40 Sae 4 stroke oil - not synthetic
NOS clutch cable
NOS valve cover rubber plugs
New battery
All new vacuum hoses
This may be where it gets interesting
-Eliminated airbox - replaced with EMGO single pods
-Installed aftermarket crankcase breather filter( JC Whitney - EMGO)hooked up to vacuum swith 1/2 I/D hose. Installed essentially in place of stock airbox.
- ran new hose from crankcase breather (on engine) down back of case, actually right on top of the chain - hoping it will act as an automatic oiler.

No other non stock mods.

Upon initial startup ran at high Rpm ( cannot pinpoint, just realized Tach cable broken too - D'OH!). Best guess is @ 1500+ RPM. Will not run at less than full choke. Rechecked throttle cables and idle adjustment knob, no change. throttle is responsive at full choke. Engine sounds great, just way too fast and won't return to normal idle or run without choke. With brand new rings, didn't want run it for more than 5 minutes at that speed. Would have tried to fool with it but my lovely wife made me quit. Don't know why, I was only out there for 8.5 hours today.

So where would you start?
Is it a problem with the pods, carbs out of synch, just didn't run it long enough, ???
Thanks in advance!

Define "fried" piston. if it was overheated or melted, that would be the usual result of a prolonged lean condition. other hints are only running on full choke, high idle or slow returning idle. did you clean the carbs during your reassembly? also check the ignition advancer. running at high idle is the procudure for setting in new rings and really will not hurt anything, but if you are lean it is possible that you could do some damage during break in. also the pods will make it leaner yet, so i would lean (ha ha pun intended) tword the carbs.

The #1 piston was missing a chunk of the head on the intake side which had seemingly been melted into the cylinder ( engine hone took off debris in like 30 seconds ) and rings were welded to the piston - like I said, Fried. Maybe melted is better. Carbs were cleaned before reassembly and new gaskets installed.
So try to richen the mix a little? I'll check the advance too. Also anybody ever have problems with choke lever contacting pods? Perhaps I'll sort that out in daylight tomorrow. Keep the ideas coming please.

Basket case engine. Did you go through the carbs and clean them up? Could have a sticking slide.

Vacuum leaks at the intake boots, or vacuum fittings between the carbs and the head?

Aric, You wrote:

- Eliminated airbox - replaced with EMGO single pods
- Installed aftermarket crankcase breather filter( JC Whitney - EMGO)hooked up to vacuum swith 1/2 I/D hose. Installed essentially in place of stock airbox.
- ran new hose from crankcase breather (on engine) down back of case, actually right on top of the chain - hoping it will act as an automatic oiler.

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OK, got the parts about the Emgo pods. The pods will necessitate rejetting the carburetors. Since no alternative pilot jets are available, this will pretty much mean bigger main jets and raising the jet needles a slot. The Tekei carbs are fairly forgiving.

You installed a breather filter and hooked up a vacuum switch? I am at a loss... The breather filter should likely go on the crankcase vent. Where was the vacuum switch installed? If you installed pod filters, you can certainly run a hose from your breather to hang over your swingarm as you described but where is all this other junk installed? You will probably want to remove your emissions stuff since you have basically made the system inoperative when you installed the hose on the breather and removed the airbox.

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Based on my impression of what you have written, I suspect there is a good chance you have your carburetors and probably the remainded of the emissions stuff hooked up incorrectly plus need to rejet as I noted. You might also want to thoroughly clean the carburetors, if you haven't done so and adjust the pilot mixture AFTER you can get the bike to idle without the choke on.

It honestly sounds like you are close to having the bike run properly but would benefit from an experienced hand giving you some on-site tips. Where you do you live? There may be someone nearby who can help.

Live in Atlanta metro area. Yeah, the vaccuum valve is probably emmisions related, but if I take it off do I need anything to caver the holes in cylinder head openings? trying to attach schematics. Also noticed there are 3 vacuum hoses not actually hooked up to anything coming off carbs, couln't figure where they went. Maybe they also should be plugged?
The filter was hooked up to the switch assembly to keep from sucking in junk (obviously) into the engine. I'll try to get some pics on here.

Post edited by: Aric, at: 2007/12/10 21:21

[imgSIZE=475] i139.photobucket.com/albums/q294/aricharp/Vacuunswitch.gif [/img]

Post edited by: Aric, at: 2007/12/23 12:08

Post edited by: Aric, at: 2007/12/23 12:10

Well, as usual it never hurts to read directions, really carefully! had a vac hose that was supposed to connect to prime nipple on fuel tank left open. hooked it up and oila! 11 pm EST so I'll have to run it in am. let you know

Why did you show both the smog valve cover and non-smog? You CAN NOT just put the non-smog cover on a smog cylinder head as there are open ports going down to the exhaust runners right near the combustion chamber. Using a non-smog cover would expose your combustion chamber to raw air (not good). The ports would need to be filled or you could use the smog valve cover and plug the reed valve ports.

I just copied the schematic off bikebandit. Mine is equipped with smog, no intention of swapping even if I had another cover.

So I figured out where one of the vac hoses went, to the prime valve on the fuel tank, still have 2 more to go. Clymer lists these as vent tubes but I plug the ends and rpms SEEMED to come down but can't be certain.no more diagnostic tonight, have a 1 year old to attend to. Also discovered one of the carb gaskets leaking like a seive so I guess I pull them off and make sure everything is as clean as I think they are. Gave it a good going through before install, but who knows what I'll find. I will check my fittings again. I think I can hear some leaks now that prms are down to more reasonable level. I'll also take a look at jets and do a bench sync, maybe move slides, maybe. AFTER all that, IF I need to adjust the idle/ air mix which way to richen up mix?

Don't go richer until you need to. Get it running and check the spark plugs for color. That will tel you. If you have the stock exhaust, you shouldn't need to rejet. Just make sure the carbs are clean, and set. Get 4 rebuild kits, and clean everything up. Install an in-line fuel filter.

Post edited by: CoreyClough, at: 2007/12/12 08:33

The LTD (KZ 550 C) in USA is set to 1-3/8 turns out +/- 1/4, but as WG said, pods will need bigger jets (try 94) and the mixture screws may have to go in a little to richen it (they are air-only screws).
The needles are not adjustable on the USA models.


Post edited by: loudhvx, at: 2007/12/12 04:02