2001 Adventurer

[Death-Dude]

Hi, I just bought a 2001 Triumph Adventurer, 1209 miles on it. It had trouble starting, battery was weak, but eventually it started, with the choke, blew white smoke out hard, and wanted to die when I tried to open the throttle. I had checked the oil glass, but it was covered. I then tried to find the oil level, had to lean it way left to see it. With the bike straight up, it was well covered. I syringed out enough to get the level half-way up the glass, as my Triumph manual says it should be, but my battery is weak now.
Have I damaged anything by running it at 2000-2500 rpm with too much oil in it? I'm letting it charge with a trickle charger now, can I fairly expect it to run OK once I get the oil burned out of the plugs? I assume some oil got pushed on top of the piston to make it smoke like that.
Thoughts, input are welcome!

 

[Death-Dude]

I had it started a couple of times since, choked, and running tentatively. The rpm's were actually barely over 1000 to 1500, so not even up to 2000. Maybe the battery is just shot? Only a year old, but with it's lack of use, I guess it's possible. I'm used to smaller dirt bikes, which don't need the battery to run, would a very weak battery act like this?

 

[CarlS]

Electronic ignitions require a good, fully charged battery to start. As for the running, how long was the bike sitting without being run? Drain the petrol and put fresh petrol in.

 

[The Seeker]

These bikes often won't start at all with too much oil so just the fact it started is amazing.

I doubt you actually hurt anything. But I would check to be sure that "extra" oil wasn't oil with gasoline in it.

I assume you cleaned the plugs to rid them of oil?

I agree with Carl that you need a good strong battery and fresh gasoline would probably make it run right. Modern gasoline with ethanol and stuff goes sour quite quickly.

-- Posted with TapaTalk

 

[Death-Dude]

It's started, rough and tentative since then, but no smoke now. That should be OK. As for the plugs, I was reading in my Triumph manual that I have to remove the tank, and the chrome cowl, is that correct? The top of the plug caps are level with that cowl, I didn't know if you could just pull them off and put a wrench on the plug like that. That should show you what a n00b you're dealing with. And so, no, I didn't pull the plugs out to clean them, as they probably need.
The throttle response is really sluggish to close when you let it off as well. I sprayed some carb cleaner under the springs on the return, in between the carbs, and is started working better. Then, after an hour sitting, they are back to taking some time to close. Perhaps the cables could use a good lubing as well. I'll try to read more in the manual to familiarize myself with these procedures.
Thanks for the input, you can imagine how frustrating it is to have a non-runner when I expected to get in and drive to a gas station, then get it hot and change the oil.

These bikes often won't start at all with too much oil so just the fact it started is amazing.

I doubt you actually hurt anything. But I would check to be sure that "extra" oil wasn't oil with gasoline in it.

I assume you cleaned the plugs to rid them of oil?

I agree with Carl that you need a good strong battery and fresh gasoline would probably make it run right. Modern gasoline with ethanol and stuff goes sour quite quickly.

-- Posted with TapaTalk

 

[CarlS]

Glad you got her started and there is no longer smoke. That is a good sign.

 

[The Seeker]

The poor throttle return may be a need to lubricate the twist grip itself.

Did you check to see if there's gas in the oil?

-- Posted with TapaTalk

 

[Death-Dude]

The poor throttle return may be a need to lubricate the twist grip itself.

Did you check to see if there's gas in the oil?

-- Posted with TapaTalk

No, the grip I can snap back, then you hear, delayed, the cable inside click against it's housing. I sprayed a bunch of carb cleaner on it, with my son twisting the throttle grip repeatedly, and we finally got the lever on the carb responding nearly properly, but then after sitting it went back to delayed, slow closing.

I've been hoping to get it running enough to do a proper oil change, but no, there wasn't anything in the oil I drew out of it. Looked dirty, but homogenous, and smells like oil only, to me.

To remove that cable, it looks like I have to take the throttle grip apart, is that correct? All I've owned is yamaha enduros, a lot simpler, so I don't want to mess up. My Official Triumph manual says nothing about it, so they must assume I'm smart enough to know that much. Fooled them, eh?

 

[The Seeker]

Yeah....then remove the cable and hang it from something. Then apply penetrating oil to the top end allowing it to course down through the cable housing to free it up.

-- Posted with TapaTalk

 

[Death-Dude]

Yeah....then remove the cable and hang it from something. Then apply penetrating oil to the top end allowing it to course down through the cable housing to free it up.

-- Posted with TapaTalk

I think I'll do that tomorrow, thanks. I have some Motion Pro cable lube to put down it, but I really think the return on the carb is the culprit. I'm not even sure he got the return spring back on correctly, it looks like it should rest on a protruding pin, and it isn't I talk to the guy who worked on it before I got it, he said he cleaned out all 3 carbs, which were gummed up badly. This bike has sat untouched for the last three years. He said he rode it after cleaning them, but had to choke it for ten minutes to get it off the choke, and that it wouldn't take any throttle at all before that - well, that symptom is still true; although I haven't had it running that long, when it was running it wouldn't take any throttle.
I'm taking it to a mechanic I really trust on Monday. Since the coolant is in need of care, I'll have him put in what he uses in his bikes, and see if the carbs are all good. Tomorrow, when I get home, I want to remove the tank, drain it, see if the petcock is functioning as it should, and get some new gas. I'll have the mechanic go over it, flush and fill the coolant, put three new plugs in.
I even talked to the guy who sold it to me, 700 miles away, and he said that if it costs me a bunch at the shop, he'll "help". We'll see how honorable he is, but I haven't had much need to doubt him so far, really - he's an older gentleman, hasn't really ridden in years, but still has bikes. Not a mechanic, even to do common servicing like changing the oil. So, if it costs a few hundred more, and I get a great bike with 1209 miles on it, it'll still be worth it. If he wants to compensate for not delivering the great running bike he promised, so much the better.
I do appreciate the help and input!

 

[Death-Dude]

I have some new info about this project; I noticed with the fuel tube off, nothing came out of the petcock when pointed to "On", and only a trickle on "Reserve". Took the tank off, turned it upside down on a pad (no cap leak!) and removed the petcock. Neither tube had any filter remaining, and sho nuff the thing was totally clogged. Blew the Reserve passage out with my mouth and a rag, but the On tube was clogged tight, so I used a compressor at about 80 lbs., and a bunch of rusty junk came out.
So I drained the tank into my gas can - out on the property in some rocks, for any slip-ups. I vigorously swished the gas back and forth, and when I got to the end, there were a ton of rust flakes. I tried to get them all out, almost certain I couldn't have gotten them all without flushing them somehow. So, the guy that did the carbs probably did his job, but with a bunch of unfiltered rust particles going down the line, I would have to believe that the inline filter, shown in the manual as being right before the fuel line Tees off to the three carbs, has to be full of gunk as well - a good assumption? The bike still wouldn't get enough gas to run, and I'm thinking, with all that rust, that that filter has to be clogged badly as well. So, I'll still have it to the shop, have the coolant flushed and replaced, have the inline filter replaced, and see if that was the problem.
Does any of this seem logical for isolating this non-starting problem.

And then, what to do about the rust-flaking tank? It might not be a huge issue, if I can get it cleaned out somehow, and the petcock gets new filters to block it initially. I think a visible on-the-tube fuel line filter would be a good, cheap defense against future clogging, provided the tank can be cleaned out enough to stop producing big chunks of rust.

Also, since removing and replacing the tank, the delayed throttle return issue has gone away - the "mechanic" maybe bound it somewhere? Not sure, but it snaps back now.

 

[The Seeker]

The throttle sticking issue is solved.

If you were to remove the petcock from the tank, you'll find wire mesh screens where the fuel enters. Those keep the really big chunks of rust out.

I would remove the entire fuel line set up and clean everything out (replacing filters).

-- Posted with TapaTalk

 

[Death-Dude]

The throttle sticking issue is solved.

If you were to remove the petcock from the tank, you'll find wire mesh screens where the fuel enters. Those keep the really big chunks of rust out.

I would remove the entire fuel line set up and clean everything out (replacing filters).

-- Posted with TapaTalk

I did remove the petcock, when I blew the On and Reserve out, and the screens were long-gone, disintegrated. That's part of the problem, no doubt, all the gunk going down-line.
I looked at some of the rust flakes that came out of the tank, and they crumble to the touch, only slightly stiffer than an ash. The guy I took the bike to today wasn't concerned a bit, they have a solution they use in it, and a method to scour it out. He'll clean out the tank, fuel line issues, coolant - and make sure the cooling system is doing it's job - and I'm to drop off my new oil filter and oil, and the new plugs I have for it and do it all at once. If the yahoo mechanic from Texas I talked to really did his carb-cleaning job, perhaps I'll come out of this without too much added expense.
This guy doing the work has been riding and fixing for decades, and my main ol' riding buddies are his ol' riding buddies, they belonged to the same Trials Club. I have total confidence in him - he's the lead mechanic at his shop, a local dealership. The dealership is owned by my neighbor, they tend to take good care of me.
So, I should be roadworthy in a week or so, I'll post some pics when I get it back. Thanks to all for help, it's good to have experience on your side.

 

[The Seeker]

That's great then! Let us know....

-- Posted with TapaTalk

 

[CarlS]

That sounds really good.

 

[DaveM]

Sounds like you getting to the root of the problems here.

 

[Rocky]

I had a similar problem with a Suzuki twin I had several years ago that had been sitting for several years with only a small amount of gas in the tank.
I took the gas tank to a radiator shop that steam cleaned it and lined it with a resin-type of material.
I never had a problem after that.

 

[Death-Dude]

I talked to the guy who will be doing it today, when I dropped off plugs, oil, and filter, he says the Resolve does most of the work, they let it sit overnight, do it twice, and they put some new nuts and bolts to try to clean it up, he said it works well.
I've heard it discussed, putting in some kind of coating, the mech mentioned something called "cream", but it doesn't appeal to me. I'd be worried about coverage in the application, for one, do they use a scope? I can only barely see into my tank. Then, how long will it last, will it deteriorate and head to the fuel line if that happens? There's also something that alleges to "bond" with the metal to prevent rust. I think a good cleaning, cleaning of any blockages downstream - the inline filter to be sure - and then putting in a visible filter on the line, as well as just plain using it will help it out a ton. I could see a good resin maybe licking the problem. Doesn't is seem like they could solve this problem in a more permanent and universal way? Perhaps make the tank to fit around an aluminum liner? You could still dent it and not cause too much more damage than you would without it.

 

[devo]

I have heard the resin coatings normally work well if prperly prepared and applied.
I would have thought it was the best choice at this point short of finding a clean tank.
You can thank ethonol in your fuel for the rust issues.

 

[CarlS]

I have heard the resin coatings normally work well if prperly prepared and applied.
I would have thought it was the best choice at this point short of finding a clean tank.
You can thank ethanol in your fuel for the rust issues.

Spot on. I have started using marine petrol in my bikes, lawn mowers, and other small engines. No ethanol in marine fuel.