76 GL1000 shutting off after removing choke

4505 Views 119 Replies 14 Participants Last post by DaveO430, 28 d ago

alobos05

Discussion Starter · 3 mo ago

Hello everyone, so i just got this GL1000 about 2 weeks ago and rode about 30 miles on the highway to a mechanic for a general check because there was some oil leaking from the Valve cover and the idle was a little high so i just wanted to check things out for peace of mind. a few days later he comes back to me saying that the bike needs new Valve Stem seals and that that is what is causing the high idle and burning my oil. I decided to ahead and get this done myself and was ready to go pickup the bike. long story short i ended up towing the bike from the mechanic because i started the bike at full choke to warm up and it fired up right away, started to ride and no choke, came to a stop sign and the bike stumbled and shut off. turned it on again and it did the same. oil light comes on and shuts off. rode it back to the mechanic and states that it is the Valve Stem seals causing this and the bike would need to be repaired. With lost confidence in this guy i decided to tow it.

this is my very first vintage bike and one with a carburetor. my question is what could be causing this issue? the bike will stay just fine with full choke for warm up, the carb was rebuilt in 2015 and jets cleaned in 2021 by previous owner. Would broken valve seals really cause the bike to just shut off at idle? this is what seems really odd to me. i am changing the seals already this weekend but i have my doubts on whether this would even fix my issue.

any input would be greatly appreciated.

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Bike...and Dennis

· #2 · 3 mo ago

Sounds like it's running too lean. I don't see how valve seals could cause that. However, plugged fuel filter might or even a faulty fuel pump.
A lot of people will park a wing on the side stand and if the oil level is high some oil can run into the left cylinders, causing the bike to blow a little smoke on start up. It's not seal related, it oil level.

alobos05

Discussion Starter · #3 · 3 mo ago

Bike...and Dennis said:
Sounds like it's running to lean. I don't see how valve seals could cause that. However, plugged fuel filter might or even a faulty fuel pump.
A lot of people will park a wing on the side stand and if the oil level is high some oil can run into the left cylinders, causing the bike to blow a little smoke on start up. It's not seal related, it oil level.

so as far as i have had it i have only placed it on its center stand. the bike is burning oil im assuming from the seals and my valve cover which i have not patched but there is no white smoke at start up. if it was fuel pump related, wouldnt it stumble with Choke as well?

DaveO430

· #4 · 3 mo ago

Was it running OK before you took it to this scam artist? No, the valve stem seals will not cause that.

alobos05

Discussion Starter · #5 · 3 mo ago

DaveO430 said:
Was it running OK before you took it to this scam artist? No, the valve stem seals will not cause that.

so that the thing, it was running ok never gave me an issue, was only leaking a bit of oil from the valve covers and had a little bit of high idle but nothing serious. he claimed that changing the seals would calm the high idle and then when it wouldnt run, he claimed that it was shutting down becuase of the seals. i found it really hard to believe that broken seals would cause a bike to shut down so thats when i just decided to tow it back. he had also claimed that while in his possession the bike would smoke like crazy but that was never the case for me. at all and i had it for about 2 weeks before i took it in and drove it everyday.

alobos05

Discussion Starter · #6 · 3 mo ago

heres a few pics of the bike

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3

DaveO430

· #7 · 3 mo ago

alobos05 said:
so that the thing, it was running ok never gave me an issue, was only leaking a bit of oil from the valve covers and had a little bit of high idle but nothing serious. he claimed that changing the seals would calm the high idle and then when it wouldnt run, he claimed that it was shutting down becuase of the seals. i found it really hard to believe that broken seals would cause a bike to shut down so thats when i just decided to tow it back. he had also claimed that while in his possession the bike would smoke like crazy but that was never the case for me. at all and i had it for about 2 weeks before i took it in and drove it everyday.

So the question is what did he do to it while it was there?

alobos05

Discussion Starter · #8 · 3 mo ago

DaveO430 said:
So the question is what did he do to it while it was there?

At this point I have no clue what he did. I’m just trying to figure out what could be causing the bike to shut down once I remove choke and let it idle. I’ve already removed the seals as the culprit. The carbs were cleaned about a year ago, the battery is fine. Burning oil but I highly doubt this is what is the issue This weekend I will be changing out the seals and adding new oil but I doubt that is going to solve my main issue

alobos05

Discussion Starter · #9 · 3 mo ago

DaveO430 said:

So the question is what did he do to it while it was there?

Click to expand...

According to him all he did was run a leak down test, compression test and valve clearance check. Had a little low compression but nothing too alarming, and the valves were spot on

Bike...and Dennis

· #10 · 3 mo ago

Is it possible he adjusted to idle so low it won't run?

Reactions: 1

alobos05

Discussion Starter · #11 · 3 mo ago

N

Bike...and Dennis said:
Is it possible he adjusted to idle so low it won't run?

Not sure if that is the case as the bike would idle at 1000-1200 before it will shutter and turn off

alobos05

Discussion Starter · #12 · 3 mo ago

alobos05 said:
According to him all he did was run a leak down test, compression test and valve clearance check. Had a little low compression but nothing too alarming, and the valves were spot on

What would be the ideal positioning for the idle screw just so I can check it

DaveO430

· #13 · 3 mo ago

Ideal position? You just turn it in or out until you get the idle speed you want.

Reactions: 1

alobos05

Discussion Starter · #14 · 3 mo ago

DaveO430 said:
Ideal position? You just turn it in or out until you get the idle speed you want.

Gotcha. Sorry as I’ve only had new bikes before I’ve never had to tinker with this before. What also threw me off is that he stated that my valves were causing the high idle initially so I didn’t want it to just be quick fix by increasing the idle. He really just threw my train of thought out the window

DaveO430

· #15 · 3 mo ago

In case you don't know look in from the right side at the rear of the carbs, the idle screw is a large slot head facing to the right. Clockwise is faster, CCW is slower.

alobos05

Discussion Starter · #16 · 3 mo ago

DaveO430 said:
In case you don't know look in from the right side at the rear of the carbs, the idle screw is a large slot head facing to the right. Clockwise is faster, CCW is slower.

So am update: I had the bike running on choke and wanted to adjust the idle, in the process no more than two minutes into it and I noticed that the RPms were dropping and the bike shuttered and shut off. This is the first time it happened with the choke on. Tried starting again and the bike didn’t even crank. I replaced the starter solenoid as I had an extra just in case and same outcome. Lights come on bright but nothing when I press start. I did hook up my tender and it is charging the battery now which is odd because I hooked it up last night and immediately was green. Now I’m thinking is this a battery issue? Would a faulty battery cause the bike to shut off even once the bike is started?

Dodge

· #17 · 3 mo ago

Hope you get it running, pretty bike. Do you know the color ? It's red I know but which red? I have one I'm about to paint and loved that color. Sounds like it may be running out of gas for several reasons. Rusty tank, bad gas, petcock problem, fuel pump or carbs. Good luck.

Reactions: 1

alobos05

Discussion Starter · #18 · 3 mo ago

Dodge said:
Hope you get it running, pretty bike. Do you know the color ? It's red I know but which red? I have one I'm about to paint and loved that color. Sounds like it may be running out of gas for several reasons. Rusty tank, bad gas, petcock problem, fuel pump or carbs. Good luck.

I’ll go ahead and check the paint color for you tomorrow. As far as rust, there is no visible tank rust, gas was topped off with premium that I’ve never had an issue with, petcock was replaced last year, carbs were cleaned last year. Only thing left is the fuel pump which I have an extra and might be talk a look at replacing as well when I swap out the valve seals. Apart from now that the bike won’t even make a sound once I hit start. Thinking my battery is no good.

DaveO430

· #19 · 3 mo ago

alobos05 said:
Would a faulty battery cause the bike to shut off even once the bike is started?

It would have to get really low on that bike.

alobos05

Discussion Starter · #20 · 3 mo ago

DaveO430 said:
It would have to get really low on that bike.

Hmmm this is becoming a little odd. I put my battery last night on the tender and it was green. A few hours ago I couldn’t get not even a crank anymore but lights were on and when I hooked up the tender it was red so it is charging now. I will try framing tomorrow morning.

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