98 SRX smoking and bog when warm

A

acrojason

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Sep 30, 2011
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Location
Snohomish, WA
I brought my 98 SRX with me from the midwest when I moved out to WA state. It's not the greatest sled for out here, but it makes for a solid guest sled and is still a lot of fun on the trails. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get it going quite right since I got it out here 2 years ago... When it's cold it smokes like crazy but still hooks up and goes, but once it warms up it starts fouling plugs, bogs, and eventually dies. I pulled the carbs last year and tried to clean them out, but couldn't get them adjusted quite right after putting it all back together. I also pulled and cleaned the power valves (major thanks to this site for those directions!). After taking it in to the local shop, I got it back and it still seems like it the smoke is...excessive. The video below was taken tonight - outside temps were right around 30F and it had been idling for 5-6 minutes. Looking around on here, it seems like the pilot jets are usually the main culprit for bog issues, and I guess that running too lean would explain the plugs getting oil fouled... I did check the oil adjustment and it appears to be set correctly. Any other ideas?


-Jason
 

What kind of plugs do you use? Had similar issues a while back and switching to BR9ES fixed it right up. Also the humidity has alot to due with smoke. It doesn't smell like antifreeze, right?
 
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So...You tried to clean the carbs. What exactly did you clean? Are they clean? What are your fuel screws set at? Float levels within spec? You state you tried to get them adjusted but couldn't. Reeds OK?
 
i think your tors is kicking on right at the end of your video. i would start with carbs again. check cables first, make sure pulling slides equal. than pull pilot jets. 3:16 (yammie tony)
 
Only running on 2 cylinders.
Make sure the carburators are adjusted properly, put br9ecs plugs in it (those are what are supposed to be in it)
Make sure the choke cable is adjusted properly.
 
Great suggestions, everyone!

V2k1 - I'm using BR9ES or ECS, I'll check it in a few minutes. I've got a full set of both though, so I'll try playing with that once I recheck the carbs.

FJViper - Bowls were spotless, floats looked good, and the reeds appeared to be in good shape, but it's been a year since I've had the carbs out so at this point I think I'm just going to suck it up and pull them again. I think I was having a hard time getting the idle set correctly after I got it all back together - I guess we'll find out soon.

Mr. Sled - Oddly enough, at the house I'm actually 500' LOWER than back in the midwest. That being said, most of the trail riding out here will be between 2500' and 5000', so that's probably the altitude where the jetting needs to be set for.

Tony - If I remember from when I had the carbs off last time, it seemed like the floats were pretty well synched up. Out of curiosity, what indicates the TORS might be kicking in? Is it because of the step down in RPM as opposed to a smooth decrease?

Any thoughts on the oil pump giving up the ghost? I think that's my biggest fear at this point given the location of the pump, but I'm hoping that those failures are few and far between and one of the recommendations above does it.

I still don't understand how a guy with a father who was a licensed aircraft mechanic, had the service department of a Deere franchise he owned down to a science (back in the days of Trailfires and Liquifiers), and worked in the steel mills for 25+ years could have produced an engineer son with as little mechanical aptitude as, well, me. We all have our struggles, I guess... :) Guess I should have paid more attention when I was younger and "helping" him in the garage.

Thanks again - I'll report back in a bit!!!
 
jason i been around yamaha,s over 40,s, still get stumped to this day. anyways it sounded at the end of the video the tors kicked on which is a throttle override and would have no affect on float height, what that dose do is limps the engine when it senses stuck throttle or slide. i could be wrong . the step down in performance is two cyls running , i would make sure which cyl is not firing, go back and see if that plug is fowled and replace. also you might have to clean that carb again. 3:16 (yammie tony)
 
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I finally got around the opening the hood on the SRX this evening. Unfortunately, the garage was suffering from the aftermath of some remodeling projects, so I couldn't even see my workbench until yesterday evening. :) I'm working on getting the carbs off now, but decided to take a quick detour and check the gap in the oil cable - 17mm... I guess the first step is going to go ahead and reset that to 22mm. I'm going to go ahead and pull the carbs anyway, so hopefully I can get them off tonight so I can get them cleaned and put back in tomorrow. They're calling for 8-12" in the mountains this weekend... :D

Jason
 
Lucky, they were talking huge snow here for the weekend all week. Now it sounds like a light mix. Right on my beltgaurd it says to use BR10ECS plugs. I found a 10 pack in toolbox in seat when I bought it. I was lucky if I could go 10 feet without fouling one.
 
the 1998 srx had a plug fowling issue in 98, with the br10ecs. like posted it was a service item to switch to br9ecs. 3:16 (yammie tony)
 
I guess I just got the bulletin now. My sled will run like that for a while when very damp out like now. I am also due for plug caps. I have some somewhere. Maybe open hood while running in dark and see if it looks like a christmas tree under there. Does anything use a plug that cold?
 
Got the carb assembly off - bowls and floats look good, still need to check the float levels though. Main jets (2x145 and a 148.8) were clean and pilots (47.5s) had a trace of crud, but were mostly clear. I have a Clymer shop manual that seems to point to using 131.3/128/8 mains and a 42.5 pilot instead for 20F and 3300-4900'. Any recommendations on whether I should go with that or some other jetting setup?

If I snag new jets, I'll probably go ahead and replace the caps as well...
 
If you do get new main jets, use the main jets from the 2001 SRX. The 01 had larger main jets, making the mixture more rich and more safe.
All other years used smaller mains. Leaner air fuel mixture will make the engine more vulnerable to detonation.

Make sure those pilots are sparkly clean. A clogged pilot will cause poor idle, the engine wont get any gasoline.
Clean Pilots, fresh plugs/plug caps would probably solve your idle issue.
Seems like you already found your problem with too much oil.

TORS will limp the engine, it wont be able to generate enough RPM to enguage the clutches. Not your issue. TORS doesnt shut down a cylinder.
TORS tells the CDI to limit engine timing advance.
 
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