79 sportser help needed

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Dec 16, 2008 | 10:14 AM

emtjayb

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Cruiser

Joined: Dec 2008

Posts: 172

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From: Iowa

79 sportster help needed

ok, I bought a 79 sportster 1000cc that had been sitting in a garage for about 2 or 3 years. i got it home, me and a buddy went through the carb (s&s super b) cleaned the jets, float wasn"t stuck, changed the fuel filter, drained the gas tank and filled with new gas, plugs were new. we had it running for about 5 minutes and then it died and I havn't been able to get it going again. for some reason i cant get fuel to the carb. i get fuel out of the petcock and through the line to the filter but thats as far as it will go(filter is not on backwards) any suggestions would be helpful

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Last edited by emtjayb; Dec 16, 2008 at 10:32 AM.

Dec 17, 2008 | 09:28 AM

carlgrover

Seasoned HDF Member

Joined: Oct 2007

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From: Decatur, Alabama

Congratulations on getting an ironhead. More fun to ride than anything else you will ever own this side of a Reno stripper.

I know you said you are getting fuel out of the line but do this stuff anyway. A bike that has been sitting around for a long time (and as old as it is) will need these items checked to make sure it will deliver fuel:

Clean out the rust in the gas tank. There will be a lot of it.

Clean the in-tank screen in the petcock.

Tear the petcock apart and check it as well. I bought a new one recently and it had a big chunk of rubber stuck in it.

If the gas cap doesn't "breathe" it will impede fuel flow. There is a fuel vent in there that will get rusted/stopped up. New gas caps are cheap.

You didn't say what kind of fuel filter you bought. If it was designed for an automotive engine it may need to have fuel forced thru it under pressure and not gravity fed. For what it's worth, I don't use a fuel filter because of the screen in the tank. Just something else to leak or stop fuel flow. My opinion here.

Having done the above, you should get good flow to the carb. If it still won't pop, you have a piece of trash somewhere in it. You will have to tear it apart again and check it carefully. I would do a complete rebuild of the carb. I don't know anything about S&S carbs but it should be REAL easy to flood a sporty.

Having rebuilt the carb and cleaned/checked everything else mentioned above you will be rewarded with good fuel flow. More importantly, you will know that there is a high chance that the other problems you are going to have are NOT fuel related because you have just rebuilt the entire fuel system.

Oh yes, you will have other problems.

Dec 17, 2008 | 11:43 AM

emtjayb

Thread Starter

Cruiser

Joined: Dec 2008

Posts: 172

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From: Iowa

thanks for the help!

Dec 17, 2008 | 11:48 AM

emtjayb

Thread Starter

Cruiser

Joined: Dec 2008

Posts: 172

Likes: 0

From: Iowa

hey, I read somewhere i can use bb's and diesel fuel to clean out a tank. is this true?

Dec 17, 2008 | 12:23 PM

JosephGarcia

Outstanding HDF Member

Joined: Aug 2007

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From: fegfsg

Quote:

Originally Posted by emtjayb

hey, I read somewhere i can use bb's and diesel fuel to clean out a tank. is this true?

take the tank off the bike, drain it, plug the petcock hole, fill the top of the tank with metal bbs, spray a lot of WD-40, or you can use naval jelly, or nothing but the BBs themselves. either way the metal scrapes the walls as you shake it and knocks the rust off, then you flush the tank and it comes out with the liquid you flushed it with.

using a chemical along with the BBs just speeds up the process. just use something that will flush out easily and not stick and mix with the gas and cuase problems when you get it back on the bike