1980 3 cylinder 70 hp reeds?

jegoman

Recruit
Joined
Jul 10, 2013
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3
I am working on the motor mentioned in the topic line.

Compression is even at 120 psi on all cylinders. Brand new after market stator and trigger testing at 1400 + ohms (spec is 1100 to 1400) with good solid spark on all three cylinders. Rebuilt carbs and adjusted floats and l/s needle to spec.

The motor will start (sometimes) if I move the throttle to the highest available start position. I can back it off a little but if I try to get to a normal idle speed she dies with a pretty good jerk, like a dead cylinder. After running, the plugs show relatively normal conditions with the exception of #2, which is pretty much black soot.

There was no reference included with the Sierra stator as to position, so I initially mounted it where the wires would reach the swithch box and rectifier. In trying to troubleshoot the problem I found some reference to installing the stator within multiples of 2 of the optional mounting holes, so I rotated it to meet that criteria but found no change.

I did not look at the reeds closely when I had the carbs off but the service manual does mention the high idle as a symptom of bad reeds. Obviously if I don't have to pull the carbs again that would be great but at this point I'm looking for some educated opinions. Anything you could offer is greatly appreciated.
 
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