Zilla28

To be honest ive not felt any real difference in performance. The engine is coated with yellow clay looking crap from the previous owner and the floats in the bowl did have some yellow on so the only last thing I can think of is a bloody good strip down of the carb and a proper clean out.

I drilled out the brass plug and the jet was set to 105 minutes, not 150 minutes (2.5 turns out which is factory setting). I adjusted it to 1.5, 2, 2.5 and 3 turns from closed position but still pinging slightly 😞 I am close to throwing the towel in now and getting rid of it.

The image with the arrow is one I found on Google. The large photos are my carb and there are 3 jets inside the bowl, I had removed the one to clean it and took the photo to get the number of the other jet, so all is normal internally. I will have to strip the bike..........yet again 🙄 to get the carb off and try remove the brass plug. Bloody nightmare lol

OK, I just found this. Any idea how I remove the brass plug from mine? I did try earlier today with some really strong wire but no luck.

Yes I have had it off and took the bowl off. I just don't see a brass adjustment screw that I can adjust while the engine is running. From what I have seen there should be a brass screw either on the side or on the bottom near the side that faces the engine but there is no screw just a brass plug thing with a pin hole. I am not use to these carbs as I am only use to Walbro carbs on 2 strokes.

Oh yeah I remember on a GoKart I use to have the pilot jet was all the way in tight. I just don't see the air/fuel screw on the damn carb. I will have to take another look. I popped the top and bowl off and flushed it out with petrol and made sure all the jets were clean but didn't want to remove the floats or anything else as I didn't want to risk damaging anything.

Yeah I usually always ride with a backpack with all the tools I need for removing screws and adjusting the chain 🙂 I have just been reading about the carb settings and I may have found the issue. I remember when I removed the pilot jet I wound it all the way back in as (I think) it was already like that. I will have to remove the carb again and set it to 2.5 turns out which is factory setting. Hopefully this will cure the pinging, although it use to run fine when I bought it and before I took it out 🤔 Only one way to find out.

That was a new plug. I then set the jet so it was running richer and put a new slightly cooler plug in which came out very brown. Now I have leaned the jet off a bit, took the carb off and tried to give it a wash with petrol and blow it out but couldn't really get to much. I took it for a ride and the Temp light flashed once and the engine pinging is still there. Not quite as bad but still noticeable 😕

Today I noticed the coolant in the radiator was filthy so I drained and flushed the radiator and checked the colour and spark on the plug which seems fine and also tested the water pump by touching the impeller when the engine was running and by removing the cap on the radiator I can see its pumping fine. 20190121_124120.mp4 20190121_114353.mp4 I called Quadzilla and they said it must be a fueling issue. As running lean can cause pre-ignition I adjusted the needle to run as rich as I could then took it for a 10 miles ride and still the engine is pinging. I added half bottle CVL turbo octane booster which is suppose to prevent pre-ignition but no luck.

I use to run Unleaded but when it started pinging a while ago I drained the tank and filled with Super Unleaded. My mate done all the mechanical bits for me and yes the timing is spot on according to the service sheet from Quadzilla.

I let the bike idle from cold for 6 minutes to gently warm up, took it for a 10 mile ride and turned it off when I got back. After a few minutes I started it again letting it idle and the fan kicked in so I turned the quad off and let the fan do its job but it's the engine pinging which is worrying me as I can't afford to spend much more money on it if I end up knackering something else by riding it with a pinging engine.

Well the impeller was before (video posted above) but I didn't check the shaft. I just removed the thermostat and took it for a 10 mile test ride, it's still pinging but I didn't notice the Temp light come on. I will have to check the shaft on the impeller tomorrow. I notice the top pipe on the radiator gets very warm but the bottom pipe is hot. Surely it should be the other way around 🤔

The water pump seal has also been replaced after me trying to remove it and making a mess of it. I am beginning to think it's something internal within the case that's making the impeller not function but im no mechanic so have no idea. Just very frustrating having only owned it for 5 months and its been off the road for a month.

OK, I have finally got somebody to change the head gasket on my quad and also needed to have the valves seated as one wasn't closing. All is now back together but when I took it for a test ride it's still pinging and the Temp light still flashes on. I guess the engine will need to be taken out again and to split the crank to inspect the water pump?

As far as I am aware the impeller was spinning with the shaft as it was locked on to the shaft, not overly tight but tight enough. I saw some videos online of people removing the pump seal and the only way they could remove it was to prise it out with a screw driver so that's what I done, hence the reason it looks a mess. The oil does look a little watery and I done a test with dropping the oil in a hot saucepan to see if it bubbled which it did, so this confirms there is antifreeze in the oil 😞 20181203_180713.mp4

OK today I removed the water pump cover, dained the engine of coolant and turned the engine over and the impeller is spinning ok. The gasket on the cover was knackered but I didn't want to replace just that gasket as I had not seen any leak from the cover which makes me think it must be leaking internally. I have managed to remove some of the internals but cant get any further. What I expected to take a few hours looks like its going to take much longer. Do I need to split the crank case to remove the rest? 20181203_142148.mp4

I've not checked the oil for colour, only looked at it on the dip stick. I will try and find time to check the water pump tomorrow as I do have a new water pump seal in my gasket set. I just remembered, last time I warmed the engine up the pipe from the water pump to the bottom of the radiator was warm and I could hold it but the pipe from the top of the radiator to the engine was too hot to hold.

But I don't know what its suppose to run at and what is classed as too hot. The thermostat is fine as I tested it and it opened at 71 degrees which is stamped on it. If the coolant on the tank has dropped by 1/2" after 14 miles of riding it must be going somewhere which is leading me to think the head gasket but im hoping its not.

Yes the fan does come on but not every time and I have not had a close inspection of the radiator but it should be clean as I pressure washed it and have only used it on the road. I have no temperature gauge on my display so I can't see how hot its running.

While riding my Quadzilla XLC 500 I was cruising along about 60 mph then opened it up, but once I hit 70-75 mph it died on me so I rolled to a stop and it wouldn't start for about 20-30 seconds. I then noticed the Temp light occasionally flashes on but its so quick you wouldn't notice in the day so not sure how long its been happening. The engine has started pinging when I accelerate which can be caused by many things so I drained the fuel and replaced with hi octane, fitted a new spark plug, adjusted the little washer on the high jet in the carb twice to make it run more lean which made no difference. I tested the thermostat which opens at the correct temperature, I removed the radiator cap and started the engine and no bubbles were showing and the oil is on maximum and very clean as I have not long serviced it. The last time I took it out I went 14 miles and the coolant in the bottle has dropped about 1/2". I am now leaning towards a head gasket and have purchased a full gasket kit but was wondering if there's anything else it could be before taking the engine apart.