Awake: 5:46am Temp 67 sleep 5+40 sunny overnight @ Nicktown.
After brunch, I called Chuck & asked about his Quad-runner. He responded: "My Quad still has a problem; it will start but then shuts itself down." "How about I come over in an hr & see what we can do," I asked him. "I would like that" he said.
Meanwhile, Kathy took the Suzuki to the big city of Northern Cambria to do a little shopping: groceries, thrift stores, library, etc.
By the time I rounded up a few tools & walked over to Chuck's garage, there were (2) other fellows scrutinizing the Grizzly-600 Quad-runner's engine. Reginald is a brother of Shirley (Chuck's wife) & Jim, a son-in-law, is married to Chuck & Shirley's daughter.
No offence, but I got the impression that Reginald was not too savvy on small engines but Jim had some interest & was hinting that he would like to help his father-in-law to get that Grizzly moving again. Jim had brought his tool box with him so he had a few sockets that I don't carry in our motorhome.
The 1st thing I wanted to try was: the old spark plug in lieu of the new one that Chuck bought. Jim had the proper socket & in no time @ all, that engine started right up......& then, shut itself down. UGH! There went my theory on the plug gap.
After that, Jim & I were both in favor of attacking the Grizzly's heart (the carburetor). Between Jim's tools & mine, we managed to get all the screws, bolts & nuts loosened to be able to perform intense surgery on the Grizzly's heart. However, I must have made 4 or 5 trips over to my toolbox for tools that neither Chuck nor Jim had.
During this surgical operation, we realized that the Grizzly had some open heart surgery performed on it before, so this was not the 1st time. Hmmm. Some of the Philips screws were mutilated so much that we had to use the heavy vice grips to get them loose.
Finally...we were able to open the heart; yes, there was evidence of some impurities in the (heart) float system. Chuck provided the Q-tips & carburetor cleaner while Jim held the unit upright (taking the carburetor completely out was prohibited by law), that would require a few more days work.
I was unaccustomed to having a crowd (of 3) looking on during this surgical work; plus, keeping track of the parts removed (screws, nuts, bolts, etc) was not easy. Using a thin needle & hopefully cleaning any or the entire residue that might be in the arteries & veins that could clog the system, we began the sewing up process, hoping that we'd done the right thing & recovery would be quick and successful. Amazingly enough, we had no parts left over, save for putting the seat back on. Kathy returned from her big city touring & stopped in to see our progress; she took a photo of most of us smiling.
Jim & I were optimistic & somewhat excited to, hopefully hear that strong heartbeat of the Grizzly again... & so was Chuck. In the meantime, Kathy had to leave & get her groceries back in the freezer while Chuck got ready to start that engine.
Are you ready! We had about (4) hrs labor in this project so far. Ok, Chuck climbed onto the Grizzly, put the gearshift in neutral, set the brake, & then turned the key & ......the engine turned over & over & over? "Wait a minute" said Jim. "The gas is turned off." Oh, now the gas in on.
Chuck turned the starter key again & .....the engine ran & coughed & sputtered & oh my gosh, what have we done! That's it guys, let's go & have a beer & relax on the back porch. I was so disappointed in myself. I'm not much of a beer drinker but I couldn't help thinking...where did we go wrong? I know we were all disappointed.
After finishing my beer, I apologized to Jim & Chuck & suggested that maybe tomorrow....we could do this again. They didn't seem too excited about that. I gathered my tools & started walking across the field to our motorhome; when emptying my pockets of a few tools, there was something down deep in my right pocket...but when I brought it out:
....oh my gosh! Most likely, that's why the Grizzly did not purr an hr ago. Both of these parts belong in the carburetor.
Early evening, Chuck paid us a visit & gave us a fresh bundle of onions from his garden. Then I told him what I had found in my pocket. He smiled & agreed that we should go into the carburetor again.
Dinner: Spaghetti with Marinara sauce, spinach salad, an ear of sweet corn, peach & a plum. Oh what a day!
Lights out: 11:58pm.
After brunch, I called Chuck & asked about his Quad-runner. He responded: "My Quad still has a problem; it will start but then shuts itself down." "How about I come over in an hr & see what we can do," I asked him. "I would like that" he said.
Meanwhile, Kathy took the Suzuki to the big city of Northern Cambria to do a little shopping: groceries, thrift stores, library, etc.
By the time I rounded up a few tools & walked over to Chuck's garage, there were (2) other fellows scrutinizing the Grizzly-600 Quad-runner's engine. Reginald is a brother of Shirley (Chuck's wife) & Jim, a son-in-law, is married to Chuck & Shirley's daughter.
No offence, but I got the impression that Reginald was not too savvy on small engines but Jim had some interest & was hinting that he would like to help his father-in-law to get that Grizzly moving again. Jim had brought his tool box with him so he had a few sockets that I don't carry in our motorhome.
The 1st thing I wanted to try was: the old spark plug in lieu of the new one that Chuck bought. Jim had the proper socket & in no time @ all, that engine started right up......& then, shut itself down. UGH! There went my theory on the plug gap.
After that, Jim & I were both in favor of attacking the Grizzly's heart (the carburetor). Between Jim's tools & mine, we managed to get all the screws, bolts & nuts loosened to be able to perform intense surgery on the Grizzly's heart. However, I must have made 4 or 5 trips over to my toolbox for tools that neither Chuck nor Jim had.
During this surgical operation, we realized that the Grizzly had some open heart surgery performed on it before, so this was not the 1st time. Hmmm. Some of the Philips screws were mutilated so much that we had to use the heavy vice grips to get them loose.
Finally...we were able to open the heart; yes, there was evidence of some impurities in the (heart) float system. Chuck provided the Q-tips & carburetor cleaner while Jim held the unit upright (taking the carburetor completely out was prohibited by law), that would require a few more days work.
I was unaccustomed to having a crowd (of 3) looking on during this surgical work; plus, keeping track of the parts removed (screws, nuts, bolts, etc) was not easy. Using a thin needle & hopefully cleaning any or the entire residue that might be in the arteries & veins that could clog the system, we began the sewing up process, hoping that we'd done the right thing & recovery would be quick and successful. Amazingly enough, we had no parts left over, save for putting the seat back on. Kathy returned from her big city touring & stopped in to see our progress; she took a photo of most of us smiling.
Jim & I were optimistic & somewhat excited to, hopefully hear that strong heartbeat of the Grizzly again... & so was Chuck. In the meantime, Kathy had to leave & get her groceries back in the freezer while Chuck got ready to start that engine. Are you ready! We had about (4) hrs labor in this project so far. Ok, Chuck climbed onto the Grizzly, put the gearshift in neutral, set the brake, & then turned the key & ......the engine turned over & over & over? "Wait a minute" said Jim. "The gas is turned off." Oh, now the gas in on.
Chuck turned the starter key again & .....the engine ran & coughed & sputtered & oh my gosh, what have we done! That's it guys, let's go & have a beer & relax on the back porch. I was so disappointed in myself. I'm not much of a beer drinker but I couldn't help thinking...where did we go wrong? I know we were all disappointed.
After finishing my beer, I apologized to Jim & Chuck & suggested that maybe tomorrow....we could do this again. They didn't seem too excited about that. I gathered my tools & started walking across the field to our motorhome; when emptying my pockets of a few tools, there was something down deep in my right pocket...but when I brought it out:
....oh my gosh! Most likely, that's why the Grizzly did not purr an hr ago. Both of these parts belong in the carburetor. Early evening, Chuck paid us a visit & gave us a fresh bundle of onions from his garden. Then I told him what I had found in my pocket. He smiled & agreed that we should go into the carburetor again.
Dinner: Spaghetti with Marinara sauce, spinach salad, an ear of sweet corn, peach & a plum. Oh what a day!
Lights out: 11:58pm.
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