ARIEL LEADER ENGINE PROBLEM

[alan.bedford]

Richard wrote "Hi i was wondering did you ever get to solve your problem as my arrow has similar problems".

As promised this is what I discovered.

First despite having stripped and cleaned Carb and fuel tap etc I decided to look again and was surprised to discover my in line filter was full of sediment further investigation by draining tank and removing tap showed a red sediment semi blocking the base of the tap metal filter also that the whole of the base of the tank was completely covered in this red sediment - NO RUST JUST A VERY FINE SEDIMENT.......not wishing to remove tank I set about inserting a lint free cloth inside a piece of garden hose leaving a ball of cloth and started mopping up this sediment, flushing tank, through several times until inside was spotless....reassembled petrol tap and stripped and cleaned carb..................I assume this sediment is the by product of this dam Ethanol Bio fuel and as my bikes are ridden in sequence having 12 bikes (down to seven now) the leader, being the only two stroke suffered more than the others.

Bike then started fine but still often failed if I left her for more than an hour only starting again, easily the following day.........so more trial an error until I discovered how to ensure bike starts hot or cold.

When Cold I now open fuel tap whilst I don my helmet then close choke fully with ignition off give 4 or 5 swings on the kick start then and only then turn ignition on 1/8th throttle and swing kick start maybe up to three or four times (often only one kick required) and she bursts into life IMMEDIATELY open choke fully keeping a few revs on and ride away.

Whilst riding along a route I know I then discovered how far the bike goes with fuel tap off i.e. on what fuel is in your carb and surprisingly mine (low compression 1959 engine) travels around 900 yards - with this knowledge if I intend to stop anywhere for more than a few minutes I turn the fuel tap off 800 yards before my destination so by the time bike is on the stand the fuel is just about out - IGNITION OFF ( remember this if engine stops before your off the bike), fuel tap off.

Restarting is dependent on how long you have left the bike if more than the 15 odd minutes it takes for engine to cool [ 2 stroke Ariel for some reason cool down very quickly - see Haycraft 1964 book of the Ariel Leader and Arrow ] use the full procedure if sooner just fuel tap on don helmet choke out and kick should go first time. If just filling up with fuel turn tap off as you stop and back on when you return to bike ignition on and sharp prod with a little throttle and away.

Since I have been following this routine the bike has always started and it seems the reason is all down to Ethanol additive as apparently the fuel in the carb separates very quickly and by stopping your bike with carb full ( not letting her run dry) gravity pushes the oil from your mix into carb jets therefore preventing ignition - flooding for those that do so makes situation even worse!

The only other additional precaution especially if you don't use your bike frequently is only use 97 (max 5% Ethanol) fuel as Bio sediment forms in tank etc and clogs everything up.

Since doing the above the Leader is reliable............I also now run all my bikes on top grade fuel and also run all my carbs dry before putting bike away which keeps jets from getting clogged.

Hope the above info helps.

Alan

[Mick.addison]

Evening all.

Firstly I am putting this question in this section because I do not know how to post a new topic. Can somebody help please?

I seem to remember somebody making a remote carburetor tickler on a Leader. If I am correct they used a similar method to that used on camera lenses. Does any body have details or has anybody done such a similar thing?

Thanks Mick

[garryeyles]

Alan,

My Arrow does something similar. Runs fine when cold with equal smoke from each cylinder. After a run it blows heaps of smoke from the left and very little from the right and refuses to start again while hot. Left plug is wet and right plug is dry. My guess is a leaking crankshaft seal on the right or centre right. Another clue that this might be the problem is that the bike was sitting unused for several years and apparently this leads to the crankshaft seals drying out and or cracking. Hope this helps! If its any consultation, they are reportedly easy to repair. I am about to find out!!!

Cheers

Garry from OZ

[admin]

Evening all.

Firstly I am putting this question in this section because I do not know how to post a new topic. Can somebody help please?

Thanks Mick

Look here in the help section:

http://forum.arielownersmcc.com/viewt ... 508#p15508

[andygal]

I now this is a old post but have you taken out the baffles and decoked the silencers sounds like the unburned oil in silencers is getting hot from exhaust gasses and causing it to smoke heavily and cause to much back pressure in exhaust pipes and causing fuel starvation ie the engine needs to breath or it will just stop also i used a mixture of 32 to 1 ran at this at 70 mph flat out to several dragon rally's there and back and had no problems with just a trace of smoke from exhausts (andy)