Cleaning carbs...need some input

[Krooozn]

I have successfully removed the carbs from my 450/L and currently have them soaking in a carb cleaner bath. According to the can it says once you remove the carb/parts from the cleaner, to rinse them thoroughly with water and then dry thoroughly....does this sound right? I just have a hard time outting water into my carbs....I did not dismantle the carbs, just placed them complete into the cleaner.....I wanted to run this by those of you who are in the know....as I am a novice at this whole thing, but I am trying very hard to do what I can on my own.....just don't want to make a high dollar mistake at this point in time.....so please...anyone who can offer me any advice I would really appreciate it......

On another note, I was really quite shocked when I removed the carbs that they really appeared to be very clean, at least by looking at the butterflies in them, and once open...the insides looked to be very clean as well.....

Thanx everyone who can offer me any help.....Anita ray:

 

[qwqb]

I believe that you should have dismantled the carbs before dipping them in the cleaner. The o-rings and gaskets that are inside of the carbs will be eaten away by the carb cleaner, and you will now have to dismantle them in order to replace them. the correct thing to do would have been to dismantle them, remove the o-rings and gaskets, and then soak the metal pieces.

rinsing them with water is a correct step in the process, and then blow the carbs out using compressed air.

What I would do if I were you would be to remove them from the bath right now, dismantle them, remove gaskets and o-rings per the step by step process located in the GSR garage section, and then but them back in the bath. You will want to buy a new set of o-rings from cycleorings.com, and possibly some new float bowl gaskets from z1 or the like.

Best of luck!

 

[Guest]

Hi Anita, welcome to the forum...

First off, you can not clean the carbs properly until you dismantle them competely.

Secondly, the carb dip cleaner will disolve any rubber parts (like all the little o-rings still left in your carbs), but your biggest worry at the moment are the diaphrams attached to the slides (located under your caps).

You should immediately remove the carbs from the dip & rinse them in warm water to remove all that nasty cleaner. Then read & follow the instructions here on doing a proper carb clean. Hopefully you haven't damaged the diaphrams yet, as they can be expensive and a PITA to replace...

Tell us more about your bike, like what model & year it is. Also, what's its past maintenance history

 

[Guest]

Go to the homepage and go to the carb clean-up series if you have CV carbs, or go to the Garage link for the VM carbs. Either will step you through the proper process.

 

[Krooozn]

Bummer!!!!!! I asked someone here about dismantling the carb and they told me I didn't have to, just to soak them whole....so now I find I was given bad info.....I guess all I can do now is go and take it out of the bath and rinse it with water.....I will probably have to take the carbs to my local bike shop and have them clean/rebuild them for me.....especially now since I have soaked them in the cleaner for several hours now.....

This sure blew up in my face......I have probably succeeded in ruining my carbs.....

Thanx for you help.....Anita

 

[Steve]

If you dropped the carbs in the cleaner then ran to the computer to make the post, it might not be too late.

GET THOSE CARBS OUT OF THE CLEANER NOW!!


Have you not read any of the seemingly hundreds of recent posts on carb cleaning? Virtually all of them say "Follow the carb-cleaning guide..." and also "there are NO short cuts when cleaning carbs, they all turn out to be long cuts".

Sorry, but with all the information about the subject, I just can't feel sorry for you as you try to pick all the mush that used to be o-rings and gaskets out of your carbs.

NOTHING that is non-metallic should be in the carb dip. The only exception would be the bushings on the throttle shaft. We have not heard of any reports of them being damaged by the dip, and the effort necessary to remove them is rather prohibitive.

.

 

[Guest]

Secondly, the carb dip cleaner will disolve any rubber parts (like all the little o-rings still left in your carbs), but your biggest worry at the moment are the diaphrams attached to the slides (located under your caps).

I'm assuming your carbs are CV carbs as shown here... the diaphrams are shown here, called CV boots. Pull your caps off & remove that slide assembly ASAP, it should just pull out after the cap is removed (no need to dissassemble that assy, it doesn't go back in the dip).

Get that carb dip chemical off that rubber or you'll be replacing those.

 

[Nessism]

Take the four phillips head screws off on top of the carb and pull out the slide as the others have warned, hopefully the diapharams will be okay. Do a simple rinse is not adequate since some of the sauce may still be inside the carbs.

EDIT: mike posted while I was typing. He's got it covered.

 

[Krooozn]

I have just raced down in the garage and pulled the carbs out of the cleaner, then I rinsed them for several minutes under warm water, now I have them in a warm water bath.....so I need to take them out of he bath and remove the 4 screws from the top of each and take the diaphrams out.....these are Mikuni carbs I think is what it says on the top....so I'll go and try to pull the tops off and see what happens.....will post back in a few minutes.....

 

[doctorgonzo]

If you've trashed the diaphragms I have some useable ones. Let us know.

 

[Guest]

That's a shame. Who told you to dip them without disassembly?

 

[Krooozn]

Okay....I removed the four screws from the top of the carbs, removed the spring and then removed the diaphram slide thing.....I then rinsed them very well and set them up to dry.....they look to be okay at this time, no mush or slime that I can see.....and they seem to be pretty solid......so hopefully I got them out in time....I also flipped the carbs over and removed the bowl cover to expose the floats, I removed the two bowl gaskets and rinsed them very well and placed them out to dry....so hopefully they too will be okay.....I am thinking the cleaner I was using must have been very old stuff, as when I opened the can, it basically had no odor to it at all....so maybe that saved my a$$......as for the lugnut who told me to just soak them whole...it was my neighbor, whom loaned me the cleaner, he said that's how he cleans his carbs....I also rinsed the exposed float areas again for several minutes in hopes that I have gotten all the cleaner out of the carbs......

I really appreciate you guys jumping in here and setting me on the right road.....and as to the poster who said I should have done more research here on the site, you are absolutely correct and I appreciate you calling a spade a spade......I apologize for my ignorance, but in my defense....I truly thought my neighbor knew what he was talking about, as he has had Harley's for 30 plus years.....but again, that is no excuse for my own lack of research, but you can believe this...from here on out, this site will be my first stop in the future....that you can take to the bank!

Thanx again for all the input.....Anita ray:

 

[Guest]

http://www.thegsresources.com/gs_carbrebuild.htm

 

[SLIW]

I see that tutorial is for GS's after 1980.

Is there any tutorial on older GS's as mine is a 79 model.

Cheers

 

[Guest]

I see that tutorial is for GS's after 1980.

Is there any tutorial on older GS's as mine is a 79 model.

Cheers

http://www.thegsresources.com/files/vm_carb_rebuild.pdf

 

[Kcwiro]

That's a shame. Who told you to dip them without disassembly?

That is something I would like to know....

 

[Steve]

That's a shame. Who told you to dip them without disassembly?

That is something I would like to know....

That has already been answered.

Okay ... as for the lugnut who told me to just soak them whole...it was my neighbor, whom loaned me the cleaner, he said that's how he cleans his carbs....

....I truly thought my neighbor knew what he was talking about, as he has had Harley's for 30 plus years.....

I won't comment any further.

.

 

[Guest]

Okay....I removed the four screws from the top of the carbs, removed the spring and then removed the diaphram slide thing.....I then rinsed them very well and set them up to dry.....they look to be okay at this time, no mush or slime that I can see.....and they seem to be pretty solid......so hopefully I got them out in time....I also flipped the carbs over and removed the bowl cover to expose the floats, I removed the two bowl gaskets and rinsed them very well and placed them out to dry....so hopefully they too will be okay

Good work Anita - now the fun begins!! Take your time while you dissassemble the carbs, ask lots of questions here and don't strip any screws !

Removal of the pins holding the floats can be trouble if you're not going about it correctly - breaking one of those posts off is easy if you're not careful.

If you can post some pics of your bike & carbs.

Read & follow the tutorial others have linked here & you will have sparkling clean carbs & will be the envy of your bonehead HD neighbor.

Good luck

 

[Krooozn]

Well today I went into my carbs and much to my surprise, it seems that the o-rings, gaskets and diaphrams are all still in good shape! I used some spray carb cleaner, a paperclip and compressed air and proceeded to try to clean the ports and such. I was pretty shocked that on a scale of 1 to 10 on the gummed up scale, these carbs were maybe a .5!!!! There was no gummy stuff, no varnish, no trash.....so I was pretty shocked.....I have cleaned everything that I was able to and the insides of the carbs look pretty darn good.....so until I put the carbs back on the bike and get my tank finished, I'll have to wait on hearing the bike run.....but I did want to let you all know that I am in hopes that my little dunking of the carbs hasn't hurt anything....also wanted to say thanx for all the support I got from you all......it really helps when you have people who can offer knowledge when one is in need......

Thanx again! Anita :clap:

 

[Steve]

Well today I went into my carbs ... I used some spray carb cleaner, a paperclip and compressed air ...

Be SUPER CAREFUL with that paper clip. (Why do they call them paper clips when they're made of metal? :-k )

The steel in the 'paper' clip is much harder than the brass in the jets and can scratch the hole to a larger size inadvertently

It is much better to use a single strand of copper from a 14- or 16-gauge wire.
The copper wire strand is softer than the brass jet and will not hurt it.

.