Pulled the carbs off the 81 850G today.

[jdvorchak]

Finally feeling better after pulling a muscle in my left leg last Sunday. I took the tank off and am working on it. Petcock and fuel level sender, and decided it was a perfect time to pull the carbs. I usually work on Honda and Kawasaki and I have to say that this Suzuki is the easiest bike I've seen to remove the carbs. The air box slides right out and you have all kinds of room to work. Honda and Kawasaki won't let you pull the airbox with the carbs installed. No push cable so only one throttle and one choke cable!

After I got the rack out I noticed that all 4 slides are stuck but the carb bodies and bowls look surprisingly clean. I wonder is someone hadn't rebuilt them in the distant past then didn't ride it much. Virtually no road grime on the bodies. I didn't start dis-assembly yet as I stopped for dinner and the night. I do have to mention that yesterday I squirted silicon spray all over the rubber parts, insulators and boots. That usually contributes a lot when removing carbs.

I'll post some pictures of the carbs tomorrow when I get into them more. For now I just sprayed carb cleaner on the slides and letting them soak a bit. I never like to force them to move. If they aren't moving tomorrow I'll pull the caps off and check the condition of the diaphragms. If they are still flexible I'll lift them and try squirting carb cleaner in from the top on those slides.

 

[Nessism]

Carb rebuild tutorial linked in my signature and on basscliff's website. Short cuts are long cuts so consider this your warning.

To get the slides loose use a heat gun on the carb body. Don't use carb spray or the diaphragms can become damaged.

 

[chuck hahn]

And dont pry the slides with a screw driver. Take and old tooth brush and grind it down to fit under the slides. This way you can give them a little help without gouging things up.

 

[jdvorchak]

Carb rebuild tutorial linked in my signature and on basscliff's website. Short cuts are long cuts so consider this your warning.

To get the slides loose use a heat gun on the carb body. I'll try that first thing. Don't use carb spray or the diaphragms can become damaged.

Thank you. I never heard of using a heat gun. I've always just soaked them and used thumb pressure or a piece of wooden dowel. I'll try the heat gun first. Never use a metal object. Never had a diaphragm fail with carb or brake cleaner. As a matter of fact when I have an O-ring or gasket that has swelled in the presence or fuel or oil, I hose it down with brake cleaner and set it aside to dry. Always seems to shrink back down to normal size.

 

[WolfworksCustoms]

Brake cleaner on rubber usually destroys it.....better off using Kerosene for stuff like that....takes longer, but safer......I also always coat any carb rubber parts with mineral oil (all pharmacies have it, its low bucks.....mineral oil wint damage any ruvver seals or diaphragms....brake Cleaner is mostly carbontetrachloride (dry cleaning fluid)....its a nasty carcinogen ad also dries the snot outta anything rubber/vinyl/composites....

 

[chuck hahn]

Heat gun will soften the laqeured gas and oil round the slides and allow them to be pushed out.

 

[WolfworksCustoms]

Agreed.....but never or at least try to avoid any solvents on rubber parts in a carb......else you'll need to replace....white vinegar is a better option.

Want a lil science ?....have a guy ya hate that has a sweet acrylic windcreen ?....spray a lil laquer thinner on it.....it IMMEDIATELY spiderwebs the whole screen abd renders it useless...

I used to dabble quite a bit with chemistry in college....we made the greatest acid too !.....well, i didnt....was the other guy....

 

[jdvorchak]

All great suggestions and thank you. I will take heed.
Ya lean something new every day.

As for kerosene I used diesel fuel in my parts washer and the carbs have been in there all night. It is my understanding that diesel is kerosene or the chemical equivalent to kerosene. Also use diesel in my kerosene heater and have for years with no ill effects. The heater is still working.

 

[jdvorchak]

Heat gun worked great. Only took a couple of minutes to free them all.

got the carbs partially dis-assembled and while I've seen worse, the two left carbs are pretty nasty inside.
Here is my carb work station with Steve McQueen offering inspiration:






the float pivot pins are all stuck of course but before I do something stupid I have a couple of questions.
Are those pins staked in or supposed to be floating?
Before I hit them with a nail and small hammer is there a trick to getting them to move? These are the first I've seen where that pivot pin looks like a nail with a head on one side. Usually it's just a pin and I can tap from either side to break them free. Absolutely don't want to break the casting. That would suck.

 

[portdave]

For proper pin removal look at page 42 on Nessism's rebuild pdf. His link in his signature is not working but here is the link from BikeCliff.

http://zeus.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/gs/Mikuni_BS-CV_Carburetor_Rebuild_Tutorial.pdf

 

[jdvorchak]

Thank you portdave.

Do you know if those rubber plugs over the pilot jets are still available? I checked Bikebandit and they are listed but wanted to know if there is a better site? I've used Bikebandit a lot and am pleased with their service just don't like the extra shipping charges. You know $13 parts and $8 shipping...

 

[Nessism]

Z1 Enterprises is one of the forum favorite sources for parts. They are having issues with their website right now though so consider calling them after you find out what you need.

Another option...http://www.ebay.com/itm/suzuki-gs11...ash=item43e2cf723e:g:cbIAAOSwEetV9iSK&vxp=mtr

 

[jdvorchak]

I checked Z1 and noticed that their site was down. I didn't want to cause anyone any work that I can do, So thank you so much for looking for me. I was just looking for suggestions on a good place to look for parts. Right now I know I'm going to tear up those plugs getting them out. They are very soft and spongy and will need replaced even if I don't pull them apart.
Once again thank you for your efforts. It is greatly appreciated. I hope that soon I can start contributing and helping others here. If you look on the NGW (Naked Gold Wing) site you'll see I'm very active on forums with over 2k posts there. Same screen name on NGW, DOHC Honda etc.

 

[Nessism]

Be sure to bust those carbs down. Don't be tempted to try to clean them while they are ganged together. The interconnection tube O-rings are most likely hard and brittle and need to be updated anyway, and you can't do that with the carbs ganged together.

BTW, I've fixed the carb tutorial link in my signature. Didn't know it was broken until reading it here...

 

[jdvorchak]

Thank you nessism. The tutorial on youtube eluded to supporting the post with a socket but your pic shows how. When I bought this bike it came with lots of parts and those O-rings between the carbs were included. I'll split the rack tomorrow and get those pins out. Also having trouble removing the main jet "tube". Got the jets out ok but that tube is pretty stuck. I figured when I get the floats off I can use my heat gun to heat up body around that tube and maybe it will loosen.

One question. When I replace that float pivot pin do I need to take any precautions or just tap it in? After cleaning of course.

 

[jdvorchak]

got the carbs apart. I'm going to have trouble with left two carbs. They are nasty and the pilot jets are stuck. I'm soaking them with PB Blaster right now. I'll let them soak then try again using my heat gun as well. Got all of the other jets soaking in white vinegar and they are cleaning up nicely after only a couple of hours.

I have one more question about the fuel inlet. It doesn't look to me like there are replaceable O-rings. Looks like rubber coated metal Tee fitting. Is that correct?

 

[Nessism]

Humm, yes, you got the rubber coated Tee fitting. No O-rings. It looks to be in good condition anyway. Soak it in gasoline for a few hours before you go to put it back in. The gas will swell the rubber and form a good fit inside the carb bodies.

 

[alke46]

Teflon tape for gas application is your friend here. One wrap, no leakage.

 

[mikerophone]

...the pilot jets are stuck.

Propane torch or the heat gun will help here, don't be afraid to get it really hot around that post they are seated in. Make sure you have the correct sized screwdriver, or modify one to fit since it sounds like you have 2 of them out already. The brass is really brittle and there is not much "meat" around the slots on the pilot jets, so if you strip them you'll have to get a set of left handed drill bits and work them out - don't be tempted to use EZ-outs for this. I've had several that were stripped out and the drill bits work great. I

've had more trouble with the blasted air/fuel mix screws than the pilots, had to cut a notch out with the dremel to get 3 of the 4 out on a set of carbs that sat for 23 years recently. Patience, heat and PB Blaster works good, but my favorite is a 50/50 mix of good hardware store or lab grade acetone and ATF to break bolts and jets free. Soak, heat, soak, heat and try again. If you have trouble with the air/fuel screws, make sure you turn them in and out as you work them out - especially if the metal caps are already removed, because the fine aluminum threads will be caked with grime and you'll strip the SS screw head. When you do get them out, don't lose the tiny little washer or spring and be sure to replace the o rings. All of them - including the ones behind the intake boots.

Also, replace all the screws with SS allen head bolts while you have them out - especially the ones on the intake boots.

 

[jdvorchak]

thanks for the advice on heat and PB. They are soaking overnight with PB in on top of them. I'll try heat tomorrow and more soaking if needed. I know that new jets are available from places like Bikebandit and partszilla so if I tear them up I'll just buy new ones. I do have a good set of left hand drill bits and easy outs. Came in a kit. Using left hand bits or easy out would be my last resort. They are plugged solid and have to come out of there. I haven't gotten around to the mixture screws and yes they are uncapped and dirty in on top of them. Once I get the pilot jets and mixture screws out I can start to clean these carbs in earnest. These aren't the worst I've worked on but certainly not the easiest either! I'm guessing that they have been sitting with fuel in the tank and carbs for 10+ years or longer. Right side two carbs aren't in bad shape at all but #1 and #2 are really crusted up. I'm pretty sure I'll have to boil these carb bodies for a while to get the internal passages clean. I usually use boiling distilled water and some Dawn dish washing detergent for the "dip". I also hear that Pine Sol works well but has a tendency to attack the aluminum and turn it black.