No air screw? Is this crazytown?

[Clumzi]

You folks are going to hear a lot from me .

So I'm pulling these new (and by new I mean older than me) carbs apart using the wonderful carb cleaning/rebuild pdf on the site and I'm at the point where it says to remove the air screw. Well... there is no air screw. Where the air screw is supposed to be I see a pin hole that goes straight through the main body of the carb into the engine side of the carb.

Do the 32ss carbs they put on the smaller displacement bikes just not have air screws? Just making sure I'm not in crazytown. -nick

[GQROD]

Some carbs have air screws and fuel screws others have only one set of screws that are called pre-mix screws since they control both air and fuel mixture together.

Your manual will show you where they are if you have them.

On my bsw30ss i only have one set of screws ( pre-mix ).

You can go to basscliffs site and download one free for your model.

Hope this helps

[Steve]

They might be under the 'sealed' caps.

Take a look at the CV carb rebuild series, scroll down to page 6, you will see them pointed out.

.

[76FJ55]

I believe the mixture screws on your carbs are capped for emissions reasons at the factory. te expose them you run a sheetmetal screw inthe small hole in the center of the cap (you may need to drill it slightly larger to get the screw started. then once you have the screw started you grab it witha pliers and pull the cap out. then you can remove the mixture screws as described int the carb cleaning instructions.

[chef1366]

They might be under the 'sealed' caps.

Take a look at the CV carb rebuild series, scroll down to page 6, you will see them pointed out.

.

Might be??!!
Man I hope so.

[Steve]

Might be??!!
Man I hope so.

OK, try this, instead.

They are under where there might be 'sealed' caps.

.

[hikermikem]

I believe the mixture screws on your carbs are capped for emissions reasons at the factory. to expose them you run a sheetmetal screw in the small hole in the center of the cap (you may need to drill it slightly larger to get the screw started. then once you have the screw started you grab it with a pair of pliers and pull the cap out. then you can remove the mixture screws as described int the carb cleaning instructions.

Be SUPER careful when you drill the hole through those alum caps, NOT to hit the screw head with the drill bit !!!!

As I remember, the caps are only about .150" - .200" thick, and it's easy to blast right through them and hit the screw head underneath (again, ask me how I know this ). Once that happens, you risk not being able to get a screwdriver blade into the "destroyed" slot for removal...

Just go slow & all will be well - good luck, I suspect we'll be hearing from you shortly...

mike

[Clumzi]

Alright. Sounds like it'd be a good idea to leave the things alone .

[chuckycheese]

Alright. Sounds like it'd be a good idea to leave the things alone .

Well, not really. At some point, you're going to want (need) to properly clean your carbs. In order to do so, you're going to have to remove them. As hikermikem mentions, it's pretty easy to crash right into the screws. Ideally, you should use a variable speed drill; it makes the job safe, quick and easy. Good luck!

[Houdini]

Did you get your new o-rings from cycle O-rings.com?

In order to comply with the statement below, you will eventually have to remove the EPA plugs clean, replace o-rings, and adjust the mixture screws...


1980 GS550L
I will make this POS beautiful damnit! And maybe even run again!

[Big T]

The caps are so thin that you can use a very small nail or even a large needle or some similiar point tool to puncture them. I've used the awl on my Swiss army knife for this

Try holding the pointy tool with a pliers right over the center of the cap and give the tool a rap with a hammer or wrench to try and puncture it.

Once you puncture the cap, use a screw to pull it out as described above

[Clumzi]

Well, not really. At some point, you're going to want (need) to properly clean your carbs. In order to do so, you're going to have to remove them. As hikermikem mentions, it's pretty easy to crash right into the screws. Ideally, you should use a variable speed drill; it makes the job safe, quick and easy. Good luck!

Are you saying I can't clean the carbs without removing the air screw? I can't put the carb body into the carb cleaner dunk without removing those? -nick

[hikermikem]

the carb dip will eat the tiny o-rings on the mixture screws under the caps.

plus, you won't be able to fine tune the idle circuit unless you can turn those screws.

it's not hard to remove the plugs - didn't mean to scare you, just wanted to make sure you knew the process.

now, removing those mix screws after the plugs are out, there's where you may have some interesting moments...

make sure you have a very good fitting flat-blade screw driver to go down that hole. the driver must fit into that slot with no slop - you may want to buy a new one just for the purpose. take a carb body with you into the hardware store (sears) & select the perfect one. soak it with pb blaster first & hope it's not stuck... this is a rite of passage for all us gs lovers

good luck

[Thelen82gs550l]

Everyone is blowing the whole taking the caps off to get at the mixture skrews they come right off just put a skrew any kind will do and just pull them out they are not welded or glued or anything. you dont have to take them out and clean them but it will take the guess work out of tuning your motor if you do. I have the same bike as yours so after you take them out and clean all the carbs the idle mixture skrews are set three and a half turns out to start. http://members.dslextreme.com/users/...32SS_Carbs.pdf This diagram that will help you understand these carbs. dont pay any attention to it being for a gs850 they are the same carbs just differnt jet sizes. Hope this helps you out I know that it helped me understand what was going on in side of the carbs

[waterman]

+1 on the well sized screwdriver. I have found that the screws are almost glued into place. I used spray gasket remover overnight followed by pb blaster to loosen screws. I think some type of paint remover would work best on the glue. Even then it was quarter turn loose than quarter turn back in until they loosened enough to remove.

Pay attention to remove the little washer and spring that is under screw, very easy to forget and then turn the carb over and they fall out to never be seen again.

One other tip to remove tamper proof cap is to use a left hand drill bit. It really is very easy to remove the cap, the real treat is the screw itself.