silicone sealer/glue around carb manifold boots?

[AOD]

when i took the carbs off last week i thought i was going to take off the carb manifold boots and use some RTV around the gaskets to make sure they are sealed well. needless to say that idea was short lived as removing the boots required massive pounding from my impact driver and rubber mallet. i reached a wall when i couldn't get the impact driver to work on the middle boots because i couldn't hit it anymore, and the screws were stripping easily. i said screw it, and screwed them back on.

my question is about whether its going to be helpful to silcone around the boots. we did this on our intake manifold for a newer GSXR engine (custom fuel injection for a formula car) and it held up pretty well. am i going to expect the stuff to be burning off if i get it on the head? will it help any? or is it just not worth it?

thoughts please.

~Adam

[Anonymous]

I think your in trouble.

I think your in trouble. I use one of those hammer driven removers when ever I think I might need it. But for those boot screws a PH#3 bit worked better. It gave me enough grab to turn em loose with no slipping.

Now that yours are stripped you need to get them out some how. Cut em with a dremel or something then grab whats left with vice grips. You need to get those old O-rings out of the boots and put new ones in. The old ones are probably so old, hard, Flat, and cracked that they don't even look like O-rings any more.

Carefully chip out the old rings and clean up the grove with a soft wire brush. My 850 used 3/32 wall by 1 1/2 ID O-rings.

Thats 2mm wall by 36mm ID to be more acurate. Yours are probably the same.

I don't know if your boots are going to make it once you start cutting. You may need to find the screws off a salvage bike at the very least.

[AOD]

i am not going to try taking them off again...im working on the bike in a parking lot when i get a chance, i have limited tools and no power really. i've even done a Dyna S conversion in the parking lot.

of the one manifold boot i did get off, the oring actually looked pretty good for being 25 years old. it wasn't broke or torn, and was seated okay. i decided to put it back on, and stop stripping screws before i messed anything up.

i dotn want to start drilling screws out (i doubt you can even get a drill in there to work on it...its so small of an area :? . i'm dying to ride...and test out my new Dyna S...so that's why i asked about the silicone.

i dont think the boots are leaking (badly) i will check however with WD40. i figured the silicone would be 'assurance'.

~Adam

[Anonymous]

You should be able to get the old screws out with a pair of vice grips.
I replaced the old philips head screws with 6 mm allen head bolts. Easier to torque and to remove.

I used some high temp (650 C) silicone to seal the boots of my GS850 and it works fine, but some new O-rings would be better.

[Anonymous]

If the one looked good maybe the others are ok.

If the one looked good maybe the others are ok.

You can always do a leak test on it first. I hear starter fluid works. I wouldn't go spraying it right on the manifold. Maybe just apply it with Q tips or something. Someone on this site sugested propane gas from an un-lit torch. Its supposed to bog the engine down if you have a leak.

[SqDancerLynn1]

I don't know where the propane idea started DON"T USE IT simplest thing to use is plain old windex, 409 cleaner ANYTHING that is non flamable. There are some tuning procedures for autos where propane is used, NOT on a motorcycle. If you have a vacuum leak the engine speed will increase when the leak is found by spraying the suspected part. The liquid temp seales the leak.

[AOD]

the generic can of WD40 i bought at Carquest even says on it "for testing engine manifold leaks".

i planned to test them when i got the carbs up...but with the carbs off it'd be real easy to run a bead of silicone around the boots.

where did you find high temp silicone at?

~Adam

[Bill + Karen]

Any auto parts store, its the red stuff. As far as the stuck screws go you can use a large flat drift punch and peen them on the head to push the material back to the center. Then take a new screwdriver bit and drive it into the freshly peened head. On really stubborn screws I use a center punch on the outside edge, have to replace them afterwards tho. Bill

[KEITH KRAUSE]

I don't know where the propane idea started DON"T USE IT simplest thing to use is plain old windex, 409 cleaner ANYTHING that is non flamable. There are some tuning procedures for autos where propane is used, NOT on a motorcycle. If you have a vacuum leak the engine speed will increase when the leak is found by spraying the suspected part. The liquid temp seales the leak.

Right! Never use a flammable fluid. Just use a fine mist of water from a spray water bottle. But this will actually cause the rpm's to momentarily drop, showing a leak.