550 carb rebuild questions

[debby]

My bike (77 550 with the non-CV carbs) was badly in need of carb work so I took the plunge and pulled the carbs yesterday. I've got them all apart now ready for cleaning. I have a couple of questions for you carb experts:

There's rubber tubes connecting the #1 and #2 carbs, and also connecting the #3 and #4. Nothing between 2 and 3. Should there be?

Should I remove the fuel adjusting screws on the carb bottoms when I dunk the carbs? They definitely no longer have their factory seal so disturbing their position is not an issue. Looks like they've been leaking too.

I need new orings for the fuel connector tubes between the carbs. They're also leaking. Where can I find them? That cycleorings.com guy has kits for the newer carbs but not mine. Would the fuel line orings in his kit fit my carbs?

thanks,
Debby

[Hoomgar]

Re: 550 carb rebuild questions

My bike (77 550 with the non-CV carbs) was badly in need of carb work so I took the plunge and pulled the carbs yesterday. I've got them all apart now ready for cleaning. I have a couple of questions for you carb experts:

There's rubber tubes connecting the #1 and #2 carbs, and also connecting the #3 and #4. Nothing between 2 and 3. Should there be?

Should I remove the fuel adjusting screws on the carb bottoms when I dunk the carbs? They definitely no longer have their factory seal so disturbing their position is not an issue. Looks like they've been leaking too.

I need new orings for the fuel connector tubes between the carbs. They're also leaking. Where can I find them? That cycleorings.com guy has kits for the newer carbs but not mine. Would the fuel line orings in his kit fit my carbs?

thanks,
Debby

debby, I just finished doing this to my 550 Saturday night. The tubes you refer to are the same on mine. The one in the middle is not there. It is right according to the manual and my bike is running great so i would say it is right.

As for your adjustment screws leaking I would go ahead and pull them out then to clean yes. Since you need new o-rings on them most likely there is no reason not to. I haven't needed any o-rings but I know a good old hardware store is your friend when it comes to things like that.

I can tell you it is worth the pain. My 550 never ran this good before!
Good luck.

[Anonymous]

I wasn't aware that any VM carbs used O-rings in the fuel tubes; I thought they all used what appear to be short lengths of fuel hose to interconnect the carbs.

Would you happen to know the exact I.D. of the ringland for those tubes? Maybe I can help, maybe not, but if you pursue these locally, be sure they're fuel resistant! Hardware stores are likely to carry plumbing supplies, which work great for water, but not so great for petro based stuff.

[debby]

I'll measure one tonight. Good point about getting fuel-resistant ones. I have a feeling that fuel-resistant o-rings might be very hard to find locally. Best price I've found for OEM o-rings is ronayers.com, who wants $3 ea. I need 12 (3 tubes, 2 orings on each end). Ouch!

Debby

[satchmo]

Couple of things.

Check out this thread it may help http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...nitive+vm+carb

I did this a couple of weeks ago.

Make sure you take out the air screw and fuel screws, both have o-rings on them that will need to be replaced.

No there are no rubber links between carb 2 and 3. The fuel intake hose should join bodies 2 and 3, but there are no other links like between 1-2 and 3-4.

The keyster kits available on ebay have all the o-rings and other crap if you want to do a true rebuild. If you only need the o-rings then the hardware store it is. Take a set from a carb you've broken down - in order to get the sizing, and make sure they're fuel resistant.

Hope this helps.

Satch

[Hoomgar]

debby, I didn't think to mention that the o-rings should be fuel resistant, I figured that was a given, sorry about that. I am good at making assumptions. But as for getting them at a "good (old) hardware store" like I said it should not be a problem. The one we have here... I would seriously doubt you could need an o-ring that they do not have. Needs to be a real hardware/appliance/repair type place like we have. They have everything. Literally. I don't even go to an auto parts store for most of my auto needs. I just put new seat hinge pins on my Kawasaki for 1.98 for both. Dealer wanted 16.00

o-rings I have bought there all my life, they have them for any application you can imagine. You just need to tell them what your looking for and your on your way to saving large dollars. An o-ring should cost you no more than 30 cents tops.

Hope you have one in your area and I hope that helps I know they are a life saver for me.

[debby]

We do have a good old hw store here in Boulder - McGuckins. They have everything. Hopefully that includes *fuel resistant* orings. And hopefully the helpful hw guy will know what I'm talking about when I ask for them. I am going to need the air screw and fuel screw orings too. And a new t-connector. The old one is cracked on the bottom. This is getting discouraging - everytime I look at the bike I find more things wrong

BTW Suzuki doesn't even list a p/n for the fuel screw oring on their parts fiche. I guess they don't want us messing with it.

Robert, I have some measurements, taken with my uncalibrated craftsman vernier calipers and bleary eyesight

oring landing on fuel tube: 8.0 mm
oring thickness: 1.8 mm
od of fuel tube: 10.6 mm
id of fuel inlet on carb: 10.9 mm

Oh, and it turns out I only need 8 of the fuel line orings. The t-connector has a molder rubber exterior and doesn't use them.

Debby

[Hoomgar]

They'll fix you up debby

At the worst then your back to eBay until you find a rebuild kit that has what you need. I hope it doesn't come to that. It's a pain.

[debby]

Satch,

Lots of great info on that thread. Thanks!

BTW was wondering how long (days?) you soaked the carb parts in the cleaner? My bike wasn't running too bad, the funky idle and gas leaks were the main problems...

debby

[first timer]

one hour or so for each carb dipped

-ryan

[whodatpat]

Does Robert's o-ring kit not fit your bike? The rebuild kits do not have fuel tube orings, but his kit does.
As for the time in the dip can. So far on my extremely dirty carbs, 2 days soaking has been required. After 1 day there was still a lot of oil/dirty/grime caked on the outside. But they are shiny now! I am dipping carb #4 tonight. Also, so far I have only lost 2 parts and ruined 1!
Patrick

[KEITH KRAUSE]

Don't expose any o-rings to cleaner. This will make them brittle. There are other o-rings in the carbs, not just on the pilot screws. If you don't have replacements, be sure to remove all the o-rings inside. I recommend replacing the o-rings that go in the rubber manifolds too. Apply some hi-temp bearing grease to them to help them last and torque at 6ft/lb.
Be careful when seating the sharp tipped pilot screws (underneath). The tip can break off in the carb body. Count the amount each screw goes in and write it down. They are commonly set differently from the factory. This is OK, just be sure to set them back as closely as you can to avoid mixture problems.
The carbs use rubber fuel line between carbs 1 and 2, and 3 and 4 for the floatbowl vents. Then of course you have the fuel "T" and other connectors for the fuel delivery. Be sure to keep each float valve with its seat. Do not mix them up. They wear as a "matched set".

[debby]

Thanks. I already have a set of manifold o rings and am planning to replace them. If I can get the screws out that is. They are WAY tighter than 6 ft-lbs. My only hope is to get an impact wrench in there. Never having used one before I'm a little nervous about breaking something. Oh and that brings up a dumb question: what kind of hammer are you supposed to use to smack the impact wrench with? Do I need some special heavy hammer? The only thing I have is a plain old claw hammer. I use it now and then to bend nails :/

debby

[Anonymous]

Debby, as far as the hammer goes, I might try to get a rubber mallet if you have one, or put a piece of wood between the hammer and impact drive(this of course could be a pain if you only have two hands). Unless the impact driver has a head of rubber or something, mine's metal, and I'm just not a big fan of metal to metal hammering. If you don't have a rubber mallet, and don't want to buy one, I wouldn't worry too much about it, just try to hit the impact driver square on the head. Best of luck, going to do my carbs sometime, or so I say, we'll see.

[KEITH KRAUSE]

I've always used a regular hammer with my impact driver. Just give it a solid hit, always worked for me. Make sure your driver is "twisted" in the direction you want to turn first. Pick the tightest bit you can find. Put some weight into the head of the screw and turn the driver at the same time as you hit it with the hammer. Replace them with allens.