carb boots

[tjfisher30]

ok any way to fix cracking carb boots not sure if that were the leak is but i would reather repare them and check again then spray carb cleaner and find out the flame on way

[xschop]

Si

use high temp black silicone, works great....chop

[tjfisher30]

ok can that be use for a new gasket as well?

[xschop]

yes

yes,IF you take care not to over saturate the mating surfaces. I did it on my oil pan after letting it tack-up on both surfaces, then putting the cover on....no leaks after 2 years....chop

[HankD]

I also have a xj650 that had cracked intake boots. In addition to covering the boots with high temp gasket material, I wrapped each boot with rubber from a bicycle innertube. At a glance it looks original. The down side is that it takes more time as you need to remove the boots from the engine.

[mro]

cool looking old boots

Rapped mine with electrical tape. Been on there for a year and you got to look close to see that it's taped.


mro

[50gary]

I bought some new ones, couldn't get it to run right so I gave in. Keeps the economy rolling you know?
Cheers, 50gary

[tjfisher30]

boots

well boots were not the problem my idle screws were messed with them one was stri[p and now i need a new carb body

[gotaplay]

Curious about something

I was just thinking ( and yes it hurts )
But I used to buy a product from GM that was used to treat wheather striping on cars . It contains some silicone and keeps the rubber soft and will actaully help restore dryed weather striping ..
Can any one see why this wouldn't help in prolonging the life of carb boots ?

[Czekus21]

The carb boots are pretty thick. They will usually crack on the outside without leaking. I fixed mine with hightemp silicone that's resistant to gas, oil, and heat and stays flexable. After I got them smooth, I spray painted them black. Been a few years and no problems yet.

[trbig]

If you can't get them to seal, I've seen Andreas on here with some nice, very reasonable priced used ones..... just a thought.

Tod

[xschop]

refurbed boots

I have two sets that I am experimenting on to renew them. I am trying different chemicals to resoften the rubber on them without turning them to mush.... I have an untouched set I would sell for $35 bucks that came of a head that I am working on. It was sitting in the shed so there's no U.V. damage...

[John]

What methods are you going use?

I am getting ready to attempt resurrecting some carb boots my self. I'm going to buff them out on a bench grinder /wire wheel, and then try some inner tube patching cement, and cut some old inner tubes into shape to glue down, and seal the leaks. That should work. I want to try this method before I buy some Plasti-Dip, and try that method. I just tried the RTV fix on a set, on my 81, and I don't believe I got good adhesion to the boots. It had vacuum leaks before the RTV fix, and the low speed circuit in the carbs was really out of whack, acting lean. I increased the pilot jets size but that didn't change anything, Still acted lean. Found some cracked-through boots, and 'Fixed" them, and reinstalled the stock pilot jets. It runs a lot better in the pilot circuit now, but it still shows signs of being a little lean, and you can see where the RTV didn't stick very well.
I want to try something else to save these boots, being the frugal SOB that I am, and not have to spend $100 on a new set.

[LoserShoes]

Something I am going to try if I ever get all the stuff I've got going now done, and can work on the bike again, is some of the heat shrink tubing that has the adhesive inside. Might cost a bit for the size to fit the boot, but should work and look good.

Might have to be a bit creative with the heat gun to get it to shrink to the curvature properly.

Feel free to try it and you can take credit for it if it works.

Steve

[John]

The results are in

And I'm disappointed. I cleaned and buffed the hell out of one of the boots, then made a template of electrical tape by wrapping it around the boot, and then cutting the tape off, and sticking it to a piece of thin cardboard. I then cut out the carboard template, and traced the shape onto a piece of inner tube, and cut that with a scissors. I cleanedand roughed up the cut piece of rubber, and applied the tire patch cement to it and the boots, and let it set up for a minute. I then wrapped the rubber over the boot, and held it in place with some tie wraps. I let it set for a while, and when I checked how well the repair had worked, the rubber just basically fell of the boot. Didn't stick at all. Some much for that. On another boot, I had just applied a thick coating or rubber cement, and turned and twisted the boot around until the glue had flowed out over the boot evenly, and the brush strokes disappeared. It looked very nice...smooth, and shiney. It never dried completely. It was still tacky a couple of hours later. I settled on doing four of the boots with an electrical tape wrap. I'm going to try that on the bike and see if that doesn't help with the issues with the pilot circuit.