CARB DISSASEMBLY AND CLEANING *pic heavy*

[lee_dutcher]

i was thinking bowling some water and let the carbs sit in my sink with simple green. i got a load of tooth brushs( thanks to the kids). but yea i heard dish soap works well because "it cuts stuck on grease"..lol sorry had to say it

[skids]

180 air jets? Hmmm, I think the older carbs has 210's...at least my two older sets do. You do have the older carbs if the floats are brass, right? I would replace the main jets if they have any corrosion on them, since you have the carbs apart. They are pretty cheap. One thing you will want to do is make sure that the pivoting action for the floats is not buggered by corrosion where you can't see it. Those floats do show some "rust". Like you, I wonder if the boyancy is affected. I have always wondered if a product like CLR could clean off corrosion. I suspect that if your floats look like that, your pilot jets will be restricted. Do you have a spare guitar string (slinky e string I think) to stick through the pilot jet holes. There is a pressed-in jet at the inlet bell of the carbs that must be cleaned to bleed air to the emulsion tubes. I don't know how important that lip is on the emulsion tube. I really think that it just gets the fuel into the air stream and in fact some other carbs are flush with the throat bore. Be careful with those float pins so you don't break a goal post!!!

[skids]

By the way... looking at those pix, one of the carbs has the gasket placed different than the other three. You want to make sure that the gasket is not blocking any holes that help the venting of the carbies.

[lee_dutcher]

180 air jets? Hmmm, I think the older carbs has 210's...at least my two older sets do. You do have the older carbs if the floats are brass, right? I would replace the main jets if they have any corrosion on them, since you have the carbs apart. They are pretty cheap. One thing you will want to do is make sure that the pivoting action for the floats is not buggered by corrosion where you can't see it. Those floats do show some "rust". Like you, I wonder if the boyancy is affected. I have always wondered if a product like CLR could clean off corrosion. I suspect that if your floats look like that, your pilot jets will be restricted. Do you have a spare guitar string (slinky e string I think) to stick through the pilot jet holes. There is a pressed-in jet at the inlet bell of the carbs that must be cleaned to bleed air to the emulsion tubes. I don't know how important that lip is on the emulsion tube. I really think that it just gets the fuel into the air stream and in fact some other carbs are flush with the throat bore. Be careful with those float pins so you don't break a goal post!!!

yea they are the old ones..lol well at least i think they are. and as far as the float (goal post) i havent tried to take them out due to that i might brake one (or two or three) i tried gently taping with punch and a small hammer and they dont want to budge. im going to try clr on the floats. and no i dont have a spare guitar string (been using some welding wire) but i do know what your talking about. some of those jet will need to be replace. there brown and black.lol but i can save some. then again maybe they can be cleaned up with some brasso????

[wickedxs]

Use a propane torch to heat up the post of the stuck emulsion tube,, this will loosen the gummed up gas and let it break free...do not let your carbs soak in simple green long, it is corrosive and will turn them black

[wickedxs]

Jets can be cleaned, no need to replace unless you waller them out with one of those jet cleaning tools

[natemoen]

Also, when you get the floats out boil some water and then dip the floats in the hot water. If there are any holes you will see bubbles coming from the holes.

[crazy steve]

180 air jets? Hmmm, I think the older carbs has 210's...at least my two older sets do. You do have the older carbs if the floats are brass, right?

You'll find both 180s and 210s in the older carbs, so the 'specified' 210 isn't the last word; why the difference, I have no idea (maybe delivered to different elevations?). If that's what you found, I wouldn't worry about it.

[DGXSER]

I have an older set of carbs I recently went through and cleaned up. Every float pin seamed like it was practially welded in there.

Well Ken Talbot has posted a tool he made and the dimensions for it to move the pins whiel holding the post in place. I went to Home Depot and bought a lengthe of 1-1/2 X1-1/2 aluminum angle. Cut a small section off and used it to make the tool. That tool got all four out without a single broken post. It is the absolute bomb schnizzle!!! Even better than the XS750/850 FD mod!!

Make you one of those tools and you will not regret the effort.

[lee_dutcher]

tested the floats last night....good new no leaks. do u think brasso would clean these jets up like new (and silver)

[windjammergump]

adjustable needles .....

i have an 1981 xs 1100special.....i have bought 2 carb kits and 2 no avail come up short....i need a set of (4) adjustable needles to finish my carbs...cant find them anyware.....i am looking on ebay and other places..found them in a stage one kit but they cant get them...i am running way too rich on the low end and have to have these needles to make an adjustment any one out there have any clues where to look or have some for sale please contact me .....gump

[natemoen]

i have an 1981 xs 1100special.....i have bought 2 carb kits and 2 no avail come up short....i need a set of (4) adjustable needles to finish my carbs...cant find them anyware.....i am looking on ebay and other places..found them in a stage one kit but they cant get them...i am running way too rich on the low end and have to have these needles to make an adjustment any one out there have any clues where to look or have some for sale please contact me .....gump

Could be wrong but I don't think the later carbs came with adjustable needles, only the early carbs. That's where the dinojet kit comes into play though.

The needles mainly only effect mid to high end. The pilot jet is what works in the low end. Try changing that to a smaller jet.

[DGXSER]

Yep, the 80-81 version of the carbs, the ones that have four openings in the inlet bells and no Vent Ts between the carbs, just the fuel Ts, did not have adjustable needles. The needles need to match the emulsion tubes that you have in the carbs, so you probably do not want to go mixing and matching on those.

For overly rich low RPM, try a few things. First, set the mixture screws in to about 1-1/2 turns from seated. Secondly, make sure you have 42.5 pilot jets installed, also verify you have 185 pilot air jets installed.

Some time ago, I knew a rookie who worked on a set of the 81 carbs and he took the slide portion apart to clean the needles. Only when he reassembled them, he got one put together in the wrong order. Well, his numbe roen cylinder ran rich to the point of fouling out the plug at anything less than 2300-2500 RPM. Above that it ran like a scalded dog. But then let it idle down for even a full stop light, and number oen would start missing till it was ran at an upper RPM for a bit. Finally found the issue, correctly installed the needle and problem went away.

[foreda]

Brasso

tested the floats last night....good new no leaks. do u think brasso would clean these jets up like new (and silver)

Brasso will work. Be very careful so you don't crush. You can also use Dremel Tool with a soft pad and a bit of jewelers rouge.

[crazy steve]

How about that 'oxi-clean' stuff you see on TV? That shows the guy dipping a penny in it and coming out shiny new, no rubbing needed....