Rusty Diaphram cover

[CUBuffs]

I have a couple diaphram covers that are rusty and covered with some sort of white material on the underside. Should I be concerned about that and if so what is recommended for cleaning it? I tried carb cleaner but that didn't work very well.

Also, what can be used to clean the diaphram itself? Thanks.

[DiverRay]

The diaphram covers are cromed steel, so you can use crome polish to clean them. If you want, use fine wet/dry paper and then paint on the outside.
The diaphram itself should not need cleaning. If id does, I would try brake fluid on it. as it's rubber, the wrong cleaner can ruin it. The tech tips on the left have a lot of the information you are looking for. If you spend about 30 min. looking them over, you should have all the information you need BEFORE doing a repair or cleaning.
Ray

[Ken Talbot]

Actually, it is more likely that only your two outboard covers are chromed and are in good shape. Yamaha didn't bother to chrome the inboard covers, I guess because they don't show as much. You can get pretty aggressive with wire brushes or sandblasting to get rid of the corrosion. Paint them up with some silver paint and you'll be ready to go..

[CUBuffs]

Thanks for the info but maybe I wasn't very clear in my post. The rust and corrosion is on the interior of the cover not on the outside. It wasn't until I removed the cover from the carb that I noticed the problem. There also seems to be some rust down in the bottom of the slide as well.

[skids]

Is that set of carbs from Colorado? It is so dry and salt-free here. Ill just bet that any rust in the carbs came from the steel gas tank. If you are going to take the time at going through those carbs, think about lining the tank or at least use in-line filters to catch the bigger rust particals.

QUOTE]Originally posted by CUBuffs
Thanks for the info but maybe I wasn't very clear in my post. The rust and corrosion is on the interior of the cover not on the outside. It wasn't until I removed the cover from the carb that I noticed the problem. There also seems to be some rust down in the bottom of the slide as well. [/QUOTE]

[CUBuffs]

Hey Skids, thanks for the reply. I purchased the bike in Iowa City but don't know the bike's history.

What's interesting is that only the #2 & 3 carbs had the rust problem inside. However I did notice that all the float bowls had small deposits of what appeared to be rust leftover in the bottom. I plan on taking the tank to a radiator shop to have it cleaned out.

[Ken Talbot]

Originally posted by CUBuffs
The rust and corrosion is on the interior of the cover not on the outside.

That doesn't change things much. You can still wire brush the $@#% out of them to cleam them up, but you probably won't need or want to paint the inside. Concern about it being there in the first place - sure, but not for long. It's anybody's guess how it got there, and it really doesn't matter at this stage, expect for the fact that this might be an indicator you carbs are due for a good, throrough overall cleaning. If you've got corrosion in there, who knows what other bits of spooge might be lurking in the various wee orifices.

[Pat Kelly]

I'm thinking that what you're see as rust is deposits from the gas. There is a red residue in my float bowls whenever I take the carbs apart.

[CUBuffs]

Pat, thanks for the info. That makes me feel better.

[John]

It was mentioned in an earlier post to use brake fluid to clean the diaphrams. I wouldn't. Brake fluid can swell rubber parts, especially if the rubber compound wasn't made to be compatible with b/f. You ever hear of putting brake fliud in a trans to stop a seal from leaking? It works...for a while, then the seal goes away. Brake parts are fomulated to be in contact with the fluid, but carb parts aren't. I would try just plain ol' dish washing liquid, or maybe some Simple Green, but nothing any stronger. Diaphrams ain't cheap, should you waste one.

[CUBuffs]

What about using Armorall or Son of a Gun?

[John]

I have heard that Armorall will actually deteriorate the rubber over time. I don't how true that is. Maybe do a little web search for a good rubber treatment product.