Mixture adjustment?

When I had my bike in to have the carbs balanced they told me that my mixture was 4 and a half turns out.

 

sure

 

sorry there was supposed to be a question there...how do i adjust?

 

From what I've read here, 2 1/2 turns is a good starting point.

 

This brings up so many questions. And deffinately not the right ones!!
Something sounds mighty fishy!

If you had the bike in to get the carbs vacuum synced.
What reason did they have to mess with the mixture screws??
How would they know unless they messed with them??

Since they messed with the mixture screws.
Why did they not do a colortune to set the mixture properly??
Since they messed with the mixture it is thier responsiblilty to set it correctly.

No complete rack of carbs that is properly Cleaned, Synced, and Color Tuned is ever going to have exactly 4 1/2 turns out on the mixture screws on every carb.

Are you absoulutely certain that they even did the vaccum sync at all??
You should be able to check this by hooking a vacuum gauge to each carb.

I would deffinately be asking these questions of the shop owner!!!

Ghost

 

@MiGhost: thank you and i will definitely pass these questions along to the guy at the shop. I have had issues with them before but it is hard to find a shop with a YICS tool and they said they had one.

 

how much are they charging you for syncing your carbs? i ask, because for about $40, you can buy a YICS tool from XJ4Ever. at a certain point, it's going to make more financial sense for you to do this yourself, with the added bonus that you'll know it was done to your liking.

 

they charged me $50. I made a YICS "tool" to the specs online but i am afraid that it seems to fit a bit too snug and i don't want it (or any of its pieces) stuck in there. but if there is a genuine YICS tool available for $40, might as well get it. thanks

 

Something else you need to keep in mind:

Your valve clearances need to be checked every 5000 miles.

ANY time you re-shim an out of spec valve and bring it in spec, you throw the sync off slightly and for best performance and fuel economy, it's a good idea to re-sync.

If you plan long-term ownership of an XJ, doing valve adjustments and carb service/adjustments every 5K MILES will get a bit expensive if you're paying to get it done every time.

Consider the necessary tools to be a cheap investment in the long-term health of your motor.

Plus, doing it yourself is the only guarantee you'll ever have that it was done right.

 

Also, you'll likely need to clean out the YICS passage from time to time (especially if it's never been done before) regardless of whether or not your tool has melted. It's not a big issue, you can clean out the passages, and melted rubber that somehow makes it to the engine won't hurt it. So there's really nothing to worry about.

 

My YICS tool from Chacal got stuck the first time I used it and I had to force it out from the opposite side. However, I discovered that if I coated it with silicon grease (probably oil would work), it slipped in pretty easily. It helps to wiggle it as it gets nearly all the way in and when removing. If you get one be sure to get some extra silicone rings for it. Chacal has those also.