XJ550 float height and wet set

My bike has been fine for the last 8 years or so, but recently wouldn't keep its idle once warmed up, so I cleaned out the carbs completely. I put the floats at 21.3mm, measured from the top of the bowl gasket to the highest part of the float (plastic). I tilted the carbs when measuring, so the tang was only resting on the jet, and gravity wasn't pushing down. They were already at that height, except for 1 that I adjusted.

I then put them on a bench, making sure they were level and ran an external tank for the wet set. This is my first time doing a wet set, by the way. Well, gas never got into the bowls, and instead spilled out of everywhere else.

There must be some major screw up that I did? What was it?

 

if its not going into the bowls it might be leaking out of the fuel tee and conneectind tubes between the carbs. fuel tee has no orings in the oem style but replacments do have o rings . the connecting tubes have o rings.

with the 550 carbs sometimes on first fill the floats will stick down and let the fuel flood out the 2 jets in the airbox side of the carbs at 3 and 9 oclock position.
to flow out those holes fuel has to get inside the bowls

did you dissemble the carbs /break the rack or just clean through jet holes?

why do you have a screw in the drain hole of the bowl? also this bowl is on wrong carb, drain screws should be pointing to left on left 2 carbs and to right on right 2 carbs for easy access when mounted on bike.
also i do not see a washer under the main jet, was it missing or you forgot to replace it?

 

This time, I didn't break the rack. Previously, they were and all the o-rings replaced, including the ones on the rails, but not the butterfly valve ones.

Those bowl screws were the 'genius' addition of the previous owner. But hey, they do the job. You are mistaken - the drain screws are indeed oriented in the correct direction to allow draining them without removal from the bike. And yes, the washer is there.

 

@Wirehairs - Howdy. Looks like you're back too, and also with carbs...

Say, was that you I saw on University about two weeks ago on a blue FJ?

 

Yep! Long time no see stranger! Me and Mike (if you remember him - he also had an XJ550 and a XJ650) both ended up with blue FJs. He has recently sold both his XJs.

 

Guess what color FJ I have now?

 

The same color? A 93 as well?

 

Yep. A blue 93.