Leakin Carbs

Hello, relatively newbie to this forum. Nice to see someone still remembers the older Yamas. Anywho... Have a 82 XJ 550 Maxim that has been sitting for at least 3-4 years, went to start this spring & ended up w/ a major flood of gas underneath the bike. Took off the carbs & opened up the float bowls to check for struck floats, nothing. Reattached carbs & tried again w/ same results. Have a hard time seeing where it leaking from, could it be the fuel line unions (o-rings) between the carbs. Are these pretty common to replace ? Btw, the bike unfortunately was storied w/ full tank of gas w/ Stabilzer in it . Any thoughts ? Thanks for the help !

 

Hi, i had the same problem, mine was a stuck diaphram valve the other end of the carb. sitting that long i would bet the gas varnished in the carbs and the whole thing will need to be cleaned.

 

Thanks for the suggest,. Yeah trying to avoid the dreaded teardown , kind of scaried !!

 

While you have them off you might as well go ahead and clean them completely, you're going to have to anyhow.

Go to the XJ FAQ Suggestions forum. You will find a great guide by RickCoMatic. I think schmuckaholic has a thread with illustrations in there too.

Don't let the write up scare you. It takes a lot of words to describe something that is fairly simple when you see it.

Oh, if you don't have one, get a service manual.

Good Luck!

 

I'll welcome you and second MiCarl's advice Hathers, ALL of it.

 

Thanks for the kind words. Have a Yama service manual, manual seems to have been written simpler(sp) than FAQS Dont know if manual is leaving out the fine details or what ?!

 

just a suggestion-- you could "bench flood" your carbs to determine where the leak is before teardown.

 

Could you define bench flood & how to do it ?

 

Could you define bench flood & how to do it ?

 

Could you define bench flood & how to do it ?

 

Sorry about the triple posts, not sure what went wrong ?!

 

Go shopping and pick-up a Squeeze Bottle like you see in Diners that they use for Ketchup. The round squeeze bottle with the pointed tip.

Fill it with windshield washer fluid and squeeze the fluid into the fuel line of the carbs while they are on the bench. If you have a stuck open float the Carb will overflow.

The squeeze bottle will hold enough fluid to fill the Fuel Bowls and allow you to do the Float Level test; too.

They're dirt cheap.
Get two or three bottles and use them for Carb Cleaning.
Strain the Carb Cleaner that collects in the washing bin through a coffee filter and you can load a squeeze bottle with it to "Get your moneys worth" of Carb Cleaner while doing the exteriors of the carbs.

Fill with Clean Carb Cleaner and you can flush the Jet Passages by putting the tip into the Jet Passage and giving it a forceful squeeze.

 

Thanks for the tip Rick, would this work for a stuck diaphram also ?

 

No.

Stuck Diaphragms need to be removed and the Bores cleaned and refinished.

Search: "Clunk Test" by: me for the refinishing technique.

I've been taking the refinishing process a step further and polishing the bore with a Dremel Tool, Buffing wheel and Jewelers Rouge.

The return in performance is well worth the effort!

 

Thanks ric, it sure looks like you know alot & are passionite about carbs !!

 

With everyone suggesting a good carb clean, I have 2 ? Whats a good carb cleaner if I dont want to do maximum teardown & is a carb kit required after a cleaning ? If so who should I go with for a carb kit : OEM, Dennis Kirk ,etc...

 

The number one consideration for cleaning you own carbs is having the RIGHT Tools to do the job.

One ill fitting screwdriver used to remove the Jets will likely cause damage to the slot the screwdriver fits in ... twisting the screwdriver slot and doing damage to the Jet.

I always recommend you make your own Jet Slot Screwdrivers. Grind the tip of a screwdriver you have to fit the Jet slots with NO endplay. A Perfect Fit.
That way, the mass of the Jet will have to turn instead of the brass wings on the slot having some vacant area in which to move.

It's better to fabricate the two or three screwdrivers you need from screwdrivers you have ... replacing the ones you alter with new screwdrivers ... than messing-up the tops of the Jets and spoiling a good cleaning job by having a Jet become damaged and need drilling out.

If you can feel the tip of the screwdriver moving within the slot of the Jet ... you havent got a perfect fit ... so, keep grinding it until its a perfect match for the jet slot of the jet you wish to remove.

This is of the utmost importance in making a tool to fit Pilot Mixture Screws.
Especially for the soft, brass Pilot Mixture Screws ... do you NEED a screwdriver that will fit tat slot without side to side movement. The Pilot Mixture Screws are where the Tuning of your Bike gets done.

You want a Tool that will be a precision instrument and allow you to move the Pilot Mixture Screw ... sometimes only the width of a Dime ... to Dial-in the right Air Fuel Mixture. If the Heads of the Pilot mixture screws become damaged it becomes nearly impossible to do fine tuning.