carb cleaner

gintree wrote:

I did rinse them, but I did not blow dry them with compressed air. Maybe that's what caused the binding.

They should not bind, even when dry.

Was the sticking slide removed incident to the cleaning procedure? Or was it moving freely before the boil, not removed, and then stickng after the boil?

Could spray again with carb cleaner, especially the throttle slide area. Then check for some sort of incorrect assembly. Perhaps the jet needle is bent or rubbing in the needle jet, or perhaps the sides of the throttle slide are scoured, or perhaps the channel in which the throttle slide is scoured, or something is bent or damaged.

The throttle slide, even dry, should easily move up and down inside the channel. Dirt, incorrest assembly, or damage are the only possibilities coming to mind. Lubrication is not necessary, and not recommended.

Btw, the carbs aren't Mikuni smoothbores are they? If so, they can present a unique problem, which is probably easily remedied.

Good Luck!

OK, well the PB Blaster did the trick. Thanks for the advice! :laugh:

I hit it with the PBB and let it sit for a while. Then I pulled the throttle arm/linkage and the needle from the slide. I was then able to start slowly working the slide up and down. It finally came free without me having to force anything. It looks like there was a bunch of build up or sludge type stuff between the slide and slide channel. The carbs were free moving before the lemon boil, so I'm assuming that some of the crud that was released from the boil just got in there and seized that slide.

The choke stiffened up a little overnight, so I'm think I'll scrub the tracks and choke plungers a bit and see if that helps.

I'm off to autozone for some carb cleaner and I'm gonna hit them hard with the carb cleaner and then start the rebuild and syncing.

Thanks for the tips guys!

*Patton - for what it's worth, they aren't Mikuni smoothbores

Ok, let me get this straight. You can just remove the whole carb rack. Drain the gas from the float bowls and boil the whole thing in lemon juice (or citric acid solution.) Without dissassembling the carbs? Then a little PB blaster on the external moveable parts.

Wow, I'd have never thought of that. What do you rinse it with when you're done? Regular water?

Mine has an accelerator pump. Any issues with just boiling the whole thing?