sh*t I coulda swore I done cleaned them carbs

Okay, unfortunately, I had to again pull off the bank of 4 carbs again from my '78 kz1000.

First time I pulled the carbs for cleaning 2 months ago, I did NOT remove the carb bodies from the mounting plate that holds the 4 carbs together as a single unit. I had wanted to, in order to dunk each individual carb body into the Berryman's carb cleaner can overnight. But I got lazy, thinking "Sheesh, it's a big job separating the carbs from the mount plate -- maybe I'll just squirt carb cleaner down the throttle slide bores."

I THINK IT WAS A MISTAKE not removing the carbs from the mount bracket and not dunking each carb body overnight.

Because the carb throttle slides are now sticking again inside the carb bores, just like they were sticking before I pulled and 'cleaned' them.

HOW I CLEANED THE CARBS THE 1ST TIME
The cleaning I did before was to remove float bowl, the float and all jets, then dunk those parts into Berryman's carb cleaner for 24 hours, meanwhile I used a medicine dropper to douse the carb boddies and carb bores for a few minutes with Berrymans carb cleaner, and I would then move the throttle slides up-n-down, up-n-down, like a lazy little monkey, squirt some Berryman's in the carb bores, move the throttle slides up-n-down, then all of a sudden, for no logical reason whatever except for a need for meaningful intellectual stimulation, I thought:

"There they're perfectly clean now. I can say that with 100% confidence."

But the throttle slides started sticking in the bores again before the 24-hours of dunk time for the jets, float bowl etc. was over.

This time I said "Well, it's certainly not the case the slides are dirty, that is right out -- after all, I've just cleaned them, haven't I. So I will just squirt some household oil in the throttle slide bores so the slides will get lubricated." But after reinstalling the carbs and starting the bike, the throttle slides are sticking again.


So what IS going on here? Do I need to completely dunk these carbs into carb cleaner instead of the 'eye dropper' dousing method?

I'm just thinking that the 12 years this bike sat, the gas gumminess just won't go away until I soak the entire carb bodies in Berrymans. Because right now, the bike runs but the throttles are sticking open, not good with all this horsepower.

I now want to remove each individual carb from the carb mounting plate and dunk each individual carb body into the carb cleaner.

Will that finally, really get rid of the stickiness of the throttle slides? I never would have believed that gummy gas could outlive household oil and a few medicine dropper squirts of Berrymans.

you shouldn't have to seperate the carbs and i probablywouldn't use a product the you soak them in any way it is very hard on gaskets orings and plastic parts also these carbs have been together since 1978 i'm sure so how stuck are your cross over tubes and if you do split them will they seal when you put them back together if this was me i'd be using a spray carb cleaner like crc or any brand name (i've always been partial to crc myself)pull the slides out take all the needles main and pilot jets out stuff them in a float bowl covered in carb cleaner then spray carb cleaner into every port passage and orifice then here comes the fun part take a rubber tipped blow gun and using your freindly neighborhood compressed air source blow thru all the same ports and passages watching and listening for the same type of air flow from each port passage or oriffice but wait there is more now do the same to each jet then hold them up to a light and check to see if light is coming thru. if it does great if not then you have more work ahead you can buy small number drill bits from 80 to 61 and a pin vise from harbour freight or princess auto in canada don't know about the rest of the world. then slowly run it by hand up in to the jet cleaning out the twelve years of schmegma that is sure as hell built up in it. if you don't get any air flow out of the pilot curcuit it self use a reasonably stiff piece of copper wire to poke thru. always remembering to spray more carb cleaner and also follow it up with more air.the slides will just be stuck in place with more of the same gunk so pull the carb tops off and spray down by the slides on each carb well you are working the throttle cam they will loosen up.then get a very long no1 philips screw driver to remove the screws in the top of the slides after you remove the bolts holding the slides to the thru throttle shaft.reverse your step putting it all back together and hopefully it's cleaned properly again. good luck and if i can be any more assistance i'm here all week.

Okay, thanks, it's *really* good thinking I can avoid removing the individual carbs from the mounting plate and all that goes with it.

I can see what I need to do -- something you suggested, something I didn't do the first time -- is to remove the slides completely for cleaning. I'll try it again, with slides out and the carb cleaner you recommended, and I have a 120+ psi compressor ready to go at my place, for cleaning out the passageways, will do.

Thanks!

Berrymans is not safe for assembled carb bodies. You have to make sure anything that goes in is metal. Plastic/rubber will get hammered by that stuff.

bountyhunter wrote:

Berrymans is not safe for assembled carb bodies. You have to make sure anything that goes in is metal. Plastic/rubber will get hammered by that stuff.

Okay. I'd heard that about Berrymans -- I was cognizant of that, and I took great care to remove all o-rings and anything that was not metal when I put the carb float bowls, the jets, etc. to set overnight in the Berryman's.

In looking at the '78 kz1000 parts diagrams, there are holes in the sides of all 4 carbs where the long throttle slides shaft enters the carb body -- I'm talking about the long shaft that lifts all 4 carb slides in unison, in response to the rider cranking open the throttle. And those holes in the sides of the carbs have plastic grommets to hold the long shaft in position and to seal (?) the carb body around that shaft.

So I'll not be removing that long shaft because of those plastic parts and the 'will it reseal' risk that Mr. Bomb mentioned.

I won't remove the choke system either -- the choke mechanism also extends across all 4 carb bodies, and that will add to the reassembly hassle.

So today I'm going to buy that CRC carb cleaner if I can find it at an auto parts store.

IS 'CRC' the actual name on the can of the carb cleaner?

I have some electric guitar strings and will slide the metal guitar string into the smaller orifices to clean them out.

Then compressed air. Then CRC.
etc.

QUESTION: HOW DO I MAKE SURE THAT THE LONG THROTTLE SHAFT THAT LINKS THE 4 CARB SLIDES TOGETHER ISN'T THE CAUSE OF THE STICKING?

This was one issue I wanted to get at when I disassembled the carbs -- making sure that long shaft that runs through all 4 carb bodies is LUBRICATED so that it stops contributing to the sticking of the throttle.

newOld_kz1000 wrote:

bountyhunter wrote:

Berrymans is not safe for assembled carb bodies. You have to make sure anything that goes in is metal. Plastic/rubber will get hammered by that stuff.

Okay. I'd heard that about Berrymans -- I was cognizant of that, and I took great care to remove all o-rings and anything that was not metal when I put the carb float bowls, the jets, etc. to set overnight in the Berryman's.

In looking at the '78 kz1000 parts diagrams, there are holes in the sides of all 4 carbs where the long throttle slides shaft enters the carb body -- I'm talking about the long shaft that lifts all 4 carb slides in unison, in response to the rider cranking open the throttle. And those holes in the sides of the carbs have plastic grommets to hold the long shaft in position and to seal (?) the carb body around that shaft.

So I'll not be removing that long shaft because of those plastic parts and the 'will it reseal' risk that Mr. Bomb mentioned.

I won't remove the choke system either -- the choke mechanism also extends across all 4 carb bodies, and that will add to the reassembly hassle.

So today I'm going to buy that CRC carb cleaner if I can find it at an auto parts store.

IS 'CRC' the actual name on the can of the carb cleaner?

I have some electric guitar strings and will slide the metal guitar string into the smaller orifices to clean them out.

Then compressed air. Then CRC.
etc.

QUESTION: HOW DO I MAKE SURE THAT THE LONG THROTTLE SHAFT THAT LINKS THE 4 CARB SLIDES TOGETHER ISN'T THE CAUSE OF THE STICKING?

This was one issue I wanted to get at when I disassembled the carbs -- making sure that long shaft that runs through all 4 carb bodies is LUBRICATED so that it stops contributing to the sticking of the throttle.

pull the bowls
pull the jets and fuel valves
pull the tops
yes, the throttle shaft could be sticking, take out the 4 screws that hold it and the small plate...
pull the choke shaft
pull the slides, try to remember which came from which hole..
clean em like Timebomb said, then hit em again...i always like to say.."if you dont get a squirt or two of carb clean in the eye during this, you aint being thourough enough"....
when you reassemble, a very light coat of grease on throttle shaft....i think the manual has that.....i hit the shaft with a little mothers to polish it up a little.....
i did a set of 28mm vm s with this method and they fired right up on first revolution of motor...good luck

Avoid the "carb cleaner in the eye" at all costs! It hurts like hell!! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

All good info...

Float levels are super/most important in properly clean carbs. Make sure they are all EXACTLY spec, and nothing else.

GL!