extra washer on the needles of my carbs

i recently bought an 84 kz1000p and while taking apart the carbs to clean and rebuild them, i found a tiny little lock washer on each of the needles. i dont see these washers on any of the parts diagrams for these carbs. are they even supposed to be there ? i was told that they may be a mod done to the police bikes to idle up the engine so it would charge the electrical system at idle. i dont know. should i leave them or remove them ?

thanks for any help
charles-

They all have a circlip that snaps into the slot in the needle (#18 in picture). If you mean there is another washer added, somebody is tuning the needle either richer or leaner. It will not change the idle speed, the idle adjuster does that. Washers make it run leaner/richer at light throttle openings.

yeah. these lock washers im talking about are sitting on the needle just below the c-clip (#18)in the picture.... should i leave them in or take them out ?

Sock motor, with AirBox, or does it have Mods & Pods?
Stock, if there are no Vacuum leaks, and the Fuel level is correct, I would doubt you would need them.

actually its an 82' code 10,000mi engine on an 84' vin frame/chassis. i think the carbs are from the 84'. i dont know if it has any mods but somebody did remove the air box and manifold and replaced it with 4 K&N style filters before i got it. i have know idea if they have been jetted or anything...

when i got the bike it would start but kept flooding and not running rite so i pulled apart the carbs and found these washers. they were mostly pretty clean but i went ahead and started cleaning and soaking them in carb dip anyways.

84kz1000p wrote: ...when i got the bike it would start but kept flooding and not running rite so i pulled apart the carbs and found these washers.....

Most folks use shims -- not tiny lock washers -- when attempting to enrichen the mixture from 1/4 ~3/4 throttle on carbs that don't have the different groves on the jet needles.
The shim allows the jet needle to sit higher inside the needle jet at any particular throttle slide position, as if the clip position was slightly lower on the jet needle.

The clip position isn't causing the flooding, if by flooding is meant fuel escaping through the overflow circuit, or an excessively rich mixture at idle. For the same reason that changing clip positions on grooved jet needles doesn't cause flooding, except at mid-throttle positions where a too high jet needle is resulting in an excessively rich fuel mixture (which might be described as flooding).

Bottom line -- imo, the existing "flooding" likely wasn't being caused by the washers.

Would look instead to possible issues with fuel level, float valve, or float function.

Good Fortune!

yeah. im pretty sure the flooding problem was sum stuck floats. the fuel would jst pour out of the back of the carbs.

84kz1000p wrote: yeah. im pretty sure the flooding problem was sum stuck floats. the fuel would jst pour out of the back of the carbs.

Gasoline rising high enough to enter the carb bore may flow both ways, toward the rear, and also toward the front making its way to the combustion chamber and down around the pistons into the crankcase.

If not already done, would check condition of the crankcase oil to determine whether it might be contaminated from gasoline entering the crankcase.

Good Fortune!

thanks. i did. that was one of the first things i did when i got the bike. luckily, no fuel in the case and it is super clean in there. looks like its hardly ever been ran...