carbs filled with oil

just pulled the carbs off the kz750 twin i got yesterday and they were full of oil and caked on gunk. never seen anything like that and i dont even know how it could happen. they are sitting in hot water and simple green right now but is it worth trying to clean them or are they a lost cause? does this mean the engine is junk as well?

Was the engine oil level ever filled above the correct level? The only way I can imagine oil getting into the carbs is if the stock airbox and breather are on the bike and oil was pumped out of the breather into the airbox and drawn into the carbs. I suppose this is possible if the crankcase oil level was so high that lots of oil was pushed through the breather. Other than that, I would think it would take an awful lot of blow-by (pressure bypassing worn piston rings) to push enough oil vapor through the breather to accumulate in the carbs. Ed

the engine is totally dry and the mounting bolts are all off so i guess this guy was going to pull the motor out but changed his mind. do you think the carbs are saveable?

the engine turns and feels like it has good compression too

If gas is left sitting in the carbs it will evaporate and leave a residue of gum and crud. Perhaps this is what you're seeing and if so then it's quite common. If the simple green and hot water doesn't work try carb cleaner. You might have to remove the jets and poke through all tiny holes with guitar string or similar and blow everything out with compressed air. A thorough cleaning in most cases will do the trick.
Dont give up on the carbs just yet.

You really need to take them completely apart and use Carb Dip on all the metal parts to clean them. You can get it at WalMart for under $20.
You will need to replace all the o-rings; I believe they are available at the OEM sites.
As JR says, once you let them soak in the dip for 24 hours, remove them, wash them off with water, poke through all the passages, then use spray carb cleaner and compressed air to finish the job. Install the new o-rings and re-assemble.
Take lots of pictures while you disassemble each one. Do one at a time so you have the other one as a reference. Get one of those compartmented bait/hook boxes from the sporting/fishing section of WalMart to keep the parts/screws in. Helps keep everything organized and separate.

To make the poker, I take a wooden match and one wire from my wire brush. Poke the wire into the end of the wooden match, and you have a nice poker.

JR wrote: If gas is left sitting in the carbs it will evaporate and leave a residue of gum and crud. Perhaps this is what you're seeing.

That was also my suggestion. Gasoline evaporates into a dark red slime like sticky varnish. It could look like oil residue.

thanks guys i will definitely try and get them clean. it was not just residue however, there was a good 2 tablespoons or so of rank smelling oil in the bowls of these carbs

It's not oil it's old gas.