"Easy way" to clean carbs?

I have no idea about this video, it almost seems to good to be true. Anyone have any reason I shouldn't do this method to clean the carbs up?



Also, I don't have a fancy parts cleaner, I was just going to make my own out of an aquarium pump. Think that'll work well?

It just seems too good to be true to not have to fully disassemble the whole carb at this point, while just trying to get the bike to run properly.... I was chasing after a vacuum leak and replaced the air ducts and carb holders and since I've got the carb off thought I would look into cleaning that out too.

What y'all think?

He already has most of the guts out. Only takes a little more work too get them apart. The rubber hoses on the bottom will get destroyed in the cleaner. If you have any type of good carb cleaner you can not have and rubber parts in. And who wants to wait 2 days?

I think he is an idiot and I would not follow any advice he gave about anything.

Notice in the beginning he mixed up parts from different carbs in that can rather than keeping each carbs parts together. Mixing parts between carbs can cause problems because the parts wear together.

Notice at time 0:55 he points to the pilot screws and calls them the "idle adjust screws." They are NOT idle adjust screws! He has no idea what he's talking about - time for him to buy a manual!

Notice at time 1:53 that pile of crap all lumped together like a trash pile - what's the word that means the opposite of "professional?"

Notice at time 2:48 and 3:23 he jams a screwdriver and some other object into a carb port - he's joking - right? If he really wanted to plug that port he would just use a vacuum cap of the correct size.

That's where I stopped watching - total waste of time. Ed

He already has most of the guts out. Only takes a little more work too get them apart.
And more work to get back together and to sync. I'm just trying to test the solution of my vacuum/wild idle issue. Not so much a permanent solution.

The rubber hoses on the bottom will get destroyed in the cleaner.
Which I was planning on replacing anyway.

And who wants to wait 2 days?
I was going to soak them 24 hours atleast anyway, I can wait another day. I've already waited years to get to where I am. An extra 24 hours won't kill me, and to be honest, I probably would have soaked the carbs longer than 24 hours anyway, with the way works going I might not get back out in the garage till next weekend.

Thanks for the input Peter, much appreciated!

Is there any reason other than the ones addressed above for me to not do this cleaning method?

Also, I was probably going to clean with Pine-sol instead of some super chemical solvent.

Like I mentioned, if you pull parts (jets, etc.) out of the carbs to clean them make sure each part goes back into the same carb from which it came. Don't do like that guy and mix them between carbs. Ed

Here's a better cleaning method, because it's critical that the #6 orifices into the carb bore (from the pilot passage #5) are clean and clear.





If the #6 orifices are tightly clogged, running cleaner as shown in the video will simply flow out the #2 pilot air passage and won't run through the #6 orifices, which leaves the #6 orifices just as clogged as they were to begin with.

Good Fortune!

Ok, I follow all that. What about this method?

forums.kz650.info/index.php?topic=8315.0

The whole point of cutting corners at this time is to confirm or deny that a vacuum leak was my main problem. A thorough cleaning of the carb is certainly on the books. I was just hoping to not have to completely disassemble all of them and then have to sync and balance to determine if I've solved my issues.

Thanks for the knowledge and time guys!
tw

if your not in a hurry soak them in diesel fuel for a few days. Will come out looking like new. Then take them apart and spray them out like patton showed.

650ed wrote: I think he is an idiot and I would not follow any advice he gave about anything.

+1 In his first sentence he said "you can drop the carburetor in the can" and showed a can of chemtool or whatever. The KZ manual specifically warns against that because the carbs have internal plastic parts which could melt.

I think Jethro should mosey on back to the cement pond.....

tdubya84 wrote: It just seems too good to be true to not have to fully disassemble the whole carb at this point, while just trying to get the bike to run properly....

As I get older, I get lazier. I have a way to clean carbs without removing: drain the bowls, put the drain screws back in and fill them with Gumout or Seafoam or the cleaner of your choice then plug off the gas inlets and overflow tubes. Let sit for a few days then drain. You can use carb spray cleaner in the top gas inlet with the drain screw open to rinse them crud out.

That said: if you make a custom screwdriver for the bowl screws, I could always get the bowls off without removing the carbs so properly cleaning the carbs got really easy. On mine, the jets are in the bowl so cleaning it usually cures all sins.

tdubya84 wrote: Ok, I follow all that. What about this method?

forums.kz650.info/index.php?topic=8315.0

The whole point of cutting corners at this time is to confirm or deny that a vacuum leak was my main problem. A thorough cleaning of the carb is certainly on the books. I was just hoping to not have to completely disassemble all of them and then have to sync and balance to determine if I've solved my issues.

Thanks for the knowledge and time guys!
tw

Boiling in plain water, soaking in whatever for however long at whatever temperature, even ultra-sound, can still leave a gnawing little doubt as to whether the process did in fact get the #6 orifices clean and clear.

The doubt is due to not having actually seen with one's own eyes a flow through #6 into the carb bore. (Through protective goggles, of course.)

But, when pressurized carb spray is seen squirting through the #6 orifice into the carb bore, one may pretty well rest assured that the #6 orifice is clear and capable of permitting fuel mixture to be drawn through the #6 orifice from the pilot passage into the carb bore, from where the mixture will be sucked on through the intake ports and valves and into the combustion chamber.

Conversely, and regardless of prolonged soaking, when pressurized carb spray can't be seen squirting through the #6 orifice into the carb bore, one may pretty well rest assured that the #6 orifice remains obstructed.

A clogged pilot circuit would not be expected to cause a vacuum leak.

As to vacuum leaks, they often produce a "racing idle" as the symptom, where the rpm fails to drop when the throttle is closed.

A common test for vacuum leaks is spraying WD40 or carb spray over a suspected leak area (such as an old worn out cracked carb holder) while the engine is running at the lowest idle possible, and the leak is evidenced by a change in rpm and possible smoke from the exhaust.

A "racing idle" may also result from mechanical throttle issues (cable adjustment, frays, linkage, kinks, etc.), or a sticking ignition timing advancer, or other issue with the advancer.

Besides all that, once the carb assembly has been removed from the engine and is sitting on the work bench for cleaning, it seems slip-shod to not follow through with the minimal effort required to assure, with one's own eyes, absent guess-work and wishful thinking, that the pilot circuit is properly cleaned.

It's okay to just leave the sync adjustments alone during the cleaning process. And it's often not necessary to disassemble the slides or any part of the slide control assembly.

Good Fortune!

bountyhunter wrote:

tdubya84 wrote: It just seems too good to be true to not have to fully disassemble the whole carb at this point, while just trying to get the bike to run properly....

As I get older, I get lazier. I have a way to clean carbs without removing: drain the bowls, put the drain screws back in and fill them with Gumout or Seafoam or the cleaner of your choice then plug off the gas inlets and overflow tubes. Let sit for a few days then drain. You can use carb spray cleaner in the top gas inlet with the drain screw open to rinse them crud out.

That said: if you make a custom screwdriver for the bowl screws, I could always get the bowls off without removing the carbs so properly cleaning the carbs got really easy. On mine, the jets are in the bowl so cleaning it usually cures all sins.

Excellent point! I have never removed carbs to take bowls off. Below are some tool suggestions for removing the carb bowl screws with the carbs still on the bike. Ed