White calcium looking stuff in float bowls

loudhvx wrote: I know Ed wants those carbs unganged, but in my experience, those carbs don't often need it and unganging them often results in damage to the throttle shaft areas. It's not impossible for the fuel pipes to leak, but they are double o-ringd and after 30 years I have yet to see a set that leak.

Those in this thread are exceptionally bad, though, so if you can do it, ungang very caerfully. You will have to polish any rust off of the throttle shaft to extract it and the same for the choke shaft otherwise you run the risk of deforming the throttle shaft holders. Also the bell-crank screws will be very very tight. They often require an impact driver. But that is very risky on a pot metal holder and the shaft can bend because it is not supported in the area you need to impact. So you will need to rig up a shaft support in a vice but one that does not scratch or deform the shaft. When I do it, I use a block of wood in a vise as a back support for the shaft. Make sure to use a JIS screwdriver tip or the bell crank screws will deform easily. Unless you can rig up a support, it may take an extra set of hands to hold the carbs while you use the impact driver and hammer.

I rebuild carbs as a way to pick up a little spending cash and in my experience the O-rings that are routinely in the worst condition are those on the Tee and fuel transfer tubes. They typically are hard and brittle, and as soon as you touch them with a toothpick or similar to pry them out of their groove they crack into pieces and crumble. I've not done a set of those 550 carbs before but I'm sure the situation would be the same with the O-rings. Your cautions during disassembly are valid of course, but I still say unganging and cleaning the carbs fully if the best path.

thanks for the many informative suggestions . This is the 38 th old metric bike I've revived so I am familiar with the un-gang and carb clean process. I too earn a little spending cash cleaning carbs for a local chopper builder who sometimes gets metric bikes through his doors. These are some little (22 or 25 MM??) round slides. I've only seen two carbs prior with that same corrosion but not to this extent so I thought I'd ask you guys.

At first I just put the bowls back onto the carb bodies and tried to get vinegar to go through the fuel inlet but it was too clogged. I actually ended up removing all of the bowls and supporting them between two 2x4 and filled each with plain white vinegar. Then I carefully lowered the carb bodies onto the bowls and let it soak overnight. I'm happy to announce that the overnight soaking did the trick! Where the carbs were in the vinegar no trace of that white corrosion exists. Then I rinsed the carbs and parts with distilled water and let air dry.

I know not to hammer on the float pivot pins and one came right out, the other 3 stuck. Since the float valves are now free to move I've decided to leave the floats attached. I'll test them for leaks later once I have the jet passages and jets cleaned.

Once again thanks guys! I'm a member of lots of metric forums but I knew the real experts were here when it comes to getting the correct info.

That website I posted a link to for the TK22 carbs has a rough setting for the float levels. The manual only describes setting with a clear tube using gasoline, but if you get new needle valves, you will want to do a preliminary setting dry and upside down. The details are in the "maintenance" link at the bottom of the page.

i have seen ethanol gas thats sat too long in the o Carburetor do that too.. perry.