Total Motorcycle Community Forums

if you have a decent auto parts store near you they will have a metric o ring assortment there.take the float needle seat with you and get the o ring for it.there is no need to buy a float valve assembly from yamaha if your needles dont have a groove worn in them.and even if they do you can dress them up with 0000 steel wool.i have got a service manual here somewhere that will tell what the float should be set at.i can tell you how to do this.

Great! thanks a ton. I googled "o-ring" yesterday and saw a ton of places on line that I could get them from.

If you find the time, and that can be hard this time of year, you can email me with the instruction on how to set the floats or do it here for eveyone's benefit whatever you would like. I really appreciate it!

Peter

petergi@gmail.com

you will do better trying to get the o rings locally.online vendors dont like to send small amounts of their products.some hardware stores carry them.if you go to a hardware store be sure that the o rings are made of buna-n or nitrile for use with petroleum products.i am still looking for the service manual for the xs400 here.it is like dumpster diving in my house.

even though you're beyond the removing bolts with destroyed heads thing I figured I'd post because it comes up repeatidly when you work on old bikes.

The way a bolt tightens is by stretching, it has nothing to do with friction along the thread length, once you bottom out the head and then torqe it you're actually stretching the bolt. This being the case, badly stripped bolts are usually simple to remove, all you do is drill the head off releaving the stretch and you can then switch the drill to reverse and hold it against the end of the stud you just made and it will back out with very little friction.

This obviously wont work if the length of the thread is corroded causing the stick, but penetrating oils usually works to alliviate that. Cutting the head off the bolt is a last resort but I've found it to work in all cases that I've ever been left with no alternative.

these screws are for fuel and air adjustment they are not torqued. they do not have a head on them that fits against a mating surface.spring pressure holds them in place.if you try to drill them out and use a screw extractor and flub it you can throw the carburetors in the junk.it is better to leave them alone if a screwdriver wont remove them as they only control the idle.

Is it possible that underneath the screw it has all gummed up and there is really no other way to clean it out other than removing the screw? If this is the case, and the screws just won't come, am I better off leaving it, as I will only have problems at and below idle?

if the screws wont come out leave them alone.you can adjust the idle speed so that it will stay running.all them screws are for is a smooth idle.sometimes on an older bike this just aint worth the trouble and expense it can involve.if you get the rich running condition fixed it may idle smooth enough.if the float bowls are overfilling you can turn them screws forever and it wont change anything.

I think the screws can really help in fine tuning an older bike, so I think they are a little more important than dr bob makes them out to be - especially if you are ana about your bike...

That being said, you CAN get a bike to run "OK" without touching these screws, and it's better not to touch them if they are siezed. A good dipping should free these parts or at least clean the passages underneath the screws. However depending where you live, a good dipping may cost just as much as another set of carbs ... up to you what to do.

(PS, the passages are slightly clogged on my 2 BMW carbs right now, but i'm running with them just fine .. basically because i'm lazy. This only prevents fine tune adjustment. I'll get to cleaning them some time this winter, but until then, it's not an earth stopping thing - )

Well after soaking in deisel for 3 days and then heating and letting cool they are still seized. I think they will have to stay. I really wish I could get them out because I am ana. I will get it running okay and when I clean out my sofa and find money I'll look for new carbs. Of course I think you need money in your pockets before you can lose it in the sofa. Time to invite friends over with some money in their pockets.