Another Mikuni carb question

[JIGGS]

I have not removed or cleaned the carbs on my '96 Indy 500 myself. Always had someone else do it. I have some pretty detailed instructions for disassembly and cleaning of a Mikuni carb. from the net. Am I foolish to tear in to this myself or is it possible for me to do even as a first timer? This is something I have always wanted to know how to do.

[Black_Bay]

If you have detailed instructions I'd go for it. Especially if they are the round slide Mikunis. They are easy. Remember to only take apart one of the carbs at a time. That way you can refer to the other one on how things are supposed to be.

[hanson]

I learned how to do mine right out of a Clymer Manual so you can learn from instructions.

There really isn't too much to be afraid of. Just do it over a clean table so you don't drop and lose any parts, some of them buggers are tiny.

Couple things to take note of are your low and high speed screw settings. Either mark the position on the carb body before removing them, or turn them in until they bottom out and count how many turns it takes to bottom them out from your current setting. This will get you back on the mark when you reassemble.

Also pay attention to how the needle and seat work. Watch how the float actuates the lever which moves the needle. Getting this reassembled correctly gave me trouble at first as I just ripped into things too fast.

[swedishpimple]

I bought the new needle and seats for my 1997 XLT LTD in 2000 and let them sit until last weekend. I decided that I had more time than money so I took one carb off and realized there is nothing to them.

The toughest thing to do is to get the carb in and out of the tight space between the block and the air box.

I cleaned everything up and put the replacement parts in...everything runs much better now and does not flood when parked....wish I did it years ago.

Do what Hanson said....be organized...but they are very simple.

[pisces]

Ideally, you would want to remove the airbox first, at least I do on mine. You can decide for yourself if this is more work or less in your situation.

[swedishpimple]

Good point Pisces....weigh your options....It would be half a day to get my airbox out of there....not fun...easier to squeaze the carbs out one by one.

I started to remove mine once...then gave up on it.

[Gus]

anybody have any advise on how to make sure the carbs don't get out of sync when you take them apart for cleaning? That's my biggest fear keeping me from doing my carbs myself. I know they are pretty simple, but I haven't ever learned how to sync the two.

[Macgyver55]

Assuming they are in sync now, all you really need to do is not mess with the cable adjustment or the idle speed screw when you remove them. If you want to be sure, when you remove the tops, mark the throttle slide cover and carb body. As you unscrew the covers, count and record the turns on each carb. As long as you put the same slide back in the same carb on the same side with the correct amount of turns that you record, the sync should not change.

NOTHING you do INSIDE the carb (cleaning and/or replacing parts) will affect the synchronization of the carbs. I pull the covers off mine frequently to change the position of the needle clips. I usually check the sync once a year on my sled and they rarely change.

[Surface Tension]

Mikunis are dummy proof.

If you don't take the air box off at least get the sled in a warm place so the rubber mounts are flexible. be careful not to crack the rubber, they could be hard to find.

[JIGGS]

I got through the carb cleaning without a hitch. It didn't say anything in the directions I had to be aware of the number of turns necessary to screw the caps off and on, not sure if I paid attention to that. Should I be concerned?

[Macgyver55]

Nope, thats an unwritten rule I just use myself. If the rubber gasket on top were to fall out of place when you screw it back on, thats an easy way to know. I just do it because its happened to me a couple times over the years.

[JIGGS]

Thanks, Macgyver55 - appreciate the feedback. I had one other issue while reinstalling everything. There are two vent lines to each carb, the one on the outside of each went to a fitting on the airbox, the two on the inside went to a "T" and that line had a filter type disc - mid-line. When I checked where that line went, it was not hooked to anything, the end of the line didn't appear to have been on a fitting. I am wondering if I pulled that loose from something - couldn't seem to find where it would go.

[vister]

older carbs are a breeze. like BB said, one at a time. once you get the hang of it, you'll be able to fine tune your carbs, getting more power, increased throttle response, and better gas mileage.

i've got a yamaha viper, with rather sophisticated carbs, especially the flat slides. taking them out took awhile, but by moving one clip and a .4 mm shim location, i over doubled the gas mileage. from 6-7 average to over 13 MPG, no matter how i rode it.

[cementhead21]

Quote:

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older carbs are a breeze. like BB said, one at a time. once you get the hang of it, you'll be able to fine tune your carbs, getting more power, increased throttle response, and better gas mileage.

i've got a yamaha viper, with rather sophisticated carbs, especially the flat slides. taking them out took awhile, but by moving one clip and a .4 mm shim location, i over doubled the gas mileage. from 6-7 average to over 13 MPG, no matter how i rode it.

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Hey got question for you about the clip and shim you are talking about . Did you the raise or lower the needle? Also what type of main jets are you running. What kind of time did it take to do the job.