Carb Cleaning

Well, I've pulled the carbs on the 550 again, and I went through 3 cans of carb cleaner last night doing the cleaning thing. Rick, as per your suggestion (thank you a hundred times over for your help, by the way), I got a bulb syringe to use in back-flushing the pilot fuel system with the stuck jets still in place. I removed the pilot screws, held a finger over the pilot air jets, and squeezed carb cleaner through the pilot fuel jets with the bulb syringe. It actually took significant pressure on the bulb syringe to get any flow at all, but after some effort, I was able to get a small but steady stream out of the pilot screw holes. Because I had to kind of hold the whole contraption up in the air with both hands occupied, I was not able to evacuate the pilot screw holes with the syringe, but rather I had to just let them gravity drain into a cup. I don't see any evidence of gunk in the carb cleaner afterwards, and I did the process at least 5 times with each carb.

I also did not have the right size drill bit to fit the float valve holes in order to grab them with vise grips for removal, so I just left them in place and sprayed carb cleaner through the four of them until I got a good steady backflow through not only the 3 other float valves (the 3 not being sprayed at any given time), but also back through the main fuel inlet. So now, I'm sure that my fuel inlets are clean, my main jets are clean, and the main and pilot air jets are clean, as well as the siphons and jets for the enrichment system.

My question now is how much flow I should be getting through the pilot fuel jet -->mixture screw hole? I have to squeeze the bejeezus out of the bulb syringe to get any fluid flow at all, but it does flow a steady stream. When the fluid runs through and air from the bulb starts, it goes ahead and blows through easily. It this just because the pilot fuel jet orifice is so small, or does it still sound blocked up to you? I did make sure to clear the orifices - the wire out of a twist tie was just the right size. And finally, "should" it run now, or is there something else in the carbs I need to give attention to while I've got them off?

Thanks again for all your help!!!

 

They're tiny. So that might have been right.

Did the cleaner come-out of just the Pilot Mixture Hole or was there a AIR Jet opening; too?

 

The cleaner wanted to come out of the pilot air jet, (maybe) more easily than the screw hole, but it was redirected to the screw hole when I plugged the air jet with my finger. the tiny hole where the pilot screw seats through the main carb bore is clear as well.

Anything else I should look for before I button it back up?

 

Pull-off the Main FUEL Jets ... Tap-out the Emulsion Tubes ... Clean the Emulsion Tubes and Ports ... Flush-out the Main AIR Passage.

The Main AIR Passage flushes-out inside the Body where the Emulsion Tube goes.

 

It's alive!!!!! I got the carbs clean, as per previous suggestions, and I "eyeball sync'ed" them before putting them back on the bike. Voila! it started and kept running! Then, I did a quick and dirty sync with my 2 gauges, without plugging the YICS, at 1200RPM or so, and now it actually responds quickly and crisply to the throttle! I'm sure it can get a bit better if I really take time to dampen the gauges, plug the YICS, and all that, but for right now, I'm just thrilled!

 

It's just all good news, in here, this week!

Good for you Vince.

Tweak the heck out-of-it!

 

Thanks for all your help, Rick!