pilot jet stuck,really stuck !

[sbondoni]

i was disassembling the carbs to clean and adj.floats(this is my first try) with help from bcware HD video link(LOL) thanks tho that helped a ton ! but i noticed PO must of had trouble with the left side pilot jet cause it looked a little tore up and i couldnt get it to break loose . boy those brss jest r soft ! wasnt much i could do so i taped a groove in the head to get some better leverage and it broke mloose but now i cant get it to fall out !!!! so i tried to dig it out .....nope the head is now totaly mangled and will not come out ! what the F should i do ????????

 

[bentwrench]

Wait, so it's loose, but won't come out? It spins freely?

 

[drewpy]

you spin me round round....

 

[sbondoni]

Wait, so it's loose, but won't come out? It spins freely?

right round baby right round ! for the most part i have managed to hack the top of the jet up to the point it does turn (freely) then it will get stuck and will stop spinning like it is out of the threads but cause of the mangled top will not come out ?

 

[sbondoni]

you spin me round round....

SMILE ! its free ! wow i needed that ! thx kid !

 

[bentwrench]

Can you grip it with tweezers? Sounds like the threads may be stripped...

 

[sbondoni]

Can you grip it with tweezers? Sounds like the threads may be stripped...

tried a very tiny set of needle nose pliers but no go i think is really jamed and yes stripped (looks like it went thu the garbage disposal )i really dont know what to do at this point ?????

 

[bentwrench]

Well, if it's stripped, then you need new carbs (and next time, add penetrating oil first, then try to remove.)

However, bygones are bygones. If you've screwed them up already, then no harm in still trying other things. If you can get the screw out, you may still be able to rethread the carb body if you have a tap and die set with the right size (very small) tap.

So, if I were you, I would go back to a screwdriver. Turn the screwdriver lefty-loosy with no downward force at all. Keep at it, and hope it catches.

If you can get a flat head bit for a drill, you can turn a drill into a high speed screwdriver and do the same thing - just no downward pressure. You're trying to get whatever threads there are to catch. But I'd start with hand tools (the drill will definitely strip anything that might still be there.)

Live and learn. Penetrating oil on every screw, every time. I forget from time to time, and call myself an idiot while I'm drilling out old screws...

 

[jayel]

find a small diameter long wood or drywall screw reach in with a small probe to hold the jet from turning and screw the drywall screw into the jets center hole, just enough for it to get a thread into the jet then pull it up and out as you turn it

 

[sbondoni]

Thx ya'll for ur thoughts i have decided to just let them soak in lemon juice for the day and then ill try the drywall extraction method cause i was able to get the screw to break free and get it stared to twist out but seems like once it got past the threads it had nothing to force it out any further . the head is so smashed up i think that is what is causeing it from just dropping out of the hole . This site is so freakin cool !

 

[sbondoni]

LOL !!! After a few days , a lot of manipulation , a stern talk'in to and a little bit of this magical super penetrant called freeze-off i finally got the pilot jet out (with out jacking up the threads in the carbs) and got the stripped out screws off the tops of the diaphrams !!!!! Damn im hav'in fun !!!! and its all come'in together now ...or i mean apart ?

 

[xschris]

Awesome!! I feel your pain I have had about almost two dozen of these carbs apart. Sometimes they can't be saved

 

[drewpy]

that's good news ...so far. make sure you get the same type of pilot jet IE if they have the spray holes in them!

now clean clean clean!

then clean some more....

 

[sbondoni]

2 lemon soaks and scrubs , 3 vinegar soaks and scrubs and a half a-day boil !!!! clean clean clean and cleaned sum more ! all natural is the way to go !! waiting for my jets to arrive from mikes and was putin together what i could . i noticed my main jets read 155 on the heads but the manual says sum shit like L/H #127.5 R/H 117.5 and the carb guide (xs650) i down loaded from mikes that was suggested for use on my 1981 xs400 special 2 says 132.5 ?????? what gives ?????

 

[sbondoni]

Aye, BTW its all stock from top to bottom .

 

[bentwrench]

155s - was your bike running pod filters or stock airbox?

 

[sbondoni]

thx yo ! stock airbox ,think i got it all together the same way it came apart but not quit sure bout the choke lever. i know when i took it out i lost one of the small metal balls that went in the notches but in bcwares vid of the carb disassemble he said u really only needed one of those for it to work properly . my question is .....is there a spring that goes in there as well ?????

 

[drewpy]

yep, spring is ya thing! it pushes yer balls against your rod

 

[bentwrench]

thx yo ! stock airbox ,think i got it all together the same way it came apart but not quit sure bout the choke lever. i know when i took it out i lost one of the small metal balls that went in the notches but in bcwares vid of the carb disassemble he said u really only needed one of those for it to work properly . my question is .....is there a spring that goes in there as well ?????

To be clear - I was saying 155 in surprise. That seems quite large for stock airbox, but different years have different jets. Those would be huge in my DOHC.

 

[sbondoni]

yikes !!!!! OOOOh ,Thats gonna leave a mark !!!!