Rich Running Carb Solved

[lakehouse]

Those of you who are having carburetor issues like I have had, and couldn't lean out the fuel, I stumbled across something that may, or may not help some of you. After rebuilding my carb, I couldn't lean it out no matter what I tried. I posted a few threads here asking for any thoughts and help, and I appreciate the responses that I received. But none of them solved my problem at all. Finally in desperation, I purchased a parts carb to use the body and float bowl. In making a long story short, a different body and bowl solved all my issues. What I am guessing is that the chemicals that I used to vat the carb (it was a 20 year old can of Berryman's Carb Cleaner), may have eaten into the pot metal that the carb was cast with, which possibly enlarged all the passages. I could see with a naked eye that the pilot hole in the idle circuit seemed to be larger when I compared my original carb that was vatted to the parts carb. I know for a fact that I was the first to tear into the original carb (1989 Elite E) that had been sitting idle for 10 years. I KNOW I didn't use a drill or anything that would enlarge diameters to clean the passages, and that is the only thing I can come up with. The used parts carb that I obtained, looked pretty decent, so I just used a can of aerosol carb cleaner and compressed air to clear out any possible debris or build up. The bike fired right up upon initial cranking, and I barely had to tweak the idle speed and air mixtures adjustments to run perfect. It grabs RPM's like it is supposed to, and starts the first time regardless if the engine is hot or cold.

I just thought I would pass this tidbit of information along to all of you, and to advise you to use extreme care, and a minimal amount of carb cleaner when possible, when rebuilding carburetors. I firmly believe that those chemicals can eat up pot metal if left to soak too long. I had to learn the hard way, but now I am a happy camper.

Again, thanks to all of you who have sent me their thoughts and suggestions in the past. Good luck to those of you who are fighting "unsolvable" issues with their bikes. Just don't give up.