I know it's been asked, but I'm stumped. Leaky Carbs!!!!!!

[moogly4321]

Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum. Thank you in advance for all advice and help.

I have done some extensive searching and I need some answers that I just can't find.

I rebuilt my carbs last year. Tested them and even ran them on the bike. After letting it sit since last october I now have two issues.

1. All of a sudden my carbs are now leaking like crazy through the overflow tubes. They had no issues last year. They have new needles and the floats are fine, they float, I'm just stumped as to why they would all of a sudden start leaking.

With that said. I want to try and polish the seats since I have a 79 DOHC and it looks like the seats are pressed in place. I did not do this when I cleaned them before. If I use a metal polish or toothpaste, how do I then clean that out so the polish doesn't clog anything? This is my next step before buying new needles.

2. This was actually a problem last year when I put the bike away in October. After putting the rebuilt carbs back on, at that time no leaks, I could not get the engine to idle. It will idle and sounds just fine if I give it a little gas, but my understanding is that I should be able to get it to idle with no throttle cable even connected. I have no idea what I'm missing and why it won't idle.

I have gone through the rebuild pdf posted on the homepage.

Thank you,

Mike

[TOOLS1]

First, the carbs leaking from the overflow tubes is because the needles are not seating. This could be caused by many things, and one could be dirty seats. I polish them with chrome polish, and a Q-tip. I just use a clean Q-tip to remove any residue after polishing. Some other things that could be causing this is, a piece of dirt/debris in the gas line, or a heavy float.
As for the idle, if you can not adjust it up with the main knob, you might have plugged pilot jets, or a vacuum leak.
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[moogly4321]

Alright, thx, that's my plan tomorrow then. After that if I can't get the idle going then yea, i'll pull the jets out too. After all, if the needle seats got kajiggered after less than a year of sitting who knows what else got clogged.

Can a vacuum leak be on the manifold side also?

Can you please elaborate on the "heavy float"? How do I test for this or see it? As far as I can tell they are not filling up with gas.

Thank you

[Rodgil]

It would be unusual for all four to be leaking. Have you checked that all the drain screws are closed tight?

[TOOLS1]

The vacuum leak would be on the manifold side. The rubber boots must be sealing! Or the bike will never run correctly. On the heavy floats, after years the floats can deteriorate, and loose their ability to float.
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[moogly4321]

Yes all screws are closed and not leaking. It isn't all 4 leaking. Its really only 1 and 3. Number 4 hasn't leaked at all and number two is variable. I am heading over to the garage now. I'll double check the floats in a jar of gas and polish the seats. If that doesn't do it, I'll try for new needles.

Thanks for the replies.

[moogly4321]

Fixed. Polished the seats no more leak.

Thanks for the help.