CA95 Carb Cleaning & Adjusting

[Smithers]

So when I finally go the guts to hook up the battery and give it a kick it sputtered right off!! I was surprised as hell. I didn't even think it would fire but it did. But then it didn't want to start after that! What the hell!?

It basically wasn't getting fuel after that. Yeah when I took the carb off I cleaned it up a little and scooped all the gunk out of the bowl but that was about it. The only thing I didn't do was take the jets out and clean them at all. This was my shortcoming and I was just in a hurry.

** YOU MUST CLEAN OUT THE JETS AND FUEL PASSAGEWAYS ON ANY HONDA CARB **

Today I finally had a little time this afternoon to clean out the garage space some and take a look at the carb on the little monster. The mainjet looked OK but still needed a little residue removed from the inside. BUT the little jet was COMPLETELY blocked. Not even a needle would go through it!! So now it's sitting in a pan soaking in some carb cleaner. I have a picture of it bathing in the stuff and I also threw in the mainjet and a couple of other little pieces. I will be happy to see it clear up tomorrow.

http://fourwheelperformance.com/honda/ca95_idlejet.jpg

Oh by the way in order to get this little guy out of it's home GET THE NEWEST SCREWDRIVER YOU HAVE that fits perfectly into the passageway where it sits inside. It's very important that you don't mess up the jet when you are trying to break it free. You will be in deep Shiz if you fail to remove it the first time and damage the jet.

From left to right - idlejet / mainjet / seat screw for the float needle.
The breather / vent holes are the brass inserts which are above and below the mainjet.
http://fourwheelperformance.com/honda/ca95_carb01.jpg

[Smithers]

Here is a shot of everything apart as I sit there with a LED flashlight and a magnifying glass inspecting it all deciding what to do.

http://fourwheelperformance.com/honda/ca95_carb_tools.jpg

It could all use a dip for a day. Tonight I'll dip the jets and needle seat. Tomorrow I'll swing by the parts store and see if they recommend anything special to dip the whole carb into. You gotta be careful with any chemicals you put this stuff into since you can't exactly replace it if it gets ruined. =\

I'll play it safe! The tools I have there in the picture are a 10mm socket for the needle seat fitting, a 7mm wrench for the mainjet, various screwdrivers, some handy little spring loaded pliers, exacto knife and a carb tool which has various sizes of pokers that have rasp type sides for removing debris from the inside of holes and stuff. When you need it you need it!

I hope to have this baby back together tomorrow afternoon to re-install it. I better get this bike running before the fuel in the tank gets old or the battery dies!

[Smithers]

Ok what next? After a soak in some solvent the jets are super clean and free of debris or corrosion. The inside of the carb was showing a little residue so I gave it a bath in some pretty tough acid. Once I removed the rubber bowl gasket acid was applied with an acid brush and I simply coated and cleaned the surfaces and then rinsed it with water shortly thereafter. Blow it all out with some compressed air and you are done.

Check out that shine now.
http://fourwheelperformance.com/honda/ca95_carb02.jpg

Now to check the float level I just measured to get an approximate reading of 20mm from the lip of the carb casting. In the picture I am showing a measurement from the lowest portion which is 1 or 1.5mm lower than the reference line I believe should be used. So subtract that from 21.5 and I am right on target.

http://fourwheelperformance.com/honda/ca95_float.jpg

[Smithers]

Here we are all put back together nice and snug. Now here I get a little over the edge on re-assembly. As we all know fuel is dry as hell compared to the nice leaded mixture we used to enjoy. If you pour fuel over a sheet of glass or plastic it peels away in sheets like alcohol does on the side of your highball glass. That is because it's super "dry" and doesn't lubricate near as well as it used to. This can be part of the reason carb bolts are difficult to break free and why gaskets fail and rubber rings turn brittle prematurely.

http://fourwheelperformance.com/honda/ca95_carb03.jpg

I like a coat of grease on EVERYTHING I re-assemble from a fresh cleaning. It's kinda like when you find an old neglected motorcycle on the side of a barn or somewhere. If it's covered in oil it looks horrible and worth less money to most people. To the people who know, the bike looks like a very well preserved piece. Oil preserves things very well and it can sit for years covered in oil and it the seals and rings will never go dry and brittle - the paint will be preserved - the chrome will be like new when cleaned... oil and grease are good! Synthetic grease is even better. You can re-assemble and engine, use synthetic grease or "engine assembly" grease and leave it alone for months before you fire it up. So I put a film of Mobile1 synthetic grease on the rubber bowl gasket to keep it moist. Also I put a small bit on the threads of the jets and fittings as things go back together. They won't pop back out and someday if they need a service or cleaning things will pop apart without any worries.

Here we are just like new! Everything is cleaned up from the inside out this time. The air adjustment screw is then screwed all the way snug and then back out 1 and 1/4 turns counter clockwise.

http://fourwheelperformance.com/honda/ca95_carb04.jpg

[Smithers]

Here is the other side of the Honda Keihin carb. The model is Keihin PW20HOV OR Keihin PW20H0V. Whichever.... I can't tell exactly but I'll look into it later. I'll also be posting what each of the screws to on either side and how to adjust them. I'm done for the day.

http://fourwheelperformance.com/honda/ca95_carb05.jpg

[Smithers]

To continue on to the next part of Carb Cleaning click here: Carb Cleaning Part II (http://www.fourwheelforum.com/forum//showthread.php?t=174)