The International CBX Owners Association

Hi everybody, I am new here and wonder if someone can help

I am restoring my CBX Z carbs. Everything seems to be going ultra smoothly (thanks Mike Nixon!), with the exception of removing the 6 emulsion tubes, below the main jets ...
I have soaked them in WD-40 for 3 days now, modified a screw driver to fit properly as per Mike's advise, AND used my heat gun but they do not seem to want to come undone with the amount of force I am happy to apply safely.

Any tip would be enormously helpful, I know how easy it is to mess things up.

Very kind regards
Aris

I am waiting for the same ideas. I have a set of carbs that have stuck emulsion tubes and all of them have the slots mangled meanwhile. I managed to get one out by drilling a hole and using a bolt extractor but on the second one, the tap broke.

Welcome to the site, Aris.
Wish i could offer different methods other than a better penetrant than WD40.
Kroil has worked for me on stuck parts...probably difficult to find in your neck of the woods.
http://www.kanolabs.com/

Thank you Steve.
Yes, I live in Athens, Greece and goodies like this are almost impossible to get.
Is WD-40 useless for this job? May be it needs more time? I squirt twice a day I will get there, hopefully without breaking anything ... sorry to hear of your troubles EMS ...

I tried Kroil and WD40 to no avail. I heard maybe boiling in a soapy water solution may help

Kroil worked on mine (finally). Rap down sharply several times on the end of the screwdriver and then soak it some more. Sometimes that can help break loose the deposits enough to let the penetrant go deeper. But if not, you might want to give them a go in an oscillating carburetor cleaning tank with fresh fluid (so-called "cat piss") in it. And then repeat the above. Or maybe try an ultrasonic cleaner?? (No experience with them on this end.)

More heat probably wouldn't hurt either. If you've been trying to loosen them with everything still hot it may work better to let it all cool back down first.

WD-40 is not a lubricant, for long. Once it's 'carriers' evaporate it is worse than before.

The best penetrating oil is reputed to be a 50:50 mix of acetone and ATF, but it is somewhat a matter of opinion like everythign else...

N.

Hmm, the book in that picture looks familiar. :) In order of importance: a custom ground screwdriver. Heat. Finally, if that fails, you must extract with bolt extractor which works 90 percent of the time. 10 percent of the time the tube must be drilled all the way out from both directions, but thankfully it is very uncommon to have to do this. The screwdriver/hotplate deal is the best.

You might be interested to know why the primary main emulsion tube gets stuck like it does. Everyone assumes grunge, corrosion, fuel deposits, etc. Nope. It is mismanufacturing. A close look at the carburetor casting will show that the threads for the tube stop short about 1mm before the tube is fully seated. What this means is that installation actually forces the last couple threads, sort of like a sheet metal screw. A very bad design.

Mike Nixon

Mike Nixon wrote: 10 percent of the time the tube must be drilled all the way out from both directions, Mike Nixon

How do you get to drill from the other side?

The hole happens to line up to open air, but just barely (with the top off and slide out of course). I have done a couple this way. I have the special drills and drivers for this job, though thankfully I don't have to do it often.

Giving away all my secrets. As for using the extractor, the 90 percent success method, the trick is to NOT use the one the extractor kit tells you to, but instead use the next size larger. You have to drill a larger hole too of course. Anybody know what the ultimate method is? When everything else has failed (no, not replacing the carb casting, although that probably should be added to the list too)?

Hey, fantastic news.
After 3 days of twice daily squirting with WD-40, 3 of the emulsion tubes finally came out, with some reasonable - but not undue - force and no heat, using my 'special' screw driver.
So the stuff MUST have helped somewhat.
Tomorrow, and armed with my new found confidence, I will attack the remaining 3

Thank you ALL, and especially Mike for your wisdom, this makes all the difference in our hobby.
Aris

Guess I'll weigh in here. I've heated them pretty hot with a propane torch and that has worked for some stuck ones. Most others with good screwdriver slots came out after soaking the whole body (carbs separated of course) in Berrymans carb soak, rinsing with very hot water, then immediately trying removal. That usually works. I've only had to drill out a couple. I just drill a small hole first, then progressively larger until it's all gone but the threads. You can then drive the tip out from the other end. Then tap(literally, with a tap) out the brass left in the threads and you are usually good to go.

I'll also say this - if I had to pick some part NOT to have to remove for cleaning and working around it would be those. You can usually do a good job of cleaning everything out of them in place, since the orifices are pretty large.

Dave

WAGs:

Somehow braze a rod to the "up" end of the emulsion tube and twist the heck out of the rod CW???

Get a left-handed easy-out (???) and also attack it from the "up" end??

I don't have a friggin' clue?? :)

So, to conclude the thread I started ...
After almost 5 days of soaking the emulsion tubes with WD-40, twice daily, ALL six came out intact.
In fact, I had to resort to my heat gun for the very last one, only.
But I did soak them for ages, and did experiment to modify a screwdriver to get it fitting them just right.
Was it all worth the effort? Well taking into account I had previously spent ages cleaning the carbs as best I could with the tubes on, 4 of them were clean spotless, one was iffy and one was seriously clogged. So yes, absolutely it was worth the effort. My bike would never run right had I not persevered.
Thanks again to all who offered their knowledge and encouragement. Aris