TOPIC: Fuel system refresh tips?

Well some time next week I expect to be going through the carbs and the fuel pumps on my old 650. The motor runs ok now, but the bottom carb has a tendency to flood when pumping the primer bulb or when the motor is tilted up when not running. Probably a needle and seat or float level problem so I figure if I need to remove the carbs, I may as well go through them.

I'd appreciate any tips, warnings, etc from folks who have rebuilt these carbs. Mine are Type KC2A. It seems like I once saw a warning not to use automotive type carb dip on these. Any truth to that? My Clymer manual says to use it. And, any particular areas I should pay real close attention to, like certain passages that frequently tend to be blocked internally? How about re-synchronizing them? My manual doesn't talk about that. I have an old "mercury tube" synchronizer (used on motorcycles). Is that what would normally be used to synch this setup? Or should I just eyeball the throttle plates to make sure they open and close in synch?

All suggestions welcomed. Save me from my ignorance!

that is normal.

Normspeed, the leaking when you tilt it up is normal. It is not unusual for the squeeze bulb to overcome the needle and seat. If you put a pressure gauge in the fuel circuit it is easy to reach 11 to 12 psi when you squeeze the bulb. Those little 1 inch diameter floats cannot fight that much pressure.

Thanks for that info. This rig was stored for many years and has a few other issues, like a tendency to stall when coming off idle, so I think it's best to make sure everything is clean in there. Any info on re-synching the upper and lower carbs? I'm assuming that once I separate the two it would be a good idea to synchronize them again, just going from my experience with multiple carbs on cars and motorcycles.

This rig was stored for many years and has a few other issues, like a tendency to stall when coming off idle

as stated above the dripping is normal, so if dying at idle is the only issue, try enrichening the carbs, back out the idle adj screws , this adj generally solves the dying coming off idle

if you choose to rebuild the carbs yes you can use your flow meter to sync the carbs idle adjment, however its more important they be mechanically be sync'd.....link & sync

the instructions are in the manual how to set your timing and then to perform the link & sync, can be tricky to understand the first time...if you have difficulty go to johnsoldmercurysite.com and do a search of the data base its been explaned well several times over there

The lower carb, (see photo) didn't have a filter screen at all and the bowl cover was on backwards. I just put the tops back on, they look ok to me...