Hello all, I got tired of having only motorcycles that don't actually run, so I took my
tax return and recently bought a 96 Magna. It is cosmetically very nice with 117xx
miles on it, seems well cared for. I was surprised on the way home how fast it is, but
it did have the annoying low rpm surging that I've read about on forums. I ordered up
the Dave Dodge shim and jet kit and a set of Vance & Hines mufflers to make things
all better. Here is where my problem comes in. I installed the shims and jets, but one
of the carbs has an idle mixture screw that will not turn. I called Dave Dodge racing for
advice and tried pb blaster along with heat all to no avail. Has anyone used an easy-out
on this screw? Is there an easy-out small enough, and if so could you use the easy-out
to back out the screw the 1/4 turn and then leave it alone? Thanks for any help.
What I would do is drill it and use a very small ezout. I would first remove an adjustment screw from another carb and measure how far you can safely drill into the screw with out damaging the carb. Once measured, mark the drill bit so you can the limit of how far to drill into the screw; once drilled the ezout should get it. Make sure you use the correct size drill bit and ezout, also unless you get real lucky, be prepared to replace the screw.
Welcome, where do you live?
I live about 60 miles northwest of St. Louis. I ordered a socket from Motion Pro that
I hope will fit better and will definitely be stronger than the tool included in the jet kit.
I'm guessing that will either loosen the screw or strip the head. The next step would
be an easy out and after that a carb from ebay I suppose. Wish me luck.
Once you get the D-bit turn it in a few turns spray some cleaner in to make sure there isnt anything in the threads then take it out.
I would once you have the offending jet figured out, set them at 3 1/8 to 3 1/4 turns out from bottom with your setup. Thats what I have found that works the best.
I had an idle screw that had to be Easy-out'd. The cylinder that the screw sits in had been out-of-round'd somehow, and I took it to the local Honda Service dealer to see if they could get it out (since my Motion-Pro tool couldn't get ahold of it). They couldn't, so he took an Easy-out to it, and out it came. I did need to buy a new idle screw though, so you might go ahead and get one ordered.
Following this, I took my dremel and slotted the new idle screw head such that a standard screwdriver would work.
Rod.
Well, I got the motion-pro socket today and it looks to be a handy tool to have for
these carbs, but all I managed to do was round off the screw head. I borrowed a #1
easy-out from a mechanic at work today, but does anyone know the right size drill
bit to use with this? Hopefully tomorrow I will have better luck with this. Thanks.
Small enough so it will not mess up your carbs but large enough so the easy-out will go in.
Might practice on a piece of scrape metal, wood, etc. for the correct size hole.
A closer look at the easy-out and it had printed on it what drill size to use. Unfortunately I could not get it out, the brass screw is too soft for how stuck it is,
and the easy out ended up just tearing out shreds of the screw. At this point, I
think I will have to find another carb body. This sucks.
Two questions, did you get the hole drilled dead center, and are you still shredding on just the brass screw? If you're still in just the brass screw and have the hole drilled center you can use a drill bit big enough to just barely take the brass out without getting into the actual threads and then clean the threads out with a bottom tap. Just make sure to use the right size drill bit and the correct tap. I'm assuming you already have the carbs apart?
After it was apparent that the easy-out wasn't going to work, I did try to drill out
just enough to get the brass gone and then try to clean up the threads, but I have
no tap and die sets, and I damaged the threads in one area too much to recover from I'm afraid anyhow. Thanks though.
Apparently I am not meant to ride this Spring. I got a used set of carbs, and as I was
swapping parts over to the replacement carb body, I noticed that the needle and seat
are a different, smaller size. Different years of the 3rd gen must have different carbs.
If the needle and seat are different, I suppose other internals are different too. Very depressing.
They are all the same there is no difference between themyou may have gotten a set that has had jets and shims installed or most likely if they are smaller needles then you have the Cobra jet kit installed all your old jets and needles will slide right into your new old carbs and return it to stock or whatever you had before... :-D :-D
It is the float needle and seat that are smaller, and the seat is pressed into the carb body, I don't see any way you can change it, at least not with my tools. :sad:
3rd Gen Magnas have replaceable seats and needles. Do you have a camera maybe take a pic or two and post. Itshould have a hex head on the seat part and just unscrews from the body !!!
Ok think and looking at the manual anyhow maybe you purchased a California set of carbs the smaller size would make sense with the emissions they run there. As far as the seat comming out well you have me second guessing I know the 1st and 2nd gens had replaceable but I do not see them comming out in the service manual. Tell ya what give me a jingle I will PM my number...
I think you are right, Allen. When rebuilding the carbs on the Super, I determined that the Float Needle and Seat had to be replaced in the first carb. Came to this conclusion after having raw fuel pour out of the #1 cylinder exhaust port while it was running. The parts diagram listed 2 different Needles and Seats, but was not very specific. After talking with the guys at Honda Directline, I found out there were two different sizes, the smaller being the California spec parts. Anyway...the Valve Seats came out with a socket. I've only worked on the carbs from 1st & 2nd gen bikes, but I'd think the Valve Seats in a 3rd gen set of carbs would come out the same way
I think it's likely that I was unlucky enough to end up with a California set. I have opened up other carbs where it is obvious that the seat is replaceable, but this one
looks pressed in with no way to get out.
Strange......... :-|
I went back down to the shed to make sure the seat isn't removable.
The seat on my original carbs is stamped 3.8 or maybe 38. The parts carbs I bought
are stamped 2.6 or 26. The seat is press fitted flush with the carb body, you can't
get it out. They must be California spec. Anyone need very rare and desirable smog
carbs? 8)
Greg and Allen are my heroes! :lol: Allen hooked my up with Greg who helped me
out with a spare carb body, and I am almost back in business. When I put everything
back together, I had gas leaking from 2 float bowl seams and one of the fuel tubes
that connect the carbs. I shut off the gas and walked away in disgust. After some
thought, I was hopeful that maybe the o-rings and gaskets just needed to swell some.
I checked back that night, and sure enough, no more leaks! Of course, a new problem
has cropped up. I put on new Vance&Hines pipes, and when I started it up, one of the
mufflers is louder than the rest. Then it started blowing out little strings of fiberglass.
Upon further inspection, I noticed that when looking into the muffler from the back,
the pattern of the baffle is a little different from the other three, and shreds of fiberglass can be seen sticking out from baffle holes. These are brand new. I guess I
just got an example of poor quality control. I will call the vendor in the morning, but
in the mean while I still can't ride :-x
Thanks again for this great forum and special thanks to Greg and Allen :D
Just glad I could help out!
Yep I love this club and no problem like Greg says pay it forward !!!
OK, so I'm up and running, but not perfectly. I'm getting a lot of popping on decel, and
some coughing in spots on accel. I have tried the pilot jets between 2 3/4 up to 3 1/2 turns out without solving the issues. I think what I need to do is synch the carbs, especially since I changed out one carb body. I did not pay close enough attention to bench synching since I figured I would have to synch them running to finish this job.
Anyhow, I can't find the ports where I would attach my carbtune gauges. I have worked with older honda carbs before, and the vacuum ports were obvious. Maybe
they are obvious on the magna too, but not to me. Help please!
Also, do I have to just remove the fuel tank to be able to synch the carbs, or does anything
else have to come off? Thanks.
I was able to sync up my '96 carbs without removing the tank. Put the bike up on a lift so I didn't have to crawl on my belly like a snake. Even so, getting to the adjustment screws took some doing. Finally bought a right angle drive wrench drive to fit the screwdriver bits I already had. Best $12 I ever spent.
Used a "mercury stick". Whole operation took about 3 hrs round trip. An experienced MOOTSTER could no doubt do this in 30 minutes or less. Bike came with shiny new Cobra pipes. I put in the recommended carb mods, then synced them. Runs great, and still gets ~45 mpg hwy. 8)
Make sure you do not have any air leaks anywhere along the intake side. Decel popping is most usually caused by a lean condition.
Look on the head intake port you will see a phillips head screw, this is what you removed to connect the sync gauges to.
Then you will need a right angle tool as mentioned earlier with either a 8mm socket or a flatblade bit. You have to adjust #'s 2-3-4 to # 1 which is not adjustable.
I did not re-read the thread..... Pilot jets might be clogged, run Seafoam or Berrymans in the gas.
Thanks Greg, pretty darn obvious. Is there anything special you do to deal with
#4 where there is a vacuum hose already connected?
I would have to look at the instructions LoL, been quite a while since I sync'ed one since I only really think it is necissary when someone tackles what you did. For normal carb work such as pulling the entire bank and simply swapping jets/shims I dont think it is warranted. At least the times I did it, we didnt realize any improvement.
Besides the with-in range of each other is fairly broad.