Topic: Slide stuck like no other 77 cb550f

[Brady]

Hey guys,

First time posting on here...new to the board and motorcycles in general.  I just picked up my first bike and have been digging through the archives for info and such.  It's been really helpful so far.  And i found a lot of suggestions for the problem i'm having now but since nothing seems to be working thought I might see if there's any other suggestions.

So here's my problem:
I pulled the carbs to clean and two of the slides were stuck.  I got one unstuck but the last one is just not budging.  I've done pretty much everything I can think of to get it out....soaked in chem dip, penetrating oil, acetone, boiled in water, boiled in lemon juice, tried a heat gun, and good old fashioned brute force.  it is not budging even a little bit.  Can anyone think of something else I can try? only thing left i guess is to do acetone+ATF???

If I do have to get another carb is there anywhere else besides ebay to find used bodies/slides/needles?

[harisuluv]

Were you trying to pry it with say a screwdriver against the slide?  That can work, however it can damage the piston.  What I do is leave the lifter arm attached and use that to lift it up.  For example, you can take an adjustable and get a pretty good grip on it and then also have a lot of leverage to gently get it out.

If you need a carb body I can help you, I have spares of everything.  550f should probably be a 069A.  PM me with the number (1-4) and the stampings you want.

[Brady]

Hey there,

I did try prying a bit after heating/soaking...not too hard though. ,  I have a post from a clothes drying rack in my back yard with some metal hooks in it...i even stuck the link arm on the hook and hung from the carb body(i weigh about 190)...the hook it was hanging from bent. heh.  thing is just stuck.  I will pm you.

brady

[Bru-tom]

two of mine were stuck. i submerged them in petrol for 2 days with the top covers and float bowls off. worked a treat, you need to be patient. before is soaked them, they wouldn't budge whatsoever! even with more force than i would have like to have applied to them...

[Brady]

really? just soak 'em in gas? been messing w/ it for a week now. killing me! so want to get them back on the bike...gonna give it a shot.

[sweet_baby_james]

Interested to know if this worked, I'm in the same boat with my 78 550k. Soaking them in pinesol overnight tonight.

Thanks

[Brady]

nope.   trying to source a replacement right now.

[andrewk]

You'll want to get all the gas off/out of it first, but try heating the body with a torch, then apply some penetrating lube of your choice.  If it still won't budge, heat it back up, then cool it down fast- I've used spray air upside down, but they put some anti-huffing junk in it now, so use good ventilation or you'll be tasting the worst taste ever.

Heat is a good one for this because the body is aluminum and the slide steel. I read that you tried a heat gun, but I think you'll need more heat than one of those puts out.

[sweet_baby_james]

Soaking it in pinesol loosened it up a little but I still couldn't get it all the way out. pinesol definitely cleans them up really well though, gets the old paint and gunk off.

I used a small propane plumbers torch to gently heat the carb body and finally it came loose. Both the slide and the inside of the body look good so no damage done during removal. I'll probably give the inside of the carb body a gentle rub with some high grit wet/dry sand paper to ensure it doesnt stick again.

[rb550four]

I've run across these stuck carb problems before  and have found that a hairdryer blowing directly on the slide on high won't burn any parts will loosen all stuck parts by making the varnish gooey at this point you can spray in some carb cleaner or PB blaster and work the slides until the come out. Soak the body as usual, clean and lightly buff the slide before reinstalling it.takes a little time but worth it. This works for me.
    Hairdryer also works on stuck brass float pins without burning/melting the floats. I run a hairdryer in the entire bowl area until all brass parts have been removed. No broken posts or towers yet.

[TwoTired]

Never had one stuck so bad a heat gun (a true heat gun, not a hair dyer) wouldn't expand the body enough to budge the slide out of it.
Think about it, metals expand with heat.  Make the outer bore hotter than the inner and it must come loose.  Worst case, get some "freeze spray" at an electronic shop to shock cool the slide while the carb body is still hot from the heat gun.  You'll still have apply movement force to remove it.  But, the lifter arm should suffice for that.


Of course if the carb body has a history of encounters with a hammer or pry bar, simple expansion isn't going the return the shape to round.

[Brady]

I may give it another try tonight w/ the heat gun..maybe just didn't do it long enough.  it did get the other one unstuck though...this one has just been a real #$%*.  i have done it all, soak, boil, spray, yank, etc.   would def prefer to get it unstuck as it'll save me some cash but, really i'd just like to get them back on the bike so i can start checking other stuff out so trying to find one.