Diaphragm repair follow-up

[Venturous Randy]

For those of you that just can not seem to let go of a couple of hundred bucks to replace your diaphragms, even though you know they need it, there is an alternative.

Over the years I have tried several things to fix the existing pin holes to get me through one more season of riding. I have tried Yamabond, Seals All, silicon and maybe even something else. Last year I bought a set of carbs off ebay and even though the diaphragms did have some pins holes in them, they had been unmolested. I had heard from someone on here about a product called Liquid Tape. Well, as an update of about a year later, I want to say that it works very well. I took my carbs apart and in particular looked at the diaphragms that I patched last year and they looked very good. There was only one small hole that I needed to repair and either it was new, or I missed it last year. The great thing was the Liquid tape was still sticking real good and was still very pliable, much more than a little bit of Yamabond.

I believe the trick to it is to make sure you get the hole area prepared before putting the Liquid Tape on. What I do is spray the area with brake cleaner and then clean it good with alcohol. After blowing it off a bit with compressed air, I will smear a little Liquid Tape over the area where the hole is. Then I will let it dry over night before I put it back together.

I have seen Liquid Tape available at several places, but I originally bought mine at a NAPA store. It is made to be put over wires or connections to seal them. It also must have some pretty good resistance to gasoline.

For those of you that want to get a little more life from your diaphragms and make your bike run better and get better gas mileage, this will sure help.

RandyA

[Yammer Dan]

Make sure you clean them good or it will peel off.

[hipshot]

oh! NOW ya tell me!

oh well, back to the drawing board!

by the way.

i found a socket type tool, made by the company who makes "vise-grip" pliers, they EASILY remove stripped out phillip's head screws!

they come in several different sizes,as a kit.

what they are, is the opposite of an easy-out.

socketed ,left handed fluted and tapered to grab.

i will post pics, if anyone is interested.

just jt

[Condor]

I had heard from someone on here about a product called Liquid Tape.

 

I've been using Liquid Tape for years on all of my marine electrical wiring, and it does seem to last forever. Just recently Lowell (LAprior) mentioned a product he tried on his diaphrams. Plasti-Dip. I had a couple of manifolds that were starting to develope hairline cracks so decided to give the stuff a try. Toddled on down to our local Home Depot and bought a can of spray...yep it comes in a spray can as well as liquid.... I cleaned off the offending manifold with alcohol and sprayed it over the cracks. The stuff actually filled the cracks and when it dried the cracks were gone. Neat stuff. I think the stuff is miss-named as it's actually a rubberize compound that stays flexible. I'm going to give it a try on a couple of diaphrams, but from what I've seen it should be great. One nice thing is that it coats the entire surface of the diaphram and it sort of rejuvenates everything against future holes developing.....

[Jrichard]

:thumbsup2: OUTSTandING STUFF------------it's made by Performix:sun1: ---------you can also get it @ homedepot and Lowes:clap2:

[Venturous Randy]

Not too sure about the plastic dip. Richard tried it and he said gasoline/fumes desolved it, or at least the stuff he used. Also, you want to make sure whatever you use stays very plyable.

RandyA

[tbrdb0b]

I have had my 91 for several years and the last time i check them was 3 or 4 years ago, so i better get busy and take alook, so i am curious , what kind of problems might you have with bad diaphrams? thanks

[Condor]

Not too sure about the plastic dip. Richard tried it and he said gasoline/fumes desolved it, or at least the stuff he used. Also, you want to make sure whatever you use stays very plyable.

RandyA

 

Good info Randy. I'm going to go spray something with Plasti-Dip, let it dry according to directions, and then drip some gas on it to see what it does.... I'll report back.....

[Venturous Randy]

I have had my 91 for several years and the last time i check them was 3 or 4 years ago, so i better get busy and take alook, so i am curious , what kind of problems might you have with bad diaphrams? thanks

 

Hey bob, the diaphragms are what pull the slides open from vacuum above the throttle plates, which is what you open when you twist the throttle.. If there are holes in the diaphragms, you will end up pulling more gasoline into the engine with less air. In other words it will run more rich. It can also run rich to the point of fouling spark plugs. Holes will definitely bring down gas mileage.

I suspect that the majority of these bikes with age and mileage need the diaphragms fixed or replaced.

RandyA

[WilCruise]

Yeah and the result of that rich mix can be poor or lagging throttle response as far as a performance oriented symptom.