Vmax Carb Rebuild Guide by NaughtyG

As I just cleaned / rebuilt my carbs, I thought I'd document the process, especially the re-assembly since we already have
plenty of instructions here as how to take 'em out and apart.

Because I took a lot of pics and didn't want this thread to take forever loading every time you open it, I divided it into
multiple parts.

Here's Part 1 - starting with my dirty 'ol carb:

Starter plunger has been removed, but as advised by Mark (Maleko), I didn't remove the housing as it wasn't leaking
looking at the slide opening - you can see my (very damaged by POs) PAJ2
Other side view showing removed coasting enricher and all the dirt from a leaking fuel bowl
Looking into the empty fuel bowl - float, needle valve, jet block and needle jet all removed
Time to give the outside a good clean, I used Purple Power and a clean new paintbrush
then blew it all dry with compressed air (get your safety goggles ON at this point!!)
Then I penetrated every single orifice with the Carb Cleaner straw - PAJ1 hole first
air bleed hole
PAJ2 (only thing I could not remove)
Air/Fuel screw hole
the hole next to it
starter plunger orifice
Every hole under the jet block - you can see how some are dirty
needle valve seat
fuel bowl bleed exit
holes behind the throttle in the venturi
coasting enricher
vacuum to the CE

And then blew every one of these holes with compressed air and repeated the process. No more dirt in my carb - and
did that for all four of them.
So now I have a lovely clean carburetor body - in and out
Here are all the small parts removed from the carb:
1. Float
2. Pilot Air Jet 1
3. Needle Valve with spring
4. O-ring (from under slide body)
5. Float bowl purge screw with o-ring
6. Jet block rubber plugs
7. Pilot Jet
8. Main Jet
9. Main Bleed Pipe
10. Jet Block
11. Needle Jet
12. Needle jet Retaining Screw and Washer
13. Air/Fuel Mixture Screw, Spring, Washer and O-ring
14. Cap, Spring and Starter Plunger
15. Coasting Enricher and Spring
Starter Plunger was a little gummed up and that wouldn't come off with carb cleaner, so I use some 1500 wet/dry paper
to clean it (light pressure!)
Also used this on the Coasting Enricher
and on the fuel bowl bleed screw. Checked the o-ring on it - all good.
Fuel Bowl cover with old flattened gasket and all the dirt from leaks and sediments
All of the above all cleaned up!
Here are all the parts I renewed with their Yamaha part numbers - thanks Gary McCoy for a great deal as usual!!

Ready to start re-assembly !

started by refitting the fuel bowl bleed screw
Fed the needle jet back in from the inside
Holding it from behind, slide the new o-ring on it
the o-ring, once seated properly, holds the needle jet in place for now. Notice the way the groove in the needle jet is
facing - there is a protrusion in the jet block that will slide on it.
Next the new jet block gasket goes in, making sure the projections in the carb body (by my finger tips) mesh with the
holes in the gasket:
The pilot jet and main bleed pipe caught in a little foreplay action
Securing the pilot jet *using the right screwdriver* for the job!
and the main bleed pipe
Time for the first rubber plug - notice the flat facing the bottom
same with the 2nd rubber plug - excuse the auto-focus of the cheap camera
Both plugs fitted
Sliding the jet block carefully over the needle jet
Jet block in place - notice the needle jet groove facing down and the rubber plugs well tucked in
Securing the jet block with its two screws - careful not to overtighten..
Then refitting the needle jet brass screw and washer
Main jet is going in next
Using a magnifying glass to check that the needle valve is in good condition - it looked huge to the naked eye, honest! -
but the camera didn't think so
Needle valve going back in carefully - easy to damage!
There it is in place - spring opening facing up for the float tab
Refitting the float
In place with the tab in the spring
Setting up the float level on the bench - hold the carb up so that the float's weight closes the needle valve, resting on it
but without compressing the tiny spring behind the valve's nipple. Here it's a tad too rich:
and here it's way too lean:
Bend the float's tab slightly and carefully to adjust
and here it's set just right. The way to tell - as per Marks’ “setting float levels on the bench” thread - is the circle on the
jet block and the circle made by the float's shape are perfectly edge-aligned:
fitting the new gasket to the fuel bowl cover - must press it into the grooves
in place
Sliding the cover over the jet block and under the vent pipe
make sure it's sitting properly within the tabs on the body
and secure it with its 4 screws - again, tight but not overtight! *NOTE – replace Philips with Allen heads if you can!”
New o-ring on the main jet cap
and in it goes, just tight enough with the 10mm wrench
K, fuel bowl is sorted !
Coasting Enrichment diaphragm is going back in. Make absolutely sure the diaphragm is in good condition or replace!
Rubber tab must fit in here
Spring goes in next
Make sure the spring fits properly over the cover's tabs! (I really need a manual focus don't I )
Hold the cover compressing the spring while fitting the 3 retaining screws
There it is back in and getting tightened. Notice my bottom left screw is not OEM - will this devalue my bike?
Hold the nipple of the starter plunger tightly with the spring compressed and the cap over the end.
Insert it into its housing
Screw it in finger tight
And tighten it with the 14mm wrench
Let's put our PAJ1 back in
The A/F screw complete - notice the order of things - spring, metal washer, o-ring. If you squint it almost looks in focus..
going back home..
and gets seated lightly, then back 2 1/2 turns as an initial setting

At this point PAJ2 (seen in above picture looking quite sorry for itself) would usually go back in, but in this case it never
came out.

Why didn't I take pics when doing the other 3 carbs

Let's NOT forget our little o-ring, that we made sure was in great condition
The slide goes in next, having double-checked the diaphragm was in good shape. I didn't disturb the needle this time,
but if I need to go back to add shims, I will document it and add it here.

I cleaned the slide and diaphragm with WD40 just before mounting and lightly blew it with low PSI compressed air
Making sure the rubber tab of the diaphragm fits in the recess provided for it (top right)
Then the spring goes in
and make sure its other end fits around the cover's inner tabs
Hold the cover in place and refit the screws. Mine have been replaced by stainless steel Allen heads - nice and highly
recommended.
Checking the starter plungers move freely - pull on the nipple
and let go, it should pop back in all the way
checking the throttle is also playing nice - also a good time for a tiny drop of oil on its return spring
and refit the bowl fuel bleed hose, making sure the bend in it makes it go toward the slide cover.
One of four beautifully clean and thoroughly checked to be in tiptop condition carbs, ready for getting back together as a
set
As the first two carbs become a couple again, this little spring must be refitted between the throttle arms
Here it is in place - I'm holding the carbs together
The first holding plate goes in. This is actually the wrong plate - it goes on the other two carbs (3&4). The one going here
has the throttle cable holder on it, but I could not find that pic. I fired my photographer.
when reassembling carbs 3 & 4, there are two springs this time - one for each sync screw. Fiddly, but do-able, and then
fit the plate pictured above.
Please note that at this time, the plate's screws are only tightened very lightly. This is because once everything's in place,
they will get re-tightened and a drop of thread lock is to be added.
The chrome side-plates are next, but we will give'em a little polish first
Here we go
again I only pre-tighten these screws lightly at this time to make sure everything gets a chance to get nicely aligned.
We can feed the bleed hoses back into their holders now
The fuel hose T-piece is going back in
and let's make sure the spring clips are on and tight - I had to bend mine in a little to tighten them again
**quick correction, so you don't make the same mistake as I did: my fuel T-hose is the wrong way round - the shorter
end should be at the bottom in these pics!**
I put a little grease on the carb sync screws before refitting them with their springs
again this is a bit fiddly for my big paws..
Once threaded, it's a lot easier with the (appropriate) screwdriver!
Let's squeeze that second one in
initial tightening - I just looked at the throttle plates inside the venturi and made sure they were close, in the bulk part
now we can re-assemble the two banks
First thing is the throttle link. It has two plastic washers and a circlip:
I greased the link a little first where it rotates
Then it goes on, one washer, linkage...
...2nd washer, circlip
I popped the circlip in place with my fingernail
Let's re-attach the fuel link
See it bending? It's the wrong way round!
Next the Choke linkage goes back in. This is the trickiest part - it went in and out a few times to say the least.. Make sure
the spring is fitted to the right-hand shaft first!
This is just to illustrate the entry points. To the left:
and to the right:
Here's the trick: see how these four pieces look? They are ever so slightly different, and notice the plastic collars
Now here's the deal; the bottom left is the straightest one, the other three have more of a bend in them. In order to be
fitted properly, the first one (bottom left) must be engaged over the starter plunger nipple before the shaft is inserted,
and then the plastic collar before the shaft enters the carb body
There the shaft goes in with #1 in place
On the right-hand side, the order is shaft / collar (facing the other way round) / fork
I actually had to add another washer between the collar and the first right-hand fork (arrowed) to make my whole
starter linkage function properly
Next is the second left fork - insert the collar in the body hole behind, engage the fork on the plunger nipple, then insert
the shaft through
Finally, the second one on the right: collar in, fork over nipple, shaft last
Woohoo! last one in. Note the hole in the shaft facing the screw. You will need to rotate the right shaft linkage for this
hole to face the right way, and also rotate the right way when depressing the choke lever!
Tighten all four screws and check operation. You may need to bend some of the fork tabs slightly to compensate for
shaft and linkages wear and elasticity. I believe you want all four plungers to come out by an equal amount when
depressing the choke lever, and that requires some adjustment unless you really paid better attention than I did to
which fork was where..
Once you're happy it's all working as expected, loosen each screw, add thread locking compound and re-tighten them
one by one.
As noted earlier, I had to add a washer to the right-hand shaft, because as the shaft spring exerted its pressure, it pulled
the forks in a way that made them prevent the plungers from returning freely.

Finally, I refitted the locking screw to the Choke Lever. Notice the order - screw, spring, metal washer, plastic washer,
then lever, plastic washer, metal washer.
I stole one of the plastic washers for the right-hand shaft, so I had to fiddle with this as the choke lever wouldn't stay in
place when depressed (locking screw couldn't be tight enough with only two plastic washers)
After adding another metal washer behind the rear plastic one, I tightened it and it's fine
Then I found two identical height wood blocks, and positioned them on the upright carbs
I flipped the whole set over, and made sure everything was nice and flat (all the brackets were still slightly loose)
Top view (looking at bottom of carb rack)
Having fixed it, I then installed the last brackets. That's when I noticed the fuel T-hose was the wrong way round!
With everything in place, I then took every single bracket screw out one by one, added thread locking compound, and
tightened them all to spec

JOB DONE!!