After the alarming discoveries in the last episode I figured that I should keep at it and take a look at the carburetors in a bit more detail.

After opening the float bowls on the first Carburetor #1 I started to notice the differences in engineering that Honda had achieved in just a year. For starters the 1982 model of the v45 Sabre has different fuel jets then the 1983.

On the 1982 we find:

• Main Jet: #132
• Pilot Jet: #38

On the 1983 we find:

• Main Jet Front 2 Carburetors: #135
• Main Jet Rear 2 Carburetors: #138
• Pilot Jet: #40

This change I believe is due to the improved air flow efficiency from tucking the air intake under the tank instead of through the sides. More air requires more fuel, so Honda has bumped the jet sizes up. The really interesting part is that the rear 2 carburetors have an even larger jet size. Looking at other v4 engines from the same era this seems to be a normal practice. I am going to guess it's due to the way the air flows through the air box, and the amount that goes down each pair of carburetors.

The other thing that i noticed was that the float valves on the 1982 model are a lot less springy. The floats come back up with a lot less force. Where on the 1983 the float valves oscillate a few times when the float is pressed and released.

Once i have figured out my air leak issues, I do have the option to up the jets in size to get better fueling in performance. That however will be an experiment for another time.

As i was going though each of the carburetor float bowl and got to carburetors #2 and #4 I noticed some fixes put in place. The gaskets around the float bowl covers were filled with a Gray sealant or some sort of liquid make a gasket substance. This indicated that those rubber gasket were not sealing properly and the additional sealant was used. Good indicator that I need new gaskets.

The carburetors a side I went back to the bike to take a look at the emissions system and drain it. As i mentioned in the previous post I had gotten oil flowing into the air box. This is due to a problem known as "blow-by". Which is essentially the breather-separator container clogging up and filling up and allowing for free flow of oil/gas from the engine case up through to the air box.

I pulled the drain hose cap and let the contents of the breather separator flow out.

With that clean and a reminder to drain it consistently, I should be avoiding the oily mess. I will research alternative solutions to it that will not allow for such flow back. For now maintaining it will do.

So from the more detailed analysis I came to conclude that I need the following items in order to get the carburetors back on the bike and working properly.

• 4 new rubber intake manifold boots (which I have already ordered)
• 4 new float bowl gaskets
• 2 new air filters (I have these already, since the old ones are soaked with oil)

Tune in for the next part when I attempt to get the engine running once more.