1994 GTX 657, check carb filters without pulling?

[ezgoin92]

I believe the answer is pretty straight forward but figured I would ask all the smart people first.... is there a way to check the carbs fuel filters without having to go through all the pain of fully pulling the carbs off the engine? Front (mag) side looks accessible but the rear carb would seem impossible to get to.

For background, last season I replaced the entire fuel delivery system, new fuel lines, new fuel filter and housing, new selector switch, cleaned out the tank and fuel pickup and rebuilt the carbs with original Makuni parts. Carbs checked out with pressures etc. and it ran like a top when I got it out on the water. I have only run ethanol free fuel since rebuilding. At one point I needed to get another 5 gallon gas can to bring down to the river and after buying a new one I had an issue after a few hrs run time where it looked like I caught some black particles in the fuel filter which actually starved it for fuel causing running issues. Cleaned the filter which looked like all or nearly all particles I could note were on the outside of the filter and not on the inner "out" to the carbs side of the filter. Next tank or two had only a few particles so I continued to diligently clean the filter. Since then I haven't really seen any particles any more. As a rule the ski runs good at idle, this season has developed a slight hesitation at initial acceleration and then runs without flaw up to top end and cruises along great. At the end of last season added marine stabil, antifreeze and fogged the engine. It only hits about 38 mph however my guess is the next project will be replacing the wear ring as I am not aware if it has ever been done and I do get some cavitation on initial acceleration.

As always thanks

 

[POPPS]

hesitations usually are carb related,,,I would cut the plug wires back 1/4 inch,,,put in new spark plugs,,,check compression,,,check that it is charging,,,and loadtest the battery,

 

[ezgoin92]

Thanks for the recommendations. Does anyone know if I pull the fuel pump of the (front/mag) carb which covers its filter to check for any debris in that filter if that would give me any problems. I wouldn't think I would have to reset or check pop off pressure etc. again??? Figure I would need to recheck alignment of throttle cable and oild pump witness line but that isn't difficult. Thanks

 

[mikidymac]

No, the filters are under the diamond cover that you can't access with the carbs installed. You should have replaced them when you rebuilt the carbs?

 

[ezgoin92]

Thanks you are correct, I did replace the filters with the ones that came with the Makuni rebuild kit. Guess out of paranoia I was thinking if there was an easy way to check them while I had the air box off that would have been ideal. Since that is not an option I'll toss the air cover back on and enjoy the ski over the 4th and try to track the hesitation gremlin another time. Last night I went through the fuel lines and selector switch to make sure they were still clear and clean. Everything looked in tip top shape all the way up to the carbs.