ahhhhh

[Honda10]

Thsi 400ex carb is making me so mad, I know I may sound like an idiot but just give me some logically anwers. Ok well I got my k&n and outer wears and things and am getting an HMF. SO I go to start jetting the carb, all the screws start striping. I finally get the top plate off on the carb and I get to taking the needle out, those two dang screws down there are soft too, I start turning the one and it starts stripping so I don't go any futher. Then I decide to just take the carb off but the frickin carb clamp bolt won't budge either and starts stripping. Then I try and take the three bolts off that mount the carb to the engine, well I get two off them off and the last one you can't fit a socket nor a regular wrench. All in all I give up till tommorow morning, I am mad and afraid to futher strip all the screws. Any suggestions on how to get the carb off or get the two screws off to the needle?

[buster024]

Patience young Jedi. You are undoubtedly using the wrong size philllips. Take your time, and try different phillips heads, push hard on the screws, and turn slowly. Put your whole shoulder weight behind the screwdriver, and turn slow. If it starts to strip, immediately stop, and try a different head.
There's no secret, just patience.

[blankenship]

you can rent this tool from most tool rental store napa does it here it has a head where u can insert screw driver bits and then u hit it with a hammer and when u hit it it turns the bit left or right its called a inpact driver they are handy when dealing with bolts that are a pian in the ***

[Honda10]

I did try just about every size philips there is and I pushed as hard as I could, I guess it was beacause I am doing it at 10 oclock at night and I don't have a clear mind, But that tool sounds pretty cool, I will ahve to check it out.

Thank You

[alberto]

I cant tell you how many screws I have either broken the heads off or stripped on my Hondas. First thing I would do if I were you is go to your local honda dealer parts departmant and get some replacement screws they are fairly inexpensive. Rent the impact driver, buy an extractor kit, take your time, and most importantly have FUN. GOOD LUCK BRO!!!!!!!!!

[rcatvrider]

I replaced the clamps on the carb with hex head ones so they are much harder to strip and you don't have to worry about applying so much pressure. The first time I took my carb off it was a nightmare getting all of the screws out. Taking the carb apart, I ended up using vice grips because I didn't want to strip the screws.

[400ftm]

Once you get the carb off you can also just lightly tap the screw driver onto the screw. That will seat the screwdiver and the vibration sometimes loosens anything on the threads.

[Honda10]

I think once I get all those soft screws out I an going to replace them with stronger screws, thanks for the advice.

[Bridgewater]

i had the same exact problem man i mean these honda screws and bolts strip soo easy.
with my carb i only stripped one but i just took a "clamp wrench" (not sure on exact name) and a regular wrench, put the clamp over the end of the screw head and used the other wrench to hold the clamp as tight as i could and turned left lol.

just 1 or 2 small turns and the screw came right out.
what a pain for such a small carb bowl screw :rolleyes:

[Honda10]

yea, well I got all the carb screws and replaced them with strong allen key screws. The ones I didn't touch were the ones inside the throttle slide that hold the needle, one is already starting to strip. How did you get those out?

[alberto]

becareful removin those screws. I striped those also. They were a bit** to remove. I had to buy a long screwdriver because all the ones I was using werent giving me the leverage and I kept striping the heads. TAKE YOUR TIME!!!!!!!! Worse case take the carb into your local dealer and have them remove the screws. I ended up having to do that and the guys at the shop were pretty cool about taking it apart and even gave me some replacement screws for free.

I wonder if this is widespread with HONDA screws?

[Honda10]

ok thnks for the advice man, since I don't have an adjustable needle in my carb I have to shim the needle, any of you guys know how much I should shim the needle for the mods in my signature. I have a 158 main and 40 pilot and have not checked the plug yet. Do I even need to change the needle position?

[Bridgewater]

Originally posted by Honda10
yea, well I got all the carb screws and replaced them with strong allen key screws. The ones I didn't touch were the ones inside the throttle slide that hold the needle, one is already starting to strip. How did you get those out?

dang bro idk on that one, those didnt strip on mine just the 4 main bolts when taking the main cover off.
hope u find a good safe way to get them out.
good luck bro

[Bridgewater]

Originally posted by alberto


I wonder if this is widespread with HONDA screws?

yes i believe it is, all the screws and hex bolts on these bikes seem to be very soft, well atleast on my model year (2007)

[alberto]

I guess thats where HONDA thought they could save $$$$.

[tx07400ex]

when i jetted my carb i didnt have a problem with screws stripping but the main jet snapped in half within 1/4 turn had to ease it out with a center punch

[rcatvrider]

Most people change the needle position one step and each step i would say is a bit under 1/16" so shim it about that much.

[Honda10]

but I can only shim it one way, what If I need to make the needle lower?

Anything with the shocks or carb you cant pin on Honda because it isnt made by them but yes a lot of screw the hex head in particular are a PITA and are soft. i hate any hex head bolt, I love flat head or regular bolt because its hard to strip the head on those. The reason for the engine bolts being soft is so that when they strip they wont pull out the threads in the motor making things much harder than just drilling out. As for Keihin and their car screw they use screws so soft you have to be so patient and if it slips once start looking for another way to get the crew out if you cant cut a slot to make it flathead. I dremeled out a few of my carb screws a while back and replaced them with stainless bolts