I'm sitting here going thru the re-assembly of the carburetor in my service manual. When re-installing the heater it says to make sure to use a special tool called a "heat sinker" to install it. I'm pretty sure I can get away with using a wrench but curiosity got the best of me so I went looking for this Heat Sinker just to see what one looked like. I tried Google, I looked on eBay to see if maybe somebody might be selling theirs but I found nothing. Does anybody know what one of these things looks like?

thatjeepguy wrote:
I'm sitting here going thru the re-assembly of the carburetor in my service manual. When re-installing the heater it says to make sure to use a special tool called a "heat sinker" to install it. I'm pretty sure I can get away with using a wrench but curiosity got the best of me so I went looking for this Heat Sinker just to see what one looked like. I tried Google, I looked on eBay to see if maybe somebody might be selling theirs but I found nothing. Does anybody know what one of these things looks like?Would not be the first time a misprint or typo showed up in manuals.

NO, I don't think it's a misprint. I have heard this term used before. I'll call my old man tomorrow and find out.

We used to laugh at some of the translations in the service manuals for business machines I worked on that were manufactured in Japan.

About 40 years ago we were scrapping out a large piece of optical equipment and found a little electrical motor in there labeled The Gofuku Motor Company - Tokyo Japan.

My first service manager had a warped sense of humor and kept it in his desk drawer a bunch of years until he retired.

thatjeepguy wrote:
I'm sitting here going thru the re-assembly of the carburetor in my service manual. When re-installing the heater it says to make sure to use a special tool called a "heat sinker" to install it. I'm pretty sure I can get away with using a wrench but curiosity got the best of me so I went looking for this Heat Sinker just to see what one looked like. I tried Google, I looked on eBay to see if maybe somebody might be selling theirs but I found nothing. Does anybody know what one of these things looks like?

Jap translation, Don,t forget the heat sink.

I'm sure that it isn't no more than a wrench or socket with a special bend, or protective end to avoid damage to the heater during installation or something of sort to fit the heater that only Mikuni sells. A wrench or socket works well just have to work around the spade connector.

For what it's worth...

In the real world, using heat sink could be a material or tool.

A heat sink is a piece of metal, usually aluminum, to help radiate heat from a component to add in cooling. If anyone remembers the big fins from their car radios there were big heat sinks on the backs for the power transistors. Now more commonly seen on computer's CPU.





Not sure the context in the Yamaha manual, but when you used a heat sink, you also used heat sink compound. A material put between the part getting hot and the other piece to ensure surface area contact and to aid in transferring heat. Maybe Yamaha wants the compound to help the carb heater heat the carb?


As for a tool, when soldering you may put a temporary heat sink on an item you are soldering. If you have tiny part that is being soldered but is sensitive to heat, you would clamp something on the main component (sometimes a vice grip..) to carry heat away as you soldered the terminals.

Not sure, but when soldering electronics I use heat sinks like these:

They are actually talking about "heat sink COMPOUND"

it's a thickish paste (usually white, but I have seen clear.) It's commonly used in electronics (Computer processors probably the most well known.)

They want you to smear the compound around the screw threads and mating surface to provide a better heat conducting area connected to the carb.

Carb's are rough surface pot-metal and the compound fills in the tiny imperfections to create a better flowing heat path.

You can usually find it in tubes or small packages at auto parts stores. Many of a cars parts need it ( Distributor ignition modules, some MAP sensors...)