Should i rebuild my carburetor

People ask, why do carburetors need to be rebuilt? Or when should I rebuild my carburetor? As for how often, the soonest would be if you let a carburetor sit for a while.

Letting a carbureted motor sit for months sometimes just a few weeks! The ethanol in gas sold at most fuel station pumps absorbs moisture from the air. When a carburetor sits for a while it usually has gas left in its bowl, unless you consciously drain it.

Side Note: If you plan to store your motor for a while, you should drain the carburetor. When you try to crank the motor, the carburetor cant flow the gas properly and wont start or run well. Aside from ethanol, you never know what has gotten inside and made a nest.

OK, but your outboard is currently running but not well. What are some symptoms I might have if I need to rebuild my carburetor? One obvious symptom is rough idle. Another issue that will cause fuel to dump down the throat of the carburetor is an incorrect fuel float setting.

Your carburetor overhaul kit will include a measuring stick to verify the float setting. To correct the float settings you simply bend the metal arm between the float and the needle until you achieve the proper settings. Although problems with the seat are less common, they are still possible. The seat the needle rides in is made out of brass. We consider the needle and seat as a set designed to work together. Finally on the subject of common internal carburetor problems is a situation where you have an engine hesitation from a worn out accelerator pump.

When you move the throttle lever, the accelerator pump is driven down into a reservoir of fuel. This pushes additional gas into the throat of the carburetor. The rubber cup on the accelerator pump wears out over time and becomes inefficient at supplying this extra juice. A high quality overhaul kit will always include a new accelerator pump. Before you reassemble the three sections of the carburetor you want to make sure all the old gaskets are completely removed.

In addition, take some time to clean the old fuel varnish off of the carburetor parts. When you put the pieces back together the air horn will go on last.

On some models the spring-loaded accelerator pump will push up on the gasket preventing it from laying flat. Finally, make sure the gasket is in the right place as you set the air horn down. Here is an important tip when torquing the long screws that hold the three sections together. You want to start from the inboard screws and work your way out in a spoke pattern. This flattens the internal gaskets from the center outward. I usually lightly torque all the screws and then start again from the center to reach the final tightness.

Now we can set The mixture adjustment screws in the base plate so the engine will start and run. We call this the bench adjustment. Although certain manufacturers will have different procedures, most use a two full turns out from the stop, bench adjustment. This is when you lightly seat the mixture screw all the way in the clockwise direction and then back out that adjuster two full turns counterclockwise. I talked about the symptoms of clogged fuel filters on fuel injected automobiles in a previous article.

A fuel filter on a carburetor equipped vehicle is even more susceptible to these symptoms. Fuel injected vehicles have a working pressure from 40 to 65 psi.

A vehicle with a mechanical fuel pump will only produce about six psi of fuel pressure. This gives us less force to push gas through a clogged filter. In addition, carburetor mounted fuel filters provide less surface area of filtration when compared to a fuel injected cartridge filter. My final thought on fuel filters for carburetor equipped vehicles, is you should get into the habit of replacing them twice a year. Not only do we have less surface area and fuel pressure, but these older vehicles have had a longer time to accumulate debris in the fuel tank.

If you put these circumstances together, a carbureted automobile is much more susceptible to engine performance problems caused by a clogged filter. With two full turns out on the mixture screws as described in the bench adjustments section above the car should start and run decent after overhauling the carburetor.

Spray the cleaner into the holes that the jets, air and idle screws, float needle, and choke came from. When cleaning the jets, be sure to spray cleaner into the holes. What do you spray on a carburetor to start? Gumout Starting Fluid helps to instantly start gasoline engines.

It can be used in extreme cold or humid weather. Spray directly into carburetor, air cleaner or air intake for a few seconds then start engine. Yes it is better to use WD40 and never use ether. Of those options, acetone is your best bet. Mineral spirits, parts washer fluid and paint thinner are the same thing essentially.

The acetone will dissolve the varnish in the carb. None of those things are suitable as a carb cleaner. If they did, then gasoline would dissolve them. I have carburetor cleaner that I bought in a one gallon can that has a basket in it.