Carburetor Rebuild
If you followed the advice above, you now have fresh clean fuel available to the carburetor. Now you will need to determine whether to rebuild your existing carburetor or replace it. Many of the carburetors today can cost $100 or more and the rebuild kit price ($15.00 to $20.00) sounds attractive. One piece of advice here. A new carburetor will almost always be better then a rebuilt one! I have rebuilt carburetors that did not perform well after the rebuild, so a rebuild is not a 100% fix. It is a very economical fix in many cases when compared to a new carburetor and your free labor, plus it's kind of fun to do. Here's a list of things to think about when evaluating whether to rebuild your carburetor:
After evaluating the questions above, you will be able to make a more informed decision on whether to rebuild or replace your carburetor. Clean up is important, especially if you have a varnish problem. If you have a water corrosion problem, which looks like a white powder rust, you may want to just replace the carburetor. Carburetor cleaner will not clean water corrosion. Carburetor cleaners comes in two types. The cold emersion cleaner (dip-tank) and carb/choke spray. The dip tank is best and you can buy a one gallon can for about $15 at auto supply places. This is caustic stuff and don't put any non-metal items in it. Carb/Choke spray like Gum-Out works fine and probably best for the average homeowner. It has the added advantage of having pressure to blast the little passages. A piece of soft shipping tag wire is your next best weapon to run through the little holes. Now comes the actual rebuilding part. I would not recommend that you take the carburetor totally apart until you have the repair kit. You do need to determine if you need a new float, bowl or other parts not included in the repair kit. Most repair kits include a needle valve and all gaskets. I normally do not remove the throttle or choke shaft unless I am replacing them. If you do, be sure to lock tight or replace the screws. These can make a nice mark on your piston when they come out later. Clean all the passages good and run the tag wire through all the little holes. If in doubt on the float setting, just set it parallel with the base. Set the initial jet screws at 1-1/2 turns out and fine tune after you have it running. Many of the newer engines will not have adjustable jets or maybe only an idle jet adjustment. You are now ready to re-install everything, making sure your governor linkage works freely. Pull the rope or turn the key and listen to it prrrrrrrr. Also see Step by Step Two Stoke Carburetor Rebuild Also see Complete Engine Rebuild, Loose Valve Seats, My Engine Won't Start or Carburetor Troubleshooting Chart for more troubleshooting. Visit our Help and Tips Forum to ask any troubleshooting questions. Visit our new Repairspot FAQs Page. Back to Help and Tips If you need a repair manual for your small engine. Search at abebooks.com.
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Carburetor and fuel problems can fall into several categories
and it is important to determine what is happening before
proceeding with a rebuilt on the carburetor. If the carburetor
is leaking fuel especially while setting or just not getting
fuel, you may have a contaminated fuel problem. You should look
first at the fuel in your tank for any signs of dirt, water,
rust or varnish build up. Before you consider rebuilding or
replacing the carburetor you must have good clean fuel flow to
it. When possible install the proper fuel filter for your
application. Non-fuel pump engines use a different filter then
fuel pump engines in most cases. It does no good to clean a
carburetor and put contaminated or old fuel back into it. In
some cases a rusty or badly varnished fuel tank will need to be
replaced. Read my article on 
