Carb Cleaning

[CincyKarter]

Hey All:

I have a Predator 212 Honda clone on my son's kart. It's been sitting since the fall of last year when he got a flat. We just got new tires and tubes installed last weekend, topped off the fuel and fired her up. Runs great at WOT, but it won't idle. Starts on the first pull with choke on, flip off the choke and if you don't give it a little gas at the same time it stalls. We ran it up and down the road for 5 or 10 minutes to see if we could "blow out the cobwebs" but it still won't idle.

I dropped the bowl, and pulled out the jet and tube. They were a tad bit "green" - I assume from E10 fuel they use in Ohio, and the float had some flakes of ethanol gunk on it, but I didn't see anything that was clogged up. I pulled the plastic plug out from under the throttle stop screw and made sure that was clean.

What else am I missing? We re-assembled and it's still doing the same thing. Should I hit it with some carb/choke cleaner? Will that stuff damage the little carb on these engines?

Thanks,

-- Mike

 

[ezcome-ezgo]

Pull the carb off and blow out EVERY orifice with carb cleaner (wear eye protection). Parts that do not come clean (the bowl for example) boil in lemon juice. Drain the gas tank, pull it off and rinse it out. Pull off the petcock and clean the screens and interior with the carb cleaner.

 

[Hellion]

Interesting bit on boiling in lemon juice--what does it do?

 

[Poboy kartman]

Interesting bit on boiling in lemon juice--what does it do?

Basically the same thing as soaking in Berrymans Chemtool carb cleaner overnight!

 

[landuse]

Poke out all the holes in the carb. Carb cleaner sometimes doesn't dislodge dirt particles

 

[chancer]

My uncle in Ohio had a similar problem with a snowblower (whatever that is) but he swears by "seafoam" another over the counter carb cleaner. I guess that machine sat all spring summer and fall. and had similar issues to yours.

 

[Poboy kartman]

Round hear....see foam means your critter done got sum rabiees....and you best run fer ya life!

Yeah...Seafoam is some pretty good stuff.

 

[Hellion]

Some years ago, I read that one should use a straw from an old fashioned broom (no wire!) to clean the carburetor jet as wire would damage it. Also use plenty of Gumout. I did this on a Briggs powered lawn tractor. Seemed to do the trick.

What I would like to do is get away from using corn squeezin's (ethanol) in my kart gasoline as it just introduces too much water into the engine which eventually gums things up. There is pure 100% gasoline out there, you just have to hunt for it.

 

[chancer]

What I would like to do is get away from using corn squeezin's (ethanol) in my kart gasoline as it just introduces too much water into the engine which eventually gums things up. There is pure 100% gasoline out there, you just have to hunt for it.

Worth a little Googling. there is an easy way to use water to separate the Corn piss from pump gas.

 

[CincyKarter]

Thanks for all the replies. I pulled off the carb to do a little closer inspection. I had some thin gauge single core copper wire, stripped the insulation, and ran it thru a few of the ports next to the butteryfly. On the back side of the carb there are 3 or 4 tiny, tiny holes and from my youtube search, these control the airflow for idle. I sprayed carb cleaner down those passages along with a careful probe with the wire to make sure anything causing blockage was dislodged. Problem solved, she idles like new now. Thanks for all the help!

 

[landuse]

Some years ago, I read that one should use a straw from an old fashioned broom (no wire!) to clean the carburetor jet as wire would damage it. Also use plenty of Gumout. I did this on a Briggs powered lawn tractor. Seemed to do the trick.

What I would like to do is get away from using corn squeezin's (ethanol) in my kart gasoline as it just introduces too much water into the engine which eventually gums things up. There is pure 100% gasoline out there, you just have to hunt for it.

Copper threads from a wire wheel, or twist tie wire are softer than carbs, so they will not scratch or damage the carb . Guitar wire is also good.