Ever rebuild a carburetor?

[AlienGirl]

I took my car in, finally. It turns out the problem really *is* the carburetor.

I'm told I can buy a kit and rebuild it myself. How hard is this, and what tools do I need?

Tucker

[Gman]

1. How big is the carburetor?

Rebuilding any carburetor is not too different than working a big jigsaw puzzle. If you're rebuilding anything beyond a small one , it's worth the money to have someone else do it that's done it before. If you lose one small screw, one little spring, anything like that the whole thing is fubared.

[BigMcLargehuge]

2. I totally mangled a Webber downdraft unit

for my old Ford Fiesta...

I killed that car. A mercy killing really...

Still... Who knew a carburetor had so many parts... I had parts left over...

Bad, bad situation.

[BiggJawn]

3. It's very fussy work...

First, if you get the "kit", do NOT rely on the "instructions" that came with it. Go to the library and see if they have the Chilton's or Hayne's book (preferably Haynes)on your car. Or, the factory manual, even.

You will need screwdrivers, "Torx" wrenchs (splined socket-head screws) Allen wrenches, Pliers, needle nose pliers, a clean space to work where you can lay down a blanket or towel so when you drop the ball check valve from the accelerator pump it doesn't bounce to the floor and dissappear down the heat vent (does that sound like "been there, done that"? I have...)

Cleaning solvents. Chemtool "B-12" is the best. It will take your skin off, and eat every kind of rubber glove known to man, and make you dance around howling if you get it in your eyes, but it will cut through all the "varnish" that's causing the trouble...

Still feel up to the job? :evilgrin:

It's not that hard, but you need to be comfy with lots of parts and able to keep the sequence in your mind. Take off parts and lay them in rows until you get to the trouble, fix the trouble, and put everything back in the reverse order you took it off.

That is the Core Principal of Repair. It's the same for everything, matters not if it's a VCR pinch roller, carb, or Gall Bladder.

I've rebuilt carbs off of everything from a Briggs and Stratton lawnmower to an E4MC Quadrajet.

[sendero]

4. I rebuilt carbs...

... for a living when I was a teen, for about a year.

Of course, the workplace I used had acid vats and other stuff you will not have. But they are not essential to refurbishing the function of your carburetor, only its appearance :)

Rebuilding a carb comprises these basic steps/goals....

1) Cleaning everything very well. A carb is little more than a bunch of small passages for gas and air to go thru in a metered way. It must be clean. To make it clean, a home rebuilder would disassemble it and soak it for at least 24 hours in a suitable solvent, such as Gunk.

2) Replacing the needle and seat. The needle and seat work along with the float to maintain a certain level of gasoline in the float chamber. These will be included in any rebuild kit and must be replaced, as they wear and become unable to act as a proper valve.

3) Inspection and replacement of the float as needed. Some carbs have brass "pontoon" floats, others use a foam material. The brass floats rarely fail, but you should shake it and be sure it is "empty". Foam float bite and will eventually start taking on gas, making them heavy and hence unable to do their jobs. Any decent rebuild kit will include a replacement float if your carb uses foam.

4) Accelerator pump replacement. The accelerator pump is a small simple pump that squirts gas into your carb throat when you push on the gas pedal quickly. These wear out over time, causing your car to stutter when you put the pedal to the metal so to speak. Your rebuild kit will include a replacement.

5) After you have disassembled and soaked your carb in solvent, you reassamble it using new gaskets included in your kit. It would be nice to have compressed air to blow out all of the little passages, but it is not strictly necessary. Use all of the parts included in your kit, assemble carefully, and a small prayer would not hurt. :)

Good luck - it will be a very satisfying exercise to do this yourself!

[dweller]

5. what make of car?

year, model etc.

You will have to deal with jets (small ported holes) threaded with fine screws and gaskets that probably need replacing.
Most parts should be cleaned with a solvent and all parts exterior should be cleaned also.

hey, at least you aren't trying to repair electronic fuel injection parts/systems.

i'ts not impossible, but somewhat tedious. Depends on how you like meticulous detailed tasks.

good luck
dp

[10digits]

6. Buy a recycled unit.

And better yet have someone that knows how to install it to do the repair.
On second thought,find a repair shop that will do it cheap. I have an old Ford truck. A new carb. was $350. It is a very small carb.

Not knowing what your car is worth,you might consider a different one.

That's what I think. For what its worth.

[toddzilla]

7. yeah, a chiltons manual will help.. NOT

1. remove carburetor
2. rebuild carburetor
3. replace carburetor


chiltons' sucks..

[maveric]

8. I rebuilt one while on PCP some many years ago.

I ended up taking it into a shop a couple days later. Gas was squirting out from everywhere.

[TreasonousBastard]

9. I have...

but, as you have heard, you can really screw it up.

New carbureters are stupidly expensive, as you have probably found out and which leads you to ask this question.

There are still places around that rebuild carbureters, and your local parts shop should have some around if you can't find better deals. Checking the local yellow pages is a place to start. That's what your mechanic is going to do anyway, even though he's going to charge you for a new one.

Installing a carbureter is easier than rebuilding one, although there are a few tricks in setting the gasket properly and doing the adjustments. Most of the time it will be pretty obvious if you screwed up the installation-- gas will be spritzing out or the car won't run right, if at all. The main advantage to simply installing a rebuilt one is that there is less to screw up, and screwing up doesn't necessarily mean destroying that expensive gadget.

You will need a tachometer and directions for setting the choke, idle mixture, speed, and accelerator pump. Maybe some other stuff, too.