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Looking for carburetor cleaning advice

SkiWhiz

Elite Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2006
Messages
8,601
Location
upstate New York
I sold my scooter to a friend and about a month later they asked me if I would buy it back because the person that bought it was afraid that her husband was going to hurt himself with it ( he lost alot of strength in his left leg). Anyways I bought it back and it never ran right, I never had an issue with it before. I took the carburetor apart and it looks like there is a white color substance in there that feels like grease. If I was to guess I think they put gas into the scooter from a container that had some kind of gunk in it. What can I use to clean the carb. fuel line, etc. that is safe to use on rubber/o rings, etc. Thank you.
 
Sounds like a little oil and water mixture. A spray can of carb cleaner should do the trick. Take it apart, spray into the orifices , then blow out with air, re-install. Change out the fuel lines, that should be a cheap fix. As long as you don't let the O-rings and gaskets soak in the cleaner, you should be ok. Put some Seafoam in with fresh gas , and hit the road. Maybe throw in a new plug as well. This would just be my plan of attack. Good luck.
 
X2 on seafoam. pull the jets out and make sure they are clean. Carb cleaner on everything else. Small carbs don't like modern gas. I use Stabil 360 on anything that will be sitting more than a couple of weeks.
 
Clean it out best you can and blow with air if you have an air compressor.I've done many carbs on cars,outboard motors etc.
 
Drain all the fuel and flush the tank, sounds like it may have been sugared. You can buy a gallon can of carb cleaner that comes with a parts basket inside from NAPA, and sure others carry it as well.
 
What ever you do be VERY careful when shooting carb cleaner in to the small jets and orifices, it stings like all heck when you get it in your eyes!
 
That whitish gel like substance is a byproduct of ethanol. When it sits for long periods of time it separates. It is recommended that with seasonal equipment you fill the tank with a good high test fuel before storing. Let it run for several minutes after filling so the high test fuel is distributed throughout the fuel system. I live in NY and own 8 motorcycles and various other equipment and do this every season and have 0 issues.
To test this for yourself just fill a glass jar half full of the ethanol laced gas and let it sit for a month and see what it looks like.
 
+1 on the ethanol. For winter storage I drain the gas and run the mower, trimmer and tiller until they stop to insure there is no gas in the lines or carbs. I do the same thing to the snow blower with it's gas/oil mix. Around here it's hard to find gas that doesn't contain 15% ethanol.
 
That whitish gel like substance is a byproduct of ethanol. When it sits for long periods of time it separates. It is recommended that with seasonal equipment you fill the tank with a good high test fuel before storing. Let it run for several minutes after filling so the high test fuel is distributed throughout the fuel system. I live in NY and own 8 motorcycles and various other equipment and do this every season and have 0 issues.
To test this for yourself just fill a glass jar half full of the ethanol laced gas and let it sit for a month and see what it looks like.

Yep, ethanol is bad for carbs. If you can, always use non-ethanol gas. It costs a little more, but worth it. Plus I always use stabil gas preservative in my mowers and my DR650 motorcycle...never had any problems with starting once I began using it. Also, like Chopper says above, if it's an engine that may not get used much or sits for long intervals, fill the tank all the way up. Less air in the tank means less moisture in the tank which means less condensation, which means less water in the gas.
 
So it's better to store with a full tank with stabil instead of an empty tank? I've always emptied the tank like my dad always did.
 
So it's better to store with a full tank with stabil instead of an empty tank? I've always emptied the tank like my dad always did.

Empty tank is best, a tank full of nothing can't absorb moisture. But.. any moisture in an "empty" tank might cause problems of a different sort. I've always emptied my tanks as well. I'm the kind of person who might put something away for the season, and get back to it too many seasons later - as in years... ..
 
What ever you do be VERY careful when shooting carb cleaner in to the small jets and orifices, it stings like all heck when you get it in your eyes!

So does brake cleaner! It sure loves to shoot back 180 degrees, doesn't it?! If I don't have glasses handy, I close my eyes. It can burn your eyelids a little, but not nearly as uncomfortable as eyeballs.
 
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