Soaking carb question

film842

Petty Officer 3rd Class
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Mar 6, 2010
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98
2009 Nissan 9.8 not starting after sitting too long. Pulled the carburetor and partially disassembled and soaked in cleaner for an hour, then rinsed in water and blew out with canned air. Now engine will start with choke and runs only with the use of the choke. It once attained an idle without the choke, but died after about 30 seconds. Gas is new.

So I'll pull it and try again. My specific question is how far should I go in disassembling the carb before soaking? Should I be removing every screw I can find?

And what about the plastic and rubber parts such as those on the linkage...are they ok to go in the soak also or do they have to be removed? Thanks for any advice.
 

TOHATSU GURU

Admiral
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Jul 22, 2004
Messages
6,164
Re: Soaking carb question

Anything that can be removed needs to come out. Any plastic part that cannot be removed stays on. There shouldn't;t be any rubber parts left at that point. Minimum soak is three hours.
 

pvanv

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Apr 20, 2008
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6,570
Re: Soaking carb question

In our shop, we soak for 4 hours (after complete disassembly, including jets and emulsion tube nozzle), in summer temps (longer if colder). Then we use generic carb spray to blow out all passages.
 

Chopperbill

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Mar 26, 2014
Messages
389
Re: Soaking carb question

I have a set welding tip cleaners that I purchased from Harbor Fieight. The are great for cleaning out those tiny holes and passages ways. Good call on using canned air instead of a high pressure compressor.
 

film842

Petty Officer 3rd Class
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Mar 6, 2010
Messages
98
Re: Soaking carb question

Thanks guys for the responses. I'm going to pull the carb again this afternoon and I'll strip it down further than I did before plus pull all the rubber and plastic that I can and then give it the full four hour soak. The carb soak I have says to rinse with water and to be sure not to soak anything aluminum longer than four hours.

Then, back on the engine and I'll post the results.
 

film842

Petty Officer 3rd Class
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Mar 6, 2010
Messages
98
Re: Soaking carb question

Success! Did just what I said I would do in the previous post and bingo. She started right up and went right to idle after a brief warm up. So now I know a little more about my engine.

The one thing I have not figured out though is whether or not I should let it run dry after each use? Fuel wise I use premium gas with an appropriate amount of seafoam added-every now and then.

Anybody have an opinion?
 

pvanv

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Apr 20, 2008
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6,570
Re: Soaking carb question

If you KNOW that you will be running again tomorrow, it's OK to leave the carb wet. If you leave it wet, and let it evaporate for a week or 2, you may get varnishing. I ALWAYS run all of mine dry.
 

Sea Rider

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Sep 20, 2008
Messages
12,345
Re: Soaking carb question

If it's a 2 stroke run bowl dry after each outing and while flushing, just remove engine connector and let engine die. You'll never know when will be your next outting as that doesn't depend on you but rather the circumstances.

Happy Boating
 
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