what Carb cleaner?

[kanz]

Guys I want to clean out my carbs on my 86 Mercury 45hp. What is the best product to use for this. Should I soak the carburators or spray them with the air? Thanks

Jimmy

 

[mickjetblue]

Re: what Carb cleaner?

If the motor is running, I'd try Sea Foam in the gas tank first.
Add it, run it awhile, let it sit a couple of days, run it awhile,
let it sit a couple of days, run it awhile, then reassess.
Works wonders.

 

[SJ~brett]

Re: what Carb cleaner?

pull the diaphram(s) out, spray the carbs with any carb cleaner, and make sure the jets are clear and you should be good

 

[kevincoe]

Re: what Carb cleaner?

Sea foam helped my carbs tremendously. Great product.

 

[kanz]

Re: what Carb cleaner?

I have a hard time starting the engine and when it does fire it wont idle. I have to give it a little throttle to keep it running.

 

[Laddies]

Re: what Carb cleaner?

Have you had the idle mixtures adjusted yet? If the carbs are really dirty clean them and then you don't have to worry about the next ride but if you want to try to run something through them in the fuel, goto a autoparts store and buy some carb and fuel injecter cleaner to mix in the fuel.

 

[kanz]

Re: what Carb cleaner?

Ok I took off the Carbs today and they had a little varnish in the bowls. I couldnt get the wrist pin out to take off the float bowl. Are there any tricks to this? the inside of the carbs look clean but you never know. Thanks for all your help guys.


Jimmy

 

[kevincoe]

Re: what Carb cleaner?

Jimmy, look up Sea Foam on the internet. They also make a product called Deep Creep. Now that u took it all apart I believe this stuff would be a good cleaner. They give u some info on how to use also.

 

[kanz]

Re: what Carb cleaner?

I just read up a bunch about the sea foam products. Do they really work that good?

 

[kevincoe]

Re: what Carb cleaner?

Jimmy, after reading about this product several times on this site, I went to a Napa auto parts store. I asked for the product and the gentlemen behind the counter had nothing but great things to say about it. His quote " one of the few cleaners I have that actually do something!" I bought three bottles for my sixty five gallon tank. When i first started it up, their was lots of smoke. Started, let sit. Started let sit. On and off for several hours. Now I see a lot less smoke. Actually sounds like it changed the sound of my motor.(or maybe I'm just hearing things!) Anyone else have these results? I guess they've been around so long for a reason.

 

[kanz]

Re: what Carb cleaner?

I just purchased some of the deep creep. Here I am saying the carbs looked pretty clean. NOT. There was a lot of junk coming out of them when I started spraying the deep Creep . The carbs look brand new. Thank you for all your help.

Jimmy

 

[kevincoe]

Re: what Carb cleaner?

Jimmy, let me know if it idles any better or if its something else. Good luck!

 

[kanz]

Re: what Carb cleaner?

Ok guys i cleaned the carbs and re-installed them. I still have a tough time getting the engine started. someone told me its typical of older mercs. But when the motor does fire it idles smooth and has alot more power. Thank you for all your help guys. I appreciate it very much.


Jimmy

 

[ufm82]

Re: what Carb cleaner?

Older Mercs are indeed cold-blooded IMHO. As far as the Sea Foam treatment goes I'll vouch for it myself as I saw firsthand what it did for a tired 70hp Johnson a few years ago, This engine literally was ready to be retired by the owner as it was so cantankerous that it was a royal PITA to run. Sputtering, stalling, poor power, etc. I convinved the guy to do the decarbon process described by someone in the past and it was amazing. The engine literally smoked like an oil fire at first. The owner thought something was wrong it was so bad. However, we ran part of the tank of SeaFoam/Fuel mix and then let it sit per the instructions. When we fired her back up after the soak and then ran a full tank of fuel through the engine on the water, you'd have sworn someone replaced the engine. Smoother starts, good idle and you could even troll with it somewhat. And it picked up 12 (Yes, 12) mph on the boat's speedo. It put the 17' boat fully on plane with power to spare versus barely getting it there and having trouble keeping it there. The owner paid me $100 to do the work which included a tune-up as well but he was ready to dump the enginr prior to that! Saved him a bunch of cash and got him back on the water. $7 can of SeaFoam. I use it to this day in my 150 Merc.

UFM82

 

[Scaaty]

Re: what Carb cleaner?

Ok I took off the Carbs today and they had a little varnish in the bowls. I couldnt get the wrist pin out to take off the float bowl. Are there any tricks to this? the inside of the carbs look clean but you never know. Thanks for all your help guys.


Jimmy

Take a small punch, and GENTLY tap out too one side the brass float pin. Do NOT bust one of the "lugs" off..go easy.
Then pull it out with Needlenose pliers.
Suggest a new float needle at least.
Then spray the crap out the main jet with carb cleaner.
Spray the carb at any openings with a spray can carb cleaner.
A new float needle HIGHLY suggested...

 

[kanz]

Re: what Carb cleaner?

I am definitly a big believer in sea foam.