I cleaned my carb, now it won't start...

geoffmumley · Post by **geoffmumley** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 9:01 pm

86 Honda Spree. I just cleaned my carb - followed the directions from this awesome forum. Took it off, took it apart, cleaned it, put it back together, put it back on. Now it won't start.

Things I should check? Things I may have missed? Common mistakes made when cleaning a carb? Parts that often need replacing when you clean the carb? What do I do?

It's killin' me not to be able to ride.

dr.ona · Post by **dr.ona** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:00 pm

Did you install the fuel lines correct? Also...I would make sure you have fuel in the carb by opening the fuel drain screw and kick it over a couple times to make sure you have plenty of fuel in the carb bowl....

R

justinnielsen01 · Post by **justinnielsen01** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:26 pm

get a gasket kit

PimpinSpree · Post by **PimpinSpree** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 12:18 am

you could have you fuel/vaccuum lines backwards
you could have got carb cleaner on your gaskets and blew them apart
you could have gotten carb cleaner on your float needles rubber tip
you could have your ajdustment screws too tight/too loose
um...... maybe you choke (bystarter i think its called) could be screwed up
hmmmm....... over oiled your air filter

try taking your air filter out and spraying a little carb cleaner where it goes for some starting fluid and see if it fires

jstone · Post by **jstone** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 1:08 am

Getting carb cleaner on the rubber tip won't matter. I let mine soak in carb cleaner and it was fine.

PimpinSpree · Post by **PimpinSpree** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 9:01 am

i have too and it was fine. i have also soaked it in a different brand of carb cleaner and it ate the tip right off

GIJoeBob · Post by **GIJoeBob** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 9:45 am

PimpinSpree wrote:i have too and it was fine. i have also soaked it in a different brand of carb cleaner and it ate the tip right off

The spray cleaners are fine in my experience. However, the "dip" style carb cleaners will eat anything made of plastic or rubber.

geoffmumley · Post by **geoffmumley** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 3:28 pm

yeah, I sprayed it with carb cleaner - but I sprayed some of it in a plastic bowl and let all the pieces soak.

geoffmumley · Post by **geoffmumley** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 3:32 pm

Pimpin Spree:

Are the vacuum line and fuel line both rubber hoses with red meshed casing? I have two coming off my carb - how do I tell the difference?

Also - I don't know anything about adjustment screws, and their tightness/looseness? Which ones are the adjustment screws? And how do I know how tight/loose to make them?

Thanks.

vanbry · Post by **vanbry** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 3:58 pm

geoffmumley wrote:Pimpin Spree:

Are the vacuum line and fuel line both rubber hoses with red meshed casing? I have two coming off my carb - how do I tell the difference?

Also - I don't know anything about adjustment screws, and their tightness/looseness? Which ones are the adjustment screws? And how do I know how tight/loose to make them?

Thanks.

The fuel hose is bigger around than the vacuum hose.

geoffmumley · Post by **geoffmumley** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 5:38 pm

and where do they attach on the carb?

PimpinSpree · Post by **PimpinSpree** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 10:07 pm

coming off the petcock the one on top is the fuel line, and bottom is vacuum. On the carb, the fuel line goes on top, towards where fresh air comes in, next to the throttle cable. The vacuum is on bottom next to the oil injector

i'll see if i can search for the screw adjustments. The one with the spring on it is the idle. You'll set that one after you get it started. The middle one is the idle air/fuel mixture screw. The bottom one is the float bowl drain. Just keep that one tight

As for the air/fuel mixture screw (only at an idle) I can't recall the amount, But what your gonna do is tighten it all the way, and then loosen it somthing like 1 1/2 turns. I'll see if i can find it for ya in a search

geoffmumley · Post by **geoffmumley** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 9:39 pm

Pimpin Spree - you got a phone number I can call this Sunday? I'm gonna replace the gaskets on my carb, and put it all back together again. But if it doesn't start I'd love to have a live voice to coach me through what to look for rather than waiting on the forum.

Is that alright with you?

PimpinSpree · Post by **PimpinSpree** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 9:28 pm

naw man, im usually pretty busy except when im bored on the internet. and im not really a great mechanic, ive just been messing with my spree for a few years

if you can't get it started, first find out if you have spark. Take out your spark plug, leave it hooked up, and push it against your aluminum head, turn it over and you should see spark

Next find out if your getting fuel, poor a little bit of gas down the spark plug hole into the cylinder.

geoffmumley · Post by **geoffmumley** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 5:18 pm

Where's the spark plug at?