Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

Went into my carb to look at what position the needle clip was set at. According to the Honda repair manual I should have a choice of 5 slots for the clip. My needle only had 3 slots. 86 spree. Does this seem right?

Greetings:

Could it be the manual for a different model year? Could also be a P.O. swapped the carb somewhere along the way. All 3 of the PA carbs I've examined - all were ''87s - had 3 grooves, but Legend has it that some have 5?

Two of my 3 carbs have only 3 notches on the needle. One has 5 asnd it is a 1985

Looking at the manual in the carb section, on the page that shows the 5 notched needle, over in the lower left hand corner the is a little box labeled "AFTER '86" and it shows the 3 notched needle. So early 5 notches, late 3 notches.

Not sure if this will help. I ran into the same problem with my 85 aero. The service manual I have doesn't explain the needle slots that well. A helpful person on this site said to just use trial and error. Pick one of the slots, run the 'ped, then check your plug to see if you're running rich or lean, brown is what you want.

Buzzingbee89 wrote:Not sure if this will help. I ran into the same problem with my 85 aero. The service manual I have doesn't explain the needle slots that well. A helpful person on this site said to just use trial and error. Pick one of the slots, run the 'ped, then check your plug to see if you're running rich or lean, brown is what you want.

The needle position has nothing to do with WOT. By the time you get past 7/8th throttle the needle is clear of the jet and the jet and the jet only controls maximum fuel flow. So to check mixture for the needle you need to run the engine at about 5/8th throttle, otherwise you won't be checking the needle.

If no info is given for the needle clip always start in the middle and work from there.

I stand corrected. My mistake.