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2002 50 hp Carb Cleaning

captb

Contributing Member
"I'd like to give the three carbs a good cleaning on my '02. i've done this plenty of times on older motors but, i've heard these are more complicated.

my question is, can i just take 'em off, soak 'em and hose 'em and put them back on? the mechanic told me something about a vacuum gauge?

any help and direction is greatly appreciated.

thanks, brandon"
 
"First, I recommend you purcha

"First, I recommend you purchase a Honda workshop manual, It will give you step by step instructions of how to take them apart.

Honda recommends cleaning them in an ultrasonic cleaner. If you soak them in a caustic bath, it may remove the outside coating on the carburators.

If you do not have access to an ultrasonic cleaner, use something non caustic like brake cleaner to flush each passage.

The vacuum gauge comes into play when everything is back together and you are making adjustments to the idle and idle mixture. It is a set of three gauges that you use to vacuum balance the carburators. It ideally should be done with the boat in the water.

The good news is, the 2003 has less vacuum and starting circuit hoses on it, so things are pretty straight forward.

After you have them apart, use a magnifing glass to check for minute cracks in the idle jets (it is the long skinny tube that goes up through each carburator).

It is not a perfect world...so if you do not have the gauges...clean unbalanced carburators are better than dirty unbalanced carburators.

One thing to think about though, a rough idle can be caused simply by unbalanced carburators."
 
"i have the shop manual and so

"i have the shop manual and some brake cleaner. the "vacuum balancing" is what scares me.

i've the 3 gauge rig that's used, but don't have one or know how to use the one i'm sure i could borrow.

maybe this is better job for a honda tech?!

thanks for the information. Brandon"
 
go for it
balancing the carb


go for it
balancing the carbs isn't that hard
I borrowed a set made for balancing bike carbs and made out fine.
 
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