How long should a Carburetor Rebuild Last?

[simmonsmtb31]

I have a 94 Sea Ray Sea Rayder with a 90 hp Mercury and had the Carburetors rebuilt @ a "reputable" shop last May. Last week I discovered fuel leaking from the carbs and took it back to the shop. They are telling me they need to be rebuilt again. Shouldn't a rebuilt carburetor last longer than 1 year? I am not mechanical and kind of feel like I am being taken advantage of here. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[JB]

Re: How long should a Carburetor Rebuild Last?

With good care carbs can go indefinitely without major service. Carbs, like the whole outboard almost never wear out. . .they get abused to death.

 

[simmonsmtb31]

Re: How long should a Carburetor Rebuild Last?

Thanks for the reply JB. I noticed you mentioned "good care." Is there any reason they could go bad after only 1 year. I am thinking either they didn't completely rebuild them as they said they did, and charged me for, or they only rebuilt 1 and charged me for all three. Your thoughts are appreciated. Just needing some talking points before I go talk with the shop. Thanks

 

[JB]

Re: How long should a Carburetor Rebuild Last?

Rarely carb floats fail. Except for that about the only thing that goes wrong is the blockage of passages and orifices by varnish created by aging fuel.

Theoretically, the shafts of choke and throttle butterflies can wear out and begin to allow excess air introduction other than through the throat, leaning the mixture.

For the most part that would be correctible with mixture adjustments but most manufacturers have abandoned adjustible jets because too many outboards have been trashed by excess and incompetent fiddling by users.

I have used outboards as long as ten years without touching the carb(s). Only changed impellers every 2 years.

"Good care" of a carb involves being correctly linked and synched by the book annually, but mostly avoiding fuel in the carb when not in use.

 

[hkeiner]

Re: How long should a Carburetor Rebuild Last?

Last week I discovered fuel leaking from the carbs

Try to describe in more detail how and where the carbs are leaking. This may help both diagnose what the problem is, what may have caused it, and what the likely fix is. Here are some example questions:​

- Do all the carbs leak or just one?
- Do the carbs leak while the motor is running or just when squeezing the bulb with the motor off?
- Does the fuel leak from a hose connected to the carbs or from the carb throats?
- Do the carbs leak only when the motor is tilted up?​

Perhaps one of the float needles is stuck open and all you need to do is to disasseble one carb and clean out the float needle seat. This is something you could do yourself if the shop does not want to fix your carbs for free.​

 

[simmonsmtb31]

Re: How long should a Carburetor Rebuild Last?

Not sure which carb or if all three are leaking. It was pretty tough to see for sure and there is a plastic shield of some sort mounted in front of them that prevents me from seeing them completely.

The boat did sit over the winter in my garage (3months) with fuel in the carbs, but so did my lawnmower and it's not leaking.

It sounds like they should only be charging me to clean the carb thats leaking and not rebuild all of them if it's just a float thats stuck.

I wish I would have consulted you guys first. Thanks again!

 

[hkeiner]

Re: How long should a Carburetor Rebuild Last?

Remove the shield and squeeze the fuel bulb with the motor off to see where the leaks are. That should tell you a lot.

If the boat is already in the shop being worked on, then the above advice won't help you now, but perhaps will help in the future if the carbs start to leak again.

 

[j_martin]

Re: How long should a Carburetor Rebuild Last?

Carbs will run without trouble forever, or until they get some bad gas, whichever comes first.

Bad gas could be sludge from phase separation (alky fuel), chit from a deteroirating hose, varnish from sitting too long, dirt and dust, or a combination of the above.

I run non-alcohol fuel, even though it costs 20 cents more. I drain the carbs for the 9 month winter storage period. I run a fuel/water seperator/filter which I will check if i've been in some rough water, or did something foolish that might have ingested a bit of lake water into the fuel system. Other than that, I just stab it and steer.

hope it helps
John

 

[CharlieB]

Re: How long should a Carburetor Rebuild Last?

It isn't just the gas that ages, the fuel evaporates leaving behind the crusty residues but also the OIL, combined, they becomes a greasy, pasty, sometimes SOLID mass that can glue a needle and float in the open position such that the fuel continues to flood as soon as the primer or fuel pump is begun.

The best maintenance is to KEEP using your boat year round.

Fish don't hibernate, then just slow down, a lot.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: How long should a Carburetor Rebuild Last?

You still didn't answer the question? Does fuel leak only when the engine is tilted up? Does fuel leak when the engine is running? Does fuel leak only when squeezing the bulb. Does fuel leak only when squeezing the bulb AND when the engine is tilted up. Help us here. Complaining about being charged for a carb rebuild is not fair until we understand the issue. And we could care less about your lawnmower since it sits flat, never runs more than 3600 rpm has a gravity feed fuel system AND it will leak fuel if tilted.

 

[simmonsmtb31]

Re: How long should a Carburetor Rebuild Last?

Thanks for the comments.
The engine is not outboard in the Sea Ray Sea Rayder so it doesn't tilt.
I noticed the carbs leaking after I had primed the bulb and tried to start it..
I took it to the shop after that.