YF carburetor questions

Hello folks

It is winter here in Canada and I dont ride my jeep, but I want to take advantage of this time to work as much as I can on it during the winter, so in a couple of months it will be ready to go.

I'm quite new at all of this, so here is my question. If I want to take the carburetor of the engine and bring it in the house to clean it (by cleaning, I mean dismantle it, clean all the parts and re-assemble it.)
In order to do so, do I need a ``carburetor kit``, or can I simply unbolt-it and re-bolt it later ???


And also, is there a risk that I might break something ??

As i said , I'm new at all of this, and i preffer to ask before making something stupid.


Thanks for your help

Bob in Sherbrooke, province of Québec

 

Hi Bob - this sounds to me like a good idea.

You need to consider your plan, including solvents and new parts.

If you take the carburetor apart, you have to put it back together the same way. You also have to be prepared to adjust it after you reinstall it. Carburetor work is fairly easy, IF you put everything back the way it came apart. You need a clean work surface, containers for the little parts, good instructions, and careful observations.

Don't bother to dissasemble and clean unless you renew the gaskets and soft parts. These parts will come in a carburetor kit. There's a good possibility that, if you reuse the old gaskets, the carburetor will leak when you put it back together. Plus, some soft parts will not suffer disassembly well, and may not function once you reuse them. Used carburetor parts are for field repairs only - for a bench job, you must use a new rebuild kit.

Regarding cleaning, you can use spray-on cleaners or dip. The dip is more effective, but may not be available in your area due to environmental concerns. All these cleaners make strong fumes, and should only be used indoors with lots of ventilation. If you must use spray-on cleaner, I've found the Berryman's cleaner to work better than any of the others I've tried.

Sure there's a risk - but it's not hard, and if you're careful you can handle it.

 

In a word, Yes. Yes you can do all of the above in your house. A few recommendations are in order first though. You said you have never done this before, so I'll make these kind of general. You could take it apart and put it all back together without needing any new parts, but this isn't likely. If it were me and I needed to take it apart I would get a kit so that I could replace anything I needed to right then and not have to wait. Waiting makes your memory of how things go back together fade and that can be bad. There are several gaskets, accelerator pump parts, needle and seat valve, several small checkballs, and several other parts that you need to do a proper rebuild. If you don't have them when you get it apart, you'll have to go get them and that may take a few days if nobody has it locally. (likely) If you have never done this, get a good manual that has pictures and diagrams to help you along. A good kit will come with a parts diagram, but they are lacking in some detail sometimes. The YF is a simple carb, but there are a couple of different float adjustments to make it right, and if youve not done it before they can be tricky/confusing. Not to mention accelerator pump adjustment, fast idle adjustment, etc. Be sure and drain all the gas out of it before you take it inside and have a clean place to work with good light. This place should be free from kids or others who like to play with stuff. If you can, take pics of the linkage so you know how it goes back together. I would also recommend you get a good can or two of carburetor cleaner with a good spray nozzle. you'll need this to blow out any small passages that are clogged up and these can always cause trouble and running problems. Lastly, go slow, and enjoy what you are doing. If you have any problems come back and ask. You'll probably need a large straight screwdriver, a small straight screwdriver, a phillips head screwdriver, needlenose pliers, and a pair of tweezers. I like the last one for picking up small parts. A gasket scraper might be useful too, but that is up to you.
Good luck