After your snowmobile has been sitting around for long periods without use, a dirty or clogged up carburetor is not uncommon. This can negatively affect performance, and can cause your snowmobile to run rough, idle poorly, bog down, or not run at all. With a little patience and some elbow grease you can clean and remove all the carbon deposits from the carburetor and return your snowmobile to its original working condition.
To properly clean and restore the carburetor to its original condition, we will first need to remove it from the snowmobile and then take it apart to clean it. Here is everything that you will need to clean the carburetor of your snowmobile.
- 10mm box wrench to remove throttle and choke cables from your carburetor.
- A basic screwdriver set to disassemble the carburetor.
- Needle nose pliers to loosen and remove jets.
- Carburetor cleaner fluid.
- Carburetor cleaning kit with brushes and needles.
- An old bowl to collect all the waste and carburetor cleaner fluid.
- An old rug or plastic sheet to protect your work surface.
- Paper towels to absorb any spills or leaks.
Step 1: Removing the carburetors from your snowmobile.
In many snowmobiles, you need to remove the belt cover and the airbox to reach the carburetors. One end of the carburetor is connected to the airbox, and the other is connected to the engine. There are rubber boots on both ends.
Follow these 4 simple steps below to remove the carburetor from your snowmobile:
1.1: Turn off the fuel.
Turn off the fuel by rotating the fuel knob to the off position. Usually, the knob in perpendicular position (to the fuel hose) means the knob is closed and fuel will not come out.
1.2: Remove rubber boots.
Take a screwdriver and unscrew the clamps on the rubber boots connected to the carburetor.
1.3: Remove fuel hose clamp and fuel hose.
There is a clamp on the fuel hose. Make sure you remove that clamp with pliers, so you do not damage or bend it. You can use needle-nose pliers if regular pliers are hard to reach the clamp.
Note: When you pull out the fuel hose, some gas will drip down. You can put a paper towel below the carburetor before removing the fuel hose to prevent it dripping on your snowmobile.
1.4: Remove throttle and clutch wires.
Now you will need a 10mm box wrench to the loosen and remove the nuts of the throttle and clutch wires. Unscrew them completely. Now disconnect the fuel line, slide the throttle and clutch wires, and pull out the carburetor.
Due to different snowmobile designs and parts placement, removing the carburetor might vary a little bit, but overall, it is going to be very similar. Depending on your snowmobile, there may be one, two or three carburetors to remove and clean.
Step 2: Disassembling and preparing the carburetors for cleaning.
For disassembling the carburetor, you will need to choose the right screwdriver bit. A correct size screwdriver bit will not only make the job easy but also prevent the screws from getting damaged.
2.1: Remove bottom bowl of the carburetor.
Unscrew these screws, and the bottom bowl of the carburetor will come out.
There is a gasket between the bottom bowl and the carburetor. If this gasket is damaged, then you will need to replace it with a correct size one, so fuel does not leak in or out.
2.2: Remove the float.
Floats are like two black balls (or cylinders) made out of plastic, and the jets look like brass screws with tiny holes in them.
These floats are connected to a float lever through a pin. You will need to slide out the locking-pin, and the floats will come out.
2.3: Remove the jets.
Removing the jets is easy, and you will need needle-nose pliers to unscrew them. Be gentle when removing the jets as they are made out of brass and can deform if you are not careful with your pliers.
Tip: You can wrap needle-nose pliers with masking tape to prevent any scuffs or scratches.
2.4: Remove the throttle assembly.
Start removing the throttle mechanism at the top by unscrewing it. The whole assembly will slide out.
2.5: Remove the adjustment screws.
For adjusting your carburetor after cleaning it, remember how many turns you made to unscrew the adjustment screws. it will help you keep the adjustment of these screws when reassembling.
Now remove these two adjustment screws and count the turns for each screw. You can also write this number of turns on your phone or a notepad.
Step 3: Clean the parts using carb cleaner.
Gather the cleaning brushes and carb cleaning fluid and prepare your workspace by putting a plastic sheet (or on old rag) and wear eye protection.
3.1 Clean the bottom bowl of the carburetor.
Take the bottom bowl of the carburetor and spray the carburetor cleaner in it.
Let the carb cleaner soak for 2-3 minutes. It is going to make the carbon deposits loosen up, so you can easily remove them.
Now take a brush from the carb cleaning kit (or old any toothbrush) and start brushing the carbon deposits away. You will see the carbon deposits getting removed from the carburetor bowl.
You will need to repeat this process until all of the carbon and debris deposits are completely removed.
3.2 Clean jets, adjustment screws and float lever.
Take all the small parts, including the jets, the adjustment screws, and the float lever, and put them in a container. Also, put the screws (that you unscrewed when disassembling the carburetor) in there. There are (tiny) tension springs under the adjustment screws. You do not want to lose these as they are very important for the adjustment to happen with adjustment screws.
Spray the carb cleaner fluid in the container until these small parts are completely-soaked. Now brush each of them separately to remove any carbon or dirt deposits.
3.3: Clean the jets.
Use a fine needle (from the cleaning kit) to clean the jets from inside. Remember to be gentle because if you push the cleaning needle too hard, you might end up altering the hole size and damaging the jets.
Again spray them with carburetor cleaner and clean them once again to remove any left over carbon deposits. You can also use compressed air and blow through the jets to remove any loose carbon or dust.
Finally clean them with the brush and let them dry on a paper towel or a clean rug.
If the jets are still blocked (after you have cleaned them) and have a lot of carbon deposits inside, or the hole is not even (or large), then you must replace the jets.
3.4: Clean the carburetor from the outside.
Spray the carburetor cleaner in liberal amounts on the outside of the carburetor and let it sit for 5 minutes. Then start brushing it to remove the dirt and debris deposits.
3.5: Clean the carburetor from the inside.
Now, spray the carburetor cleaner in the air inlets (big holes where the boots are connected) and also brush them to remove the carbon deposits.
Start cleaning the air inlet by using a brush and remove the carbon deposits.
It might be a little bit harder to clean these air inlets depending on how much carbon has been built up (over time) or how old is the carburetor.
3.6: Clean the small adjustment screw and pilot jet screw holes.
Spray the carburetor cleaner in the small holes where the jets and the adjustment screws are screwed in.
Excessive carbon in the threads can cause the jets to not seat correctly and adjustment screws to not make proper adjustments.
The fine brushes in the carburetor cleaning kit are going to make cleaning a lot easier.
You can use a regular toothbrush and needles, and that is going to clean fine, but will require more elbow grease.
3.7: Finish up
After you are done cleaning the carburetor, spray the carb cleaner one more time to remove any loose carbon or dirt that might be left inside, and let it air dry.
Step 4 : Reassemble the carburetor.
Reassembling the carburetor is very simple and easy. All you have to do is follow the steps (that you did when disassembling) in reverse.
4.1: Screw in the adjustment screws.
Start from the adjustment screws and screw them in completely, along with their springs.
4.2: Screw in the jets.
Now, screw the jets at the bottom side of the carburetor and use needle-nose pliers to tighten them. Do not apply too much force when screwing the jets into the carburetor.
4.3: Install the float.
Now you are going to put the float on the float pin and lock it with the locking pin. Making sure the locking pin is secured correctly, and the float moves freely over it.
4.4a: Replace the gasket.
If your old gasket is damaged, now is the time to replace it with a new gasket. To remove the old gasket, you can pull it out and use a flat head screwdriver to scrape away the remaining pieces of the old gasket.
Make sure you clean the gasket channel throughly so the new gasket seats properly.
You can use your thumb (or finger nail) to gently push the gasket in the gasket channel and make sure it is seated correctly. If your gasket is fine then you can skip this step.
4.4b: Close the bottom bowl of the carburetor.
Close the bottom bowl of the carburetor and make sure you use the correct size screwdriver to tighten the screws.
4.5: Install the throttle assembly.
Now move towards the top side of the carburetor and install the throttle assembly (with the throttle spring) inside the carburetor and close it off by screwing the cap tightly.
Remember: There can be one to four carburetors in your snowmobile, depending upon the number of cylinders in your engine. You will need to clean each carburetor separately. I have explained the cleaning process for a single carburetor, the components, and the cleaning process is similar for all the carburetors.
In Conclusion…
Congratulations! Now you have a clean carburetor, and now you can go snowmobiling and enjoy your time riding in the snow.
The carbon and debris deposits are the main reason behind a clogged up carburetor, and removing these buildups is easy. Sure, you will get your hands dirty, but you can proudly say: “I fixed it myself” instead of saying: “It cost me $130 (or more!) to fix my carburetor”.
Cleaning a carburetor will solve a lot of problems related to engine performance by providing a clean and balanced mixture of air and fuel.
Enjoy the ride!