The Benefits of Rebuilding a Carburetor

If your boat sits idle for more than a few weeks, the fuel that was left in the carburetor will begin to break down. The same occurs if you purchase gas that’s remained in the fuel dock’s storage tank. The gasoline that remains in the carburetor will form varnishes and acids. The compounds released by this destabilization will coat the interior surfaces of the jet, gaskets and O-rings in the carburetor. A rebuild has noticeable benefits.

  1. Trashy Fuel

    • A carburetor should be rebuilt – overhauled – after you receive a load of trashy fuel, a common term that many use for what's properly called stale fuel. When your outboard begins to run poorly after you leave the fuel dock you may have purchased trashy fuel. You may not notice it immediately -- indeed, you may have topped off the boat’s fuel tank before you pull the boat from the water. This means you won’t notice the engine running rough until you go out. When you notice the problem, you’ll want to rebuild the carburetor, cleaning its metal parts in carburetor cleaner and blowing them dry with compressed air before you reassemble it. You’ll put in new gaskets and new O-rings as part of the rebuild, as well

    Fire Prevention

    • Rarely thought of as a benefit of rebuilding a carburetor, fire prevention is one real dividend. As part of a carburetor’s rebuild, the gaskets and O-rings, all found in the carburetor rebuild kit, are replaced. These gaskets and O-rings serve two purposes. They properly regulate the flow of the air-gas mixture and confine the flammable material, primarily the gasoline and its vapors, in a stable environment. When the carburetor is rebuilt, these flammables are once more confined to the carburetor and the opportunity for a fire at sea – often described as a boater's worst nightmare – is averted.

    Improved Fuel Economy

    • An outboard that runs like two hogs wrestling in a burlap bag is not going to consume fuel in a miserly manner. It will, in fact, drink fuel as if it owns every oil well in the world. By rebuilding the carburetor, the carburetor will no longer be leaking from its every mating surface. Once the rebuild is complete, the boat's fuel consumption will drop -- a definite mechanical and financial plus.

    Time

    • You may not know when your boat will have to sit idle for more than a few weeks. But you want to be prepared. Always put fuel stabilizer in your boat’s gas when you fill up and you can avoid the most common reason for a carburetor rebuild as long as possible. When, however, you must have your carburetor rebuilt per the maintenance schedule, you may have an unexpected benefit, one that's always in short supply -- time to complete projects unrelated to the carburetor, such as bedding new deck hardware or other repairs.