Draining Carbs

[Swee Pea]

I don't want to hijack the winterization thread, so....

Haven't been able to get out on Swee Pea this summer ....had some first time back problems. Anyhow, feeling better a month ago, went to take her out and decided to start her up in the driveway just in case. Sputter, sputter, wouldn't run right. Polished the fuel (started a Polishing Fuel thread - treated the gas, but in there a while); no better. Honda dealer says got to rebuild the carbs and clean the tanks-moisture. Ouch....

I added Startron, Seafoam, and Stabil (what overkill), filled both tanks with high octane gas (yes, E10 crap) using a Mr. Funnel http://www.mrfunnel.com/Mr._Funnel/Home.html and started her in the driveway. Not bad. Took her out - zoom, zoom, zoom (borrowed from a Mazda commercial) . She ran like a top.

At the end of the day, I pulled the fuel connection to the motor till it died, assuming this would drain the carbs.

Now the question - does this do a "real" carb drain or do I need to follow the owner's manual and drain each carb separately? I plan to take her out once a month, even through the winter, or at least run the motor once a month. (The best made plans Of Mice and Men)

What say you all?

John
"The Honda Dealer's Best Friend"
Swee Pea

P.S. Would be great if Dr. Bob would chime in ... would lift all our spirits to know he was on the mend and getting back to his old self. We're still praying for you Big ?Guy!

[Wallkerbay]

I was told to run my Honda BF 90 2006 carbs dry. I was also told to always drain the carbs to prevent gum build up in the carbs. I do use the gas at my marinia, it has ethonol in it. it is Valtect, which has a fuel treatment already in it. I have been useing it for about 2 years. I have not had any problems since.

[tomherrick]

I've been told by one Honda dealer to run the engine dry; another Honda dealer said to add Stabil to the fuel and not run it dry. I ran it dry the first winter and next Spring it fired up without a hitch. I followed the second dealer's advice before I began the rebuild project. At this stage I have no idea what will happen, but I'm curious now. I'm tempted to put some muffs on it and try to start it while hanging from the engine hoist.

T

[Captains Cat]

IMO, if the carbs have bowls under them, pulling the fuel connection may run the fuel out but the bowls will still have fuel in them. Have not had a carbed honda since my 45HP twins on the CD 22.

I'm sure one of the dealers with experience will chime in soon...

Charlie

[Matt Gurnsey]

There will be some fuel left in the bowls, and this small amount of fuel will absorb moisture until phase seperation occurs, and the fuel will eventually evaporate away more quickly than the corrosive ALchohol / water mix.

We have samples of carbs where the bowls have begun to be eaten away by the alchohol, which, as you can imagine causes all kinds of problems.

Ethanol is bad bad bad stuff.

[Will-C]

Run it dry. Then on the bottom of each carb's float bowl they usually have a little hose with a brass drain screw. Crack the drain screw and let the hose empty in a cup or small bottle. Use something clear so you can see if there was any water in it. Drain them it can't hurt. Some say treat gas and leave them full, but I have drained and run dry chain saws ,leaf blowers and rototillers i.e. all small engines and had the best luck running them dry. My Yamaha 150hp four stoke is fuel injected and I drain the float tank. Fuel can't gum up if there is none in it.

D.D.

[hardee]

[Barry Rietz]

Swee Pea,

Its best to drain each carburetor, using the clear plastic tubing supplied, AFTER disconnection of the fuel supply line and running the engine until it quits. The presence of small amounts of Ethanol over a long storage period can cause problems since both the "idle" and "main" jets do their work at the very bottom of the "bowels". Once you do it the first time, its a very easy thing to perform, even by amateurs!

[Notayot]

I have always run the engine until it dies from lack of fuel (fuel line disconnected from engine), and then drained each carb with the drain valves. This summer I did the same, but then since I planned to go out during the next week, I re-connected the fuel line. Due to external circumstances, we could not use the boat for 2 months during the heat of the summer. The re-connected fuel line allowed the hot/cold daily temperatures to pump fuel into the carbs, which evaporated each day. The net result was that 3 of the 4 carbs would not operate at all! Les at EQ marine had to rebuild all 4 carbs. This was an expensive mistake, and the first time in 40+ years of boating that I had carb troubles! I will never re-connect that fuel line until I am READY to hit the water!

[Doryman]

The tanks on my Tom Cat are almost full and I did not have any StaBil with me to add. The boat is on the hard now (we'll be using the 22 for any winter boating) so what would be the best way to get the StaBil into the system and circulated?

Warren

[Captains Cat]

[Will-C]

Warren,
I have gotten into the habit of adding blue marine stabil everytime I fill up.I keep it on the boat with spare fuel filters and now a strap wrench when the spin on and off fuel water separators need some coaxing to get off. Anyway I would treat the fuel tanks per the directions on the bottle and take the boat to a local fresh water lake back down the ramp on the trailer and run it for a while. Or just take it out for a spin. I say fresh water so you don't have to go thru flushing the motor and washing off your brakes trailer etc. If all thats not an option I would treat the fuel tanks put on the ear muffs with the water hose and run the motors a while and then run them dry one at a time with the fuel hose disconnected and drain the float bowls after you run it dry. If you have carborated motors drain the float bowls. If you have fuel injected Yamaha's drain the float tanks. They have a handy little hose and a drain screw similar to the float bowls on the carborated models. The float tank stores extra fuel to feed all the thirsty injectors and has a float to maintain the fuel level. Draining it was recommended by our local Yamaha dealer along with fogging the engine a little. Also drain and replace the oil in your lower units. If it comes out yellow could be water intrustion and you may need to have the seal replaced. Pull the the props and grease your prop shafts and replace the props. We add RV anti freeze to the fresh water tank and run it thru till we see red stuff coming out to guard against freezing. On my raw water wash down I rig up gallon bottle a hose with a hose barb taped up to snuggly the thru hull pickup and stuff the hose barb into the the thru hull and run that pump until I see red RV antifreeze coming out. Use a long enough hose that you can keep the gallon bottle high to aid in the priming process. I do the same with any live well tanks/ pumps. Happy winter!
D.D.