How To Clean ATV Carburetor Without Taking It Off?

Taking the carbs out of the ATV is a troublesome task to a large extent. But sometimes taking out becomes necessary to identify the problems much quicker. But the carburetor is a delicate piece of machinery when discussing its working system. 

When someone takes the carb out of the ATV for cleaning or to fix issues, a lot of small parts can fall off, and finding them and putting them back in the right order is very critical.

How To Clean ATV Carb Without Taking It Off

Without much fuss, carb can be cleaned with Spray without it being taken off. However, you will still need some cleaning tools if dirt needs to be cleaned in a more efficient way.

Cleaning ATV Carburetor

Cleaning the carburetor is very important. Otherwise, it often shows problems. The carburetor is part of the vehicle system where the fuel gets mixed with the air to get burnt, so it is an essential portion of the vehicle. 

If your ATV hasn’t been used for a long time, the fuel will need replacement along with cleaning the carburetor. If you don’t replace the fuel but clean the carburetor, the vehicle will still show problems.

Often a lot of vehicle issues arise from an unclean carburetor but are not easily traced by the rider.

The common problems of the carburetor can be identified if symptoms like overheating and backfiring take place.  The engine’s overheating or backfiring issues arise from the carburetor’s inability to pass a proper mixture of fuel.

Most people might not know this, but a motorcycle’s and ATV’s carb is much the same.

Sometimes, they might not exactly look like the reciprocal, but you will be able to clean it easily if you follow the simple process of each step.

A few cleaning supplies will be required for proper carb cleaning without removing them.

You will need a carb and choke cleaner of a good brand and parts cleaner. You might also want to grab a carb-rebuilding kit to make the whole process much smoother and simpler.

Tools and first steps for carb cleaner

The question you are having is how to clean ATV carb without taking it off is very obvious to ask because taking the carburetor off the vehicle every time cleaning is required can be very frustrating.

So keeping some basic tools and know how to clean without taking off the carburetor. The simple tools that can help a lot in cleaning the carb yourself are as follows:

• Needle nose pliers.
• Phillips screwdriver.
• Wire brushes.
• Socket set.
• Flat screwdriver.

If someone tries to clean the car by taking it off the vehicle, the person has to take care of the throttle cable and intake boots, which is a complicated job.

For cleaning the carburetor without removing it, first, you must put aside the pod filters and air box present. Be worry-free because these parts can be easily fitted by you later on again in the appropriate spots. 

Removing a few more parts of the carburetor is essential to have proper access to the main parts so that you can clean them thoroughly.

If you were thinking about how to clean ATV carb without taking it off and guessing you can do it without removing any part at all, then it’s not much possible. Removing the parts mentioned before will let you reach the butterfly valves that need to be removed as well.

Then, removing the bowl you will find at the bottom is needed. A bolt in the center and a few screws towards the side of the bowl can be removed using a screwdriver that will let the bowl be free. Pull up the bowl carefully to have better access to the carburetor.

Checking and cleaning

After checking the petcock, which makes the gas run in the vehicle, and turning it off, it will be time to move on to cleaning.

But before you step into the actual part of ATV carb cleaning without removing it, you should keep some paper towels, which should be useful. When you take the last part of the bowl off the base, some amount of gas might leak. 

Spray your branded cleaner inside the region where the bowl was present. After the first spray, you can then take a break. The parts removal steps were not very easy, so you deserve a break. 

Have some patience and put in a few sprays in a gap of five minutes so that the dirt and old grime become worn.

Use a piece of cloth or towel to clean off the dirt of every kind, which would have become much softer and get off by itself, or just a wipe of the towel will do.

Readjustments for carb and choke cleaner, which is often needed

After a few sprays in a period and wiping, you should put the bowl back and the screws and bolts in the prior position. Then, after putting back the airbox and other parts, it will be time to check the ATV and start the engine. 

Going for a spin with it will be the right move to understand the functioning and condition of the ATV.

If the problems you were having before cleaning are removed, and the performance also improves, you should feel very lucky.

This is because only by a simple procedure did your ATV get like new by cleaning the carb without taking it off. If that doesn’t happen, don’t worry at all. It would just mean a little more hard work is required from you.

So start by removing the airbox and other parts again, followed by the bowl. Follow each step again to reach the main area of the carb.

But after you take off the bowl, you might notice some float-ups. These float-ups arise when gas is present in the bowl and in large quantities. 

The vehicle system of ATVs is designed in a way that this kind of bowl state will automatically make the fuel valve close down.

This system is made so the fuel valve doesn’t overflow. So the next task will be to remove the float-ups as well. With a wrist pin, you will be able to find that, when pushed, it will totally make the float detach.

After you have successfully removed the float, you will find a cylindrical type-shaped object connected to the float by a rubber tip.

Remove the float and the cylindrical kind of object together. The rubber tip is essential for preventing overflow in the fuel valve.

Then clean the area again if you notice slight overflows. As long as the floats are out, it is smart to run a check on them.

The right kind of test will be to make them float in the water. If they float, then they are in fine condition to be used. Otherwise, you will have to get new ones.

Cleaning the jets of the carb

After you have taken the floats off, looking inside the car, you will find the jets, and when you find them with sufficient lights, it will be time to unscrew them. You will need to take them out so that you can check inside and clean them.

There will be two jets present; one will be the prime jet, and the other one will be a secondary jet. After the jets have come out of the carb, it is important to check the inside.

 If you can’t properly see through it, they are clogged up.

When comparing reasons for the carburetor not to function right, the most probable reason is found to be a jet that is clogged up. Clogged jets also occur due to using the wrong gas, which is unsuitable for the type of ATV.

Ethanol gas is often the reason for clogged-up jets, but there might be other reasons too. Make use of the carb cleaner the same way in a gap of four minutes to make the jets clean.

Experts recommend using branded carb cleaner; you can find the right product by checking if it contains chlorine.

This time, spray the carb cleaner all over the place because the ATV carb is very much exposed to this time.

Spraying properly the inside and outside parts of the carburetor will make the carb function much better.

After you have completed the cleaning, let the carb be open in the previous state and not install all the parts. Letting the carb cleaner do its work by reacting with the accumulated dirt is very important. 

In the end, wipe with a clean cloth all over the carburetor. Then, slowly, one by one, reinstall all the parts, starting from the float to the bowl, air box, and other parts left.

But you can also keep the air filters unattached for the time being for testing the ATV. If everything seems fine after you take the ATV for a ride, you can return the air filters.

If cleaning didn’t fix the problems totally?

 Although cleaning the carburetor without removing the vehicle is not an extremely simple task, it isn’t as much as removing the carb kind of labor.

But even after cleaning the carb thoroughly, if the carb shows signs of having problems, then there might be some serious issues. 

This would also mean that taking the carburetor out of the vehicle might be the only option.

Taking the carburetor out of the vehicle might seem like a scary task because of all the small and delicate parts that fall off.

Losing such a tiny part like this can stop the functioning of your vehicle, and that seems like a big risk to take. 

But you will find many resources from ATV communities and mechanic forums to do it yourself.

Some experts recommend using an ultrasonic cleaner by repeating the same steps of taking off the parts from the airbox to the bowl and then placing the ultrasonic cleaner inside.

The ultrasonic cleaner has a heater present that heats the solution and provides an excellent cleaning of the carb of your ATV.

But all of the ATV carbs would not have the same size, and therefore you might need to clean some parts separately.

A carb rebuilding kit will be very useful if you plan to clean the carb every time yourself. You can easily repair the gasket of the vehicle if you have the kit.

The common signs when a carburetor needs to be cleaned

There will be some common signs in the car that you can recognize while riding the ATV.

These signs would tell you that the car needs a thorough cleaning. The common signs would often be generated by the jets present in the carb, and the results would be as follows:

• Sputtering
• Poor idle
• Backfiring
• Poor performance

If you have these kinds of issues, then most of the time, the unclean carbs would be responsible for causing such problems in the ATV. 

Sometimes, the carb will also show difficulty in starting the engine of your ATV.

If your ATV is running very lean due to the combination of fuel and air not properly happening, then it might also be due to the presence of a lot of dirt in the carb.

If there are fuel spills and overheating in the engine. Then, it can also be considered as a sign of carb cleaning to be done properly.

FAQs

Conclusion

Taking off the carb can be very difficult for some riders as it involves several issues that cannot be easily handled. Many would prefer cleaning the carburetor by not removing it completely from the vehicle.

If you prefer to do it yourself from the start, following the steps already mentioned will help you clean the carb yourself without taking it off.