Honda owners / yamaha owners / outboard motor owners: Draining carbs after use

[Sharphooks]

Hey gents---

I thought the following info was worth giving thread status to. It's applicable to any kicker or carbed outboard. The answer is from an extremely knowledgeable Honda technician. All you need to know about the evils of water in your gas:

MY QUESTION: Hey jgmo,

I have a 2010 HONDA BF9.9. I use Marine Sta-bil in my main gas tank. I run it a few times each month all year long as a kicker for salt water trolling. I flush with fresh water after every use. With this type of usage, do you still recommend draining the carb after every use? So far, she purrs and starts first pull every pull. thanks your comments


HIS ANSWER:

Yes, I absolutely encourage all Honda owners to drain their carb bowls after each and every use. I know it's not practical if you're using the motor everyday but most people use the boat no more than once a week or less and then it becomes positively critical to keep the carburetor fresh. And here's why;

All LIQUID fuel, no matter how well filtered, will still contain some H2O. Your Stabil keeps the chemical compound that we know as gasoline from breaking down and going "stale" but it really can't do a thing to mitigate the settling out of any water from the fuel and landing in the low points of your fuel system.

And, it's not really the H2O that is the culprit in messing up your carbs. It's what is in the water. Water carries minerals in suspension and THAT'S what falls to the bottom of the float bowl and tends to clog up the passages down there that the carburetor needs to "breathe".

In addition, with the water being heavier than the gas, it is the first thing that the jets pick up when you start up and the minerals in that water tend to "plate out" on the very tiny "jetways" and alters the air fuel ratio. This happens over a long period of time and, by the time you notice something is wrong, the engine is running or idling poorly and the carb needs tearing down and cleaning.

All carburetors get dirty and need cleaning over time but draining the bowl is your only defense against doing it way more often than you should.

Thanks for asking.

 

[Sculpin]

Interesting Sharkhooks. I've had zero issues with mine (except takes a little while to warm up if sitting for a while) over the last few years until this year. I think I'll just clean up the carb really good and try her again. I can't see myself draining the carb every time but who knows if I get efficient at it then it's just another "step" to do before going out.

Thanks for the info.

Cheers,
John

 

[Jockey]

Wish I didn't read that. My engines run fine too and I have never touched the carb. Didn't even put stabilizer in last year and only used the boat a couple of times over the winter - no problems.

My motorcycle however which sat for about 10 months did have issues due to bad gas. I will be using some stabil this off season and I will let the motors run themsevles out of fuel before putting them away but draining the carbs after every use sounds like too much of a pita. How do you drain the carbs anyways is it just a 5 minute job?

 

[GLG]

I have a Honda kicker that needs the fuel drained because of the tiny passages that get clogged up.
I don't drain but I do disassemble the carb and use compressed air in the passages every year.
The carb has rubber gaskets so they can be reused. It's an easy job.
Honda dealer told me to stick a fine wire down the passages if I should have problems with idle and starting.
So far I have been lucky and compressed air has done the trick.
For those that are not conformable with pulling the carb apart draining is a good option.
The Honda kicker has a valve to do the job.

 

[Klob]

Would'nt a water seperator solve the problem. Seems a lot less hassle than draining carbs weekly.

 

[Island Fish Lifter]

I dont drain carbs unless I plan to have it out of service for a period of time. Ive never had to take one of my carbs apart.

 

[Sharphooks]

I've owned Yamaha all my fishing life and never drained carbs. When they ran crumby I cleaned out the carbs and once or twice had to replace a diaphragm. Always ran Stabil and had a 10 micron fuel filter between the tank and both my motors

Just got a Honda 9.9 last year and since then, have heard more and more techs talking about nagging carb problems and the importance of carb draining. Maybe it's just a Honda thing? I don't know---no history with the brand.

I do know that street gas sucks and that's what I'm stuck with for winter spring fishing so I might roll carb draining into all the rest of the maintenance I do to minimize down time and downstream problems.

By the way, Isl. Fish Lifter, that's the same Honda that has 6 inches of plastic pick-up tube sloshing around in the oil pan. Ran it all summer like that--Pt. Hardy, Macneil, Bamfield and Uke--100 hours and it never missed a beat. I guess after abuse like that, carb draining is the least I can do for her....

 

[Island Fish Lifter]

Rodger that Sharp hooks! Glad you had a good season?

 

[cheech]

If you are not going to run for 'a while', it is easy to just dis-connect your fuel line while you are you are flushing and solve the problem of draining your carbs. Stabil and filters s/b used on the chuck. Seafoam is another product to look into. gl

 

[Sculpin]

If you are not going to run for 'a while', it is easy to just dis-connect your fuel line while you are you are flushing and solve the problem of draining your carbs. Stabil and filters s/b used on the chuck. Seafoam is another product to look into. gl

I use Seafoam all the time for the past two years. I used it in a small fuel cell to "blow out" my main engine. Works great that stuff.

 

[Seafever]

If you are flushing an engine(running) and you disconnect the fuel supply line and let the engine "peter out" and stall....does that drain the carb?

 

[Bifmalibu]

Yep it does. You are essentially burning off all the fuel in the carburetor that way. I do it every time I flush my engines(which is every time they are in salt water). I should note, that will not burn off 100% of the fuel in the carb, for winterization purposes it should be drained.

 

[Seafever]

Back in the day, years ago when I owned a Volkswagen, I used to add a certain amount of Methyl Hydrate to the gas tank. It was supposed to get rid of any water in the fuel.

It was, at the time, a recommended method for getting rid of water in gas.

Haven't heard of anybody doing it for years. Is Methyl Hydrate actually a solution for water in fuel?
Or was it another "mis-guided fad"?

 

[Sculpin]

Back in the day, years ago when I owned a Volkswagen, I used to add a certain amount of Methyl Hydrate to the gas tank. It was supposed to get rid of any water in the fuel.

It was, at the time, a recommended method for getting rid of water in gas.

Haven't heard of anybody doing it for years. Is Methyl Hydrate actually a solution for water in fuel?
Or was it another "mis-guided fad"?

Very common to this date.