Thirty dollar eBay replacement carbs...

[filthyhat]

So, I have been having a bit of a struggle with my 85 250sx, It keeps leaking fuel from the overflow tube on the bottom of the float bowl. I have cleaned the carb numerous times and just can't figure it out yet.

In my searches on this forum, I have come across numerous mentions of brand new replacement carbs for these on ebay for thirty bucks. In this economy, everything is more expensive than before, but the most recent post I saw touting the virtues of these humdingers was from just six months ago. I have seen at least three mentions of these thirty dollar lifesavers, and as I am looking at getting a rebuild kit for mine anyway, which may or may not fix the problem, I thought that they sounded real nice.

So I went to ebay, and searched, and was not able to find any such creature. The cheapest chinese junk replacement carb I was able to find as listed for this atc was 85 bucks.

Is there some secret term or number that I should search for to find this wonderful, magical, ultracheap replacement carb? I don't mind working on these things, but I get real fed up when I just can't seem to fix a problem like this.

Thanks for your help.

[dustrunner]

welcome, sounds like your float is sticking ? the carbs are pretty simple once you been into a few of them and understand how to clean everything up. was it good before and then started acting up ? did u just get it and its been leaking ?

[filthyhat]

Hello there. I actually bought the trike at an estate auction for 70 bucks. The tank was ruined, and the carb had some really nasty crap in there that I cleaned out. The other day I went to an atv park with friends and we hooked up a tiny oil tank from an old two stroke dirtbike as a temp fuel tank as the one I ordered isn't here yet.

I understand roughly how carbs work, as I have been inside of plenty of them. ( I only wish it worked that way with women! ) LOL

But this problem is stumping me. Also, when I was cleaning the carb, I tried to turn out the idle jet and the tabs stripped right out. The bike runs great, but is hard to start and floods like a banshee.

[captainweezy]

There is a member here that refurbishes them and I tell you these are very very nice. I have one myself that i put on the shelf. I think his name is flyinw Not sure what he charges for them but they are original honda and you cannot tell them from new. I will search for a his post and post it up here.

[filthyhat]

Well Captain, that sounds like a helluva thing. I wonder what someone would charge for such a service...

I must admit that the most alluring thing about the replacement carb is the price. Thirty bucks for a brand new carb, and it does basically the same thing as an oem carb which would cost more like a couple hundy. If I could get one of these to work, then I would get to feel like I totally put one over on the man.

IDK, I had a couple of friends down in TX a few years back, and we all scored some little chinese Honda monkey clones brand new. Four speed manual clutch 49cc, with all the lights and everything. I've never had so much fun on a bike, and those little baseturds were as reliable as an old porch dog, even with the serious abuse we gave them. I also rode a friend's E-ton four wheeler the other day, and although it was nothing like a real Honda, it ran good and he said it had been ultra reliable for him.

The chinese carbs on ebay remind me of the old carb that was on my 72 KE100, the first dirtbike I ever had, and the first carb I ever "entered"... I know i could get one to work, but I don't really know a lot about jetting and I have heard about people having a lot of trouble with that. I use my trike mostly as a workhorse, and I take it out and ride with friends but I'm not looking for top race speed or anything.

[Flyingw]

Tahlequah????? Oklahoma? The aftermarket carbs for the SX leave little to be desired. I have rebuilt carbs on my shelf for sale. 100.00 with exchange. If you are in fact in OK, come see me.

[Bebo]

I've been having issues with my 250es carb and I've been looking around eBay for a carb myself. All the carbs I seen say "some modification needed" which scares me pretty bad. There is one for 125 that says exact oe replacement but for that price you would definitely be better off with a good rebuilt carb. ^^ seems like a pretty good deal, you'll get a lot of life outta the old original once you do get it right.

[fordtech90]

These carbs are extremely easy to rebuild and your leaking/flooding issue definitely sounds like a sticking float..pull the pin for the float clean it and dissasemble the rest of the carb put the two halves in a carb bath or even mineral spirits overnight and meticulously clean your jets, and other small parts and re assemble...then your cost is FREE unless you cannot re-tap your stripped idle jet. I rebuilt mine saturday night, slide was stuck and float was nasty 2 hours of cleaning and 20 minutes of disassemly and reassembly and she purred like a kitten.

[filthyhat]

Thanks for your replies everyone.

Yes, Flyingw I am from Tahlequah, OK. I didn't realize you were from Oklahoma. Choctaw's quite a ways from me, but I'm sure I can make it out that way sometime. Any good places to ride out there? Also, are you saying the aftermarket carbs are good or are not good?

I think I've been talked out of the cheap chinese carbs. I know the OEM carb will be right once it's working, I'm just getting frustrated with the dadgummed thing. I think the next step is to order one of those carb kits and go through it, replacing everything I can get out. I'm not really sure what to do about the slow jet but since the bike idles fine now, I will probably just leave it in there and hope for the best on that for now.

Hopefully my tank will be here today, I'm pretty excited about that. It was pretty beat up looking, but it's supposed to be rust free with a new petcock, so It should work fine for me. As much as I'd like to have a trike that looks all nice and new, I'm not bothered by a little character... When I've got the throttle open, the last thing I'm usually concerned with is what my bike looks like!

[filthyhat]

And Bebo, I liked the idea of a thirty dollar carb. That direct replacement sounds nice, but like you said, for that price I would go ahead and get one of those rebuilt ones from Flyingw. I'm a cheap ass sumbitch (like you couldn't tell!) so I'm def going to try and rebuild mine first, but if I have to get a replacement I will probably give ol' Flyingw a call myself.

Good luck with that ES Bebo, that's the Big Red right? That's the dream bike man I hope you like it. I got my sx at auction, and I effing love it but all I really wanted was a workhorse for pulling my yard-cart around. What I got was a sporty little deathtrap that's got my name all over it. And a gaping hole into which I can throw vast amounts of legal currency, gasoline and lit matches. Honestly I was just being ridiculous when I bought the trike, but I won't be selling it any time soon!

[filthyhat]

Hey Flyingw, you seem like the man to talk to about carbs. When I got my sx, it had sat for years with the old gas in the carb. I had a heckuva time getting anything to move at all.

Long story short, I got the choke plunger out and cleaned it all up, put it back together. Now the choke on the handlebars works, but when I try to choke it there it is hard to move, it will only go about halfway to the choke position and it will not stay there on its own. It's like there's something pulling it back.

Does this sound like something you can diagnose? What do you think I did wrong?

Of course, I'm about to completely disassemble the carb again and maybe I will get it right this time, I just thought that with your expertise you may have come across this problem before.

Thanks to everyone for your help and/or interest in my thread! Trikes effing rule!

[Flyingw]

Look closely at the choke barrel. Be sure it isnt gouged and the needle is straight. Put a dab of vaseline around the barrel before reinstalling. Pull the cable. Clean it up by soaking it in a solvent like rubbing alcohol. Blow it out and lube it up or replace it. Before reassembling the choke cable. Install the choke barrel and with some tweezers or needle nose, move the barrel in the hole to ensure it moves smoothly.

I'm 2 minutes off I-40 at exit 166 (Choctaw Rd) on the East side of the city. If you feel froggy this weekend. Grab your carb, choke cable, hop in the truck and come see me. I know we can resolve your carb problems.

To answer your question though, the aftermarket carbs are pretty much junk so dont waste your hard earned dollars. Come see me and we'll do it on the cheap. Promise.... I have a cache of SX carb parts and stuff. you can always get me at 405.420.1114 or jamesbaldwin99@gmail.com.

GPS address

14712 SE 77th St
Choctaw, OK 73020

[Flyingw]

Bebo, send me your carb if you like. I'll do it up for ya. I'm a little bored right now...... Just cover the carb kit and shipping and I'll take care of it.

[filthyhat]

Well I typed out a big long thing but it got erased, so here is the long and short of it.

Thanks Flyingw for your kind invitation, I won't have any amount of time off until mid January sometime, but I'm sure I can make it out sometime after that. It will be good to meet another trike lover!

I think I may have fixed the leaky float needle, it had a burr on the side from where I had to remove it initially with needle nose pliers. I sanded it smooth and now it appears to be seating correctly. My tank did not come in today, so i can't be totally certain that it's not leaking just yet, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

It could probably still use a bit of a rebuilding, but for now I'm going to slap the tank on when it gets here and see how she does. I'm optimistic!

[filthyhat]

Hey Flyingw, I just thought, I am looking for a hitch attachment for this old beast as well. I don't know if you have any non-carb related parts, but if you've got one you'd let go of cheaper than ebay let me know. That'll be one more reason to come out that way!

[Flyingw]

Hell ya I have a couple freshly powder coated. 20 bucks?

[filthyhat]

Done and done my friend! I'll take one for sure at that price. What do you think can be done about that stuck slow jet or whatever it is? is that something that you can get out of there? Like I said I think it's fine for now, but while I've got your skills at my disposal...

[Flyingw]

Ya for sure. We'll get it squared away. Choke too.

[Flyingw]

Whenever you want to come my way is cool. I'm pretty flexable.

[filthyhat]

Right on man, I'll bring the Keystone! Thanks for your time, I'll be getting with you next month sometime depending on how frigging cold it gets! If it isn't leaking now, then I won't mess with it again until then and we can get that sucker running like a banshee!

With that hitch that I'm going to get from Flyingw, and the carb working correctly, my old trike is really starting to shape up! All I've got left to do is fab up a larger battery box for a lawn tractor battery, and I'd like to get a new ignition switch but I may just run a toggle switch to save money. Other than that I'll be basically finished with everything that isn't cosmetic. Everything except the riding!

[Flyingw]

I have switches too and with key. I have a bag of dash stuff.

[Flyingw]

lawn tractor battery Gracie???

[Flyingw]

Need rear tires?

[filthyhat]

Who is Gracie? Lol. No I scored a pair of new bear claws for the back on Craigslist. 85 for the pair, and theyre some pretty wicked tires. I could use a front, but the one that's on it is holding up okay so far. Man it sounds like you've got everything I need! I'll probably be looking to get one of those key switches from you, I think it would be cool to have the original key switch as opposed to just a toggle switch.

Take er easy man, I'm off to work.

[filthyhat]

on a side note, that one message from you reminded me of one of the last girls I dated. She said the same thing, and spelled it the same way. Long story short, she wasn't as "flexable" as she thought! ( We still had fun!)

[shovelryder]

Good thing here....People helping people. Its a novel idea ya just dont see enough of anymore.......Good on you.

Now......A lawn mower battery??????

[Flyingw]

Whats the one thing a woman can put around her neck that makes her super sexy?

[Flyingw]

Her legs!!!!!!!

[Flyingw]

Ok cool. I'll dig a switch out of the attic.

[Bebo]

(A little late with a reply) I know how it is being cheap this big red is worse than my wife. But flyingw seems to be the man with this. I would take you up on that offer but I replaced that barrel like you said now she purrs like a kitten and roars like a lion. I wish I could find people who like trikes like that in ga. I ride all over north georgia and have yet to run into someone else riding one in trails. O well more fun for me.

[Flyingw]

Glad to hear Bebo. Ride it like you stole it....

[filthyhat]

Lol Flyingw, but I'd rather she put her legs around my neck!

So I got my new tank today and it's really not as beat up as I thought it was. It doesn't look great, but it's just fine for me. And, best part, the tank doesn't leak a drop!

Which is much more than can be said for my carburetor. I guess that last night I didn't put enough fuel in the line to fill up the float bowl, but when I slapped the tank on today that sucker started flowing just like before. Still, all I need is to get that fixed up and we're all set!

It seems some of you are confused about the lawn tractor battery. The truth is I bought this trike to replace my lawn tractor, which has a really good battery in it. I thought that I would just slap that bad boy in the trike and have more than enough battery for a few years. I've never had a mc battery last over one year, and I've already got this Huskee battery that seems like a real champ, I think I gave quite a bit for it at Tractor Supply.

Also, I am planning on putting in at least one 12v outlet for charging cell phones and running a small compressor or whatever other accessories when needed out on the trails. God forbid, I may even light a cigarette with it once in a while! So I figured that a bigger battery wouldn't go amiss.

[Flyingw]

Keep in mind that you can ride your trike to NY and back and the charging system still wont fully charge that battery. Try shaking the trike back and forth to help seat the float needle. This is a common occurance.

[filthyhat]

I hear ya FW, but if what I just read about batteries holds true, then as long as I put it in there fully charged, all the charging system will have to do is replace whatever amount I use by starting the bike and/or running accessories. The way it was explained that made it very simple is that a battery is basically an electron tank. once it is full, you will only have to replace the electrons that you remove by using it, and I will use the same amount of juice regardless of the size of battery that's in there.

If anyone who is not trying to sell me a battery could come up with a really good reason why I shouldn't use a LM batt, I would be willing to listen for sure. Barring that however, I like the LM batt idea.

I tried shaking it, I tried tapping the float bowl, and I even rode it over to the rents' house and back, and it was still leaking like a sieve. I think it's gonna have to have a new float needle at the very least, and maybe a new seat. I did give it the old blow test, and it seemed to be sealing when I had it off but it's sure leaking now. The seat did not look perfect, but it didn't look really gouged. It's no biggie as I won't even have much time to look at it for the next month. We'll get it going before it gets warm again for sure!

[Flyingw]

That is mostly true about the battery. Since the trike does have a battery then it has a true inverter/rectifier so that means the AC power coming from the stator is capped at 13.6vac, by the inverter/rectifier. The inverter/rectifier also converts AC to DC to charge the battery. The DC output of the rectifier is matched to the battery size to keep the battery charged. All standard lead acid batteries are designed to be partially discharged and recharged frequently whereas a deep cycle battery is designed to be fully discharged and then recharged. The SX calls for a 12BS battery. The 12BS is a 12 amp hour (AH) 160ish cold cranking amps. As long as the LM battery is close to that then it will be ok but if you have a larger LM battery, its probably about a 300 cold cranking amps then the SX charging system will be working overtime to recharge the battery. Anyway, if a LM battery works for you then rock on. Let me know when you want to come out. Bring the whole trike so we can test the carb on the engine its going to be run on and whatever else needs to be looked at. I've got these SXs wired so use me and abuse me....

[shovelryder]

ATC batts are pretty cheap.......and the best I've had one last is 6 yrs.......never ever under four years. I use my batt for everything from a lighter to an electric ice auger...........I sure would'nt go and modify the batt box for something thats gonna likely take out yer charging system.

As fer yer carb, keep at it......sounds like a bad float or needle/seat to me. That SX will treat you good once ya get it figured out......

[filthyhat]

Shovelryder, thanks for your input. I will keep thinking on it.

Flyingw, I'm not doubting your expertise, but I would like to ask what you mean by "the charging system will be working overtime to recharge the battery.", and what you base that statement on. I am not the first person to modify their atc/atv with a larger battery, and there's a lot of varied opinion on the net about what will work.

To the best of my understanding, a larger cca rating on a battery means that the battery is capable of putting out a higher amperage than the battery with the lower cca. It doesn't logically follow (in my twisted mind) that it would make the battery any harder to charge at all. I certainly don't mean to argue with anyone, but I have always heard terrible horror stories about how larger batteries would kill the charging system, but no one could ever really explain to me why.

To date, the best explanation I have heard of why a larger battery might kill the charging system on my bike is that if the battery is very low or fully discharged, it would take a very long time for the trike to recharge the larger battery. Thus resulting in the stator literally "working overtime" as FW put it, and eventually overheating the coils. But it still seems like as long as the battery were fully charged and all the charging system was having to do was basically maintain the full charge, everything would be hunkey-dorey.

I'm not trying to argue with anyone, or question anyone's knowledge as mine is so very limited, but I've been talked out of plenty of good ideas in the past by people who didn't know what they were talking about, and I believed them. I'm not deadset on the LM batt, but I still haven't been totally convinced that it's not a good idea...

[Flyingw]

The battery charging system works by sensing when the battery voltage drops below a pre-determined voltage. When that happens, the inverter portion of the regulator kicks on and sends DC voltage down to the battery to recharge it. Think of the battery as a tank of water. The smaller the tank the less it takes to fill it and the larger the tank the more it takes to fill it. Now, with the suggested 12BS battery installed, the charging system put out at a certian rate. That rate is based on the engineers calculations for replentishing power back in to the battery. When peak voltage is sensed, the inverter shuts off. Under normal operation, the battery is depleted when the starter is used. Depending on how much voltage is dropped will dictate if the inverter kicks on to recharge the battery.

With a larger battery, since it takes more to fill the tank it takes more power from the stator to refill the tank so the stator is being tasked and the inverter is being tasked. When talking about CCA, amperage is the force behind the voltage. I used to make shockers out of a 9V battery. A simple coil will step up the 9V to about 40,000V but there is hardly any amperage behind it. No force to the voltage. The larger battery has a larger amperage capacity to completely refill the tank with the right voltage amount and the right force (amperage) and the power to accomplish this comes from a simple charging circuit in the regulator assembly. Also consider this. If you take a wire rated for say 5 amps and hook it to a power using device like a larger starter motor what happens to the amperage going down the wire? It goes up and could overload the wire and burn it up. With a larger battery and OEM starter, the draw on the battery is still only as much as the starter motor is designed for but when installing larger lights or a winch, one has to be careful of not pulling too much amperage through any given wire.

Im not saying putting a larger batteryis good or bad. Some have had success and some have had failures. Im an aircraft electrician by trade so my mindset is not to mess with power requirements unless I have the engineering to back it up. The books calls for a 12BS to thats what I get. The SX does have power available to run an accessory light, winch (typically run off battery) or even a power outlet but the compressor better be pretty small. Remember, the compressor motor is designed to pull so many amps from a power source.

This is a good discussion guys. Isnt this why we come here?

[filthyhat]

Gentlemen! And possibly ladies! It would seem as though I have found the culprit. Somehow, I managed to get a piece of something wedged in the float valve, sticking it open. Don't ask how, as I have a new fuel filter and I cleaned the crap out of that carb just a day before, and it was definitely free when I put it on. Either way, the float was completely stuck. Now that I have removed the debris the thing seems to be fine.


What a fiasco this has been! Thanks to everyone for your help.

Of course, Flyingw this doesn't get you out of our arrangement. I'm still coming after that switch and hitch attachment. And I definitely want you to fine tune the old gal for me, I think I've got a good one here and I want it to purr like it should... She aint pretty but she's a whole lot of fun!

My trike is running pretty good now, but it has developed a slight bog. It will idle pretty good, not perfectly smooth but pretty good. When you go to give it gas, you can't really gun it or it will die. You have to kind of rev it first.

I know that the thing could use a new plug, since I'm running on the one that was in it when I got it so I'm going to do that next time I get a chance. Probably not tomorrow but you never know. I'm thinking a new plug may just fix my bogging issue right there. It won't cost much to find out!

And even with all my pro LM battery rants, you guys have got me wavering in my resolve on that one. I guess I will have to do a little more research. I just don't want to cough up the money for a good ATV battery! I'm being cheap there, but I've been spending every extra penny (and some that I can't afford) on this old trike and another sixty bucks or so just seems like a lot right now.

I can finally get to the rest of the forum now too so I'm going to post my next question in there. Hooray!

[filthyhat]

Very concise Flyingw! The thing that i'm still getting hung up on is that let's say for the sake of this example that it takes 1 unit of electricity to start the ATC. It doesn't matter what size tank you drain that one unit from, it's still only going to drain 1 unit of electricity, therefore the stator and charging circuits should still only have to replenish 1 unit of electricity back into the tank, regardless of the size. Am I completely out of line here?

It just seems to follow logically to me that the stator and charging circuits will be laboring for the exact same amount of time to replenish that one unit of electricity no matter which battery was in the atc.

And you've made a very good point on the OEM wires not being able to handle heavier load. I would definitely run a completely new circuit for my cig lighter. The engineer who designed that wiring harness probably didn't expect me to be doing such a thing thirty years later...

If you're an aircraft electrician my friend, then I will have to defer to you on this. I am but a humble cog in the retail accounting process, and have no professional electronics background whatsoever. I know just enough about EVERYTHING to get myself in real trouble! (Or at least I think I do! lol)

[filthyhat]

OK Flyingw I just re-read your post and I have found a hitch. From what you put there, it sounds like it may take a longer time for the larger battery to dip below the pre-determined voltage, therefore the charging system will have to work longer to replenish the battery before it is back above that voltage. Is that where I'm getting fouled up?

So the charging system may not even come on let's say until I have started from the battery like five times, instead of coming on after each time I start the ATC with the smaller battery. Therefore the stator will have to work for five times as long to replenish the charge. How's that sound?

I guess what I didn't realize is that the charging system turned itself on and off. I just kind of thought it was always charging somehow.

[Flyingw]

You are correct. The thing thats fixed here is the charging rate. The charging rate coming out of the inverter is not much more than a trickle charge because it doesnt take as much to charge a small battery verses a large battery. You are also correct in that it would take longer to deplete the battery level to the point where the inverter kicks on to charge the battery. Whats key here is charging rate. Try charging a car battery with the charger set on a small battery setting. It would take quite a long time compared to the large battery setting. Charge rate is measured in amp hours. Small batteries have a smaller charge rate.

[JustEnough]

In case it was not addressed earlier, the ebay carbs for $25-$30 are the smaller ones that fit the 185's and 200's. The carbs that fit the 250sx,es are bigger, more complicated and there are alot less of them so the cost is considerably higher.

I have had great luck cleaning carbs with HOT water and laundry detergent. For the really gooked up ones, I will use white vinegar after degreasing with the laundry detergent. I always wear gloves to protect my hands.

I tried a couple of the chinese ebay carbs and they were a refreshing quick fix, but over time, they seemed to have more problems than a cleaned up original.