Cleaning a Tractor Carburetor

Remove the Carburetor

Find the air intake on the side of the engine. It's usually a wide-mouthed metal pipe with an elbow bend along the middle. It pushes air directly through the carburetor assembly, and should be unbolted and set aside. There are brackets holding the top of the carburetor to the side of the engine in most tractors; these brackets should be removed as well. Next, the cables connected to the carburetor should be removed. These include the throttle cable, fuel line and linkage connecting the carburetor to the governor. Use an open-ended wrench to remove these, and have a few rags handy to catch any excess fuel dribbling from the disconnected fuel line. Remove the small screws holding the carburetor in place and remove the carburetor.

Clean the Carburetor

The carburetor should have a number of screws sticking out of it. The outside casing should look like a cylinder with one side missing; it will have a needle jet sticking out of it. On the opposite side of the needle jet is the choke. Next to the choke is the high-idle screw, and opposite that is the low-idle screw. Note the exact placement of these screws for easier reassembly.Remove the high-idle screw to allow the needle jet and its housing to come away from the carburetor. Then unscrew the needle jet from its cylindrical housing. Unscrewing the low-idle screw will allow the throttle to come loose. All these parts should be soaked in carburetor solvent and then dried overnight before attempting to put the carburetor back.

Re-Instal the Carburetor

The carburetor should be re-assembled in the reverse order in which it was disassembled. The throttle fits onto the carburetor housing and should be affixed with the low-idle screw. The jet needle should be fitted back into its housing and then held on with the high-idle screw. The carburetor should be screwed back into place and all the linkages reconnected. Start the tractor before fitting the air intake and brackets. It will idle roughly because the idle screws are likely not exactly in the same position as they were prior to the cleaning. Use a screwdriver to tighten and loosen them by increments until the tractor idles without trouble. Lastly, bolt the air intake and brackets back on.