How To Clean A Weed Wacker Carburetor

Deposits inside the carb in your weed eater can clog fuel/air passages and hamper performance or damage the engine altogether (over time).

Luckily, there is a rather simple and economical technique to clean the mess out a carb on any weed eater (The engine design in weed eaters is relatively universal).

Below we show you how to clean a carburetor on a weed eater in 7 steps and save yourself a long list of probable problems.

How to clean a carburetor on a weed eater – step by step

As hinted, this approach is relatively easy and friendly even to owners who have no mechanical background.

Follow these steps:

Step 1: Assemble everything you'll need.

For this task, you should have the following:

A screwdriver
A quality carburetor cleaner spray (we recommend this option).
Shop towels (or something similar).
Brush pipe tube cleaner
A soft wire brush

Step 2: Safety measures

The best practice is to wear eye protection and protective gloves as the carburetor cleaner can strongly irritate the skin.

Additionally, you should drain the gas tank as the fuel lines running from the tank to the carb will be detached down the road.

Finally, observe all the safety guidelines published by the manufacturer on the package.

Step 3: Get the air filter out of the weed eater

On the whole, it's impossible to clean out the carb if it remains in place.

The air filter stands between you and the carb. Remove it first.

Procedure:

Find your way to the engine.

You should notice the air filter near the back.

For the most part, there are four screws holding the cover in place.

Proceed to remove the screws – the screwdriver should be adequate for this.

You can now easily get the cover out.

The air filter is also simply removed by just lifting it from the engine. Keep it aside.

Tips: Be sure to store the screws somewhere safe- you don't want to lose them.

Step 4: Pull the carb out

Fuel lines often need to be pulled off weed eater carbs for a couple of repairs and maintenance processes.

This is one of those routine procedures.

For this reason, take off the two fuel lines attaching to the carburetor at this point.

You should now be able to slide the carb from its pins (if your model has pins holding it).

It's worth noting that some weed whacker models have screws securing the primer bubble in place and you need to unscrew them (it splits in half).

Tip: There is a chance of the carb having some fluid so drain it 100% before moving on.

Now that the carb is in your hands, read on to learn precisely how to clean a carburetor on a weed eater.

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Step 5: How to clean a carburetor on a weed eater

In the first stage, you get rid of the visible muck.

There are myriad tools you can use for this including a pipe tube cleaner to access the inside sections (those reachable).

Next, you disassemble the carb to deal with the hidden and hard-to-reach grime.

Procedure:

Disassembling the carb is not really tough. Just remove the screws holding the outer.

Once done, spray a carburetor cleaner generously to loosen the caked-on grime.

It's important to spray your preferred product into the tiny holes and all other affected places.

You then wipe up the loosened gunk with shop towels or even a piece of cloth.

Lastly, remove gasket residue (if any) with a tender wire brush.

Tip: To simplify work, let the spray soak into the parts for about one hour (or as indicated in the product's instructions) before wiping.

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Step 6: Put the carburetor back together

Time now to re-assemble the carb.

Take your time since you don't want to miss something or fix a component wrongly.

Step 7: Reinstall the carburetor

Put the carb back where it belongs in the weed eater (you slide it or screw it back depending on the model).

Next, reattach the fuel lines.

In most cases, the smallest line connects to the front connector while the larger line goes to the remaining connector.

Step 7: Reinstall the Air Filter
If happy with the re-construction so far, mount the air filter to its slot and slide its cover on.

Don't forget to replace its screws (don't over-tighten them).

Tada! That's all.

How to clean a carburetor on a weed eater: useful tips

· Clean the filter

If possible, clean the air filter after removal.

It gets dirty too causing the carburetor (and hence the engine) to start working poorly.

You don't have to buy expensive cleaning materials for this- a mixture of warm/hot water and dish soap in a container is enough.

Be sure to let it dry fully before replacing it in the weed eater.

The rule of the thumb is to clean the accessory after every 4-5 uses for the best performances.

· Keep it organized

Carburetors have a ton of small parts and you need to be careful with their handling during the operation to avoid losing any.

To be specific, keep them organized according to the order you had removed them to make your work easy and fast.

The other smart tactic people employ here is creating a sketch of all the parts during carb disassembly.

You will refer to the plan when re-assembling the unit.

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Final thoughts

That's how to clean carbs on most brands of weed eaters.

Hopefully, your weed eater engine will no longer experience loss of power or other performance issues after this.

Needless to say, you may need to take further measures if cleaning doesn't help.

In essence, it may mean that the carb needs to be repaired (repair kits are available), rebuilt, or replaced entirely.

Otherwise, the problems could be originating from other maintenance issues including fouled spark plugs or deteriorated oil.

A fantastic way to help steer clear of such nagging hitches would be to always perform the annual tune-up.