Rebuild carburettor 1989 GQ / Y60

[LandRoverGhost]

I'm planning to rebuild my Carburettor at the 1989 GQ/Y60 4.2 engine.
The thing is pitch black from soot when looking into the top. So it seems about time.

I see rebuild kits for sale on eBay , any difference in Quality I should be aware of?
Once out of the engine bay what kind of problems can I encounter / prevent ?
What is a good cleaning fluid , do I really need those fancy carburettor cleaners?

Thanks !!
Jacob

[mudnut]

Dunno about the Ebay kits, but I am very happy with the Fuel Miser kits available from Autopro or Repco.

[kbchez]

Don't buy cheap shit kits.
A good quality carb cleaner is very good to use.

[dom14]

Carby cleaner from Burson, Repco, Supercheap Auto, etc is something that comes handy.
It's more penetrating than petrol.
Tooth brush and carby cleaner can do lot of work.
But, if the soot is bad, it may be able to benefit from trisodium phosphate bath in high temperature around 90 degrees celsius or so.(I haven't used that chemical myself, but a friend used it to clean a badly sooted carby. Not sure how long to leave the carby in the chemical hot bath though.
But, you would have to dismantle all the diaphragm parts of the carby before dipping it in any liquid.

You would need a high pressure air gun to clean the interior passages properly, combined with carby cleaner.
However, pressurized air can send interior bits like springs and balls into air and you will never find them.
So, having a cloth over it before spraying air is very important.

I think the rebuild kit sold on ebay and parts stores is the same, but don't take my word on it.

You need to be super careful when inserting the accelerator pump rubber boot. It can break very easily while trying to
install it to the hole. Use sewing machine oil or grease to lubricate the edges of the hole & rubber boot, so it won't break. None of the parts that comes in the carby repair kit are available to buy individually, so keep the old parts in case. Apply a thin layer of lithium grease on gaskets to help seat better.

Check my threads from 2013-2014. I've documented what I did with lot of photos. RB30 carby & the TB42 carby is pretty much the same. Take plenty of time to do it if this is your first carby job.

If yours on LPG take extra care and time with the cleaning.

[LandRoverGhost]

Thanks for this really helpful instructions. Yes on LPG as well.
Still cleaning up the mechanical mess the previous owner's mechanic created, thankfully the previous owner hardly used the car , mainly a show vehicle. Imagine this : the snorkel connected to an IMPCO air cleaner left open under the filter element, little hope when I would have submerged my Yellow Submarine ....
Soon I will post a Safari snorkel for sale :-)
Recently installed a Flash Lube application system. But the only way to get the oil in the manyfold was via a connection at the bottom of the carby. Would it make sense for lubrication of the carby to find a connection on top top the carby or can that cause other problems. It drips at about 10 drops of oils per minute.

[AGman]

If you know someone with an ultrasonic cleaner they can be useful too.

[dom14]

Thanks for this really helpful instructions. Yes on LPG as well.
Still cleaning up the mechanical mess the previous owner's mechanic created, thankfully the previous owner hardly used the car , mainly a show vehicle. Imagine this : the snorkel connected to an IMPCO air cleaner left open under the filter element, little hope when I would have submerged my Yellow Submarine ....
Soon I will post a Safari snorkel for sale :-)
Recently installed a Flash Lube application system. But the only way to get the oil in the manyfold was via a connection at the bottom of the carby. Would it make sense for lubrication of the carby to find a connection on top top the carby or can that cause other problems. It drips at about 10 drops of oils per minute.

There is a lot written about flash lube application systems. I would encourage you to do bit of research into it.
I have come through posts that suggest it's a waste to install flash lube systems for LPG on most modern cars, which includes you 1989 GQ Patrol.
The below is an excerpt from a post in another forum. It makes lot of sense to me.

"Flashlube kits were popular when car manufacturers were faced with a reduction of lead in petrol. The theory was that the lubricant would prevent the valve seats from wearing down. There are three reasons why in a modern car flashlube is a waste of dollars.

(1) The oil is not likely to end up on the valve seats, its in the air/fuel mix and flies past the valve seats at a considerable speed.
(2) Valve seats these days are hardened and don't wear. LPG certified engines have "special" hardened seats.
(3) Even when popular, there was no technical info on the efficiency of the system. How hard is it to run 2 identical cars, say 50,000 miles, strip the heads and show how good your product is? It has always been sold as "a good thing, take our word that it works" type of based-on-faith proposition. "

I don't think flash lube do any harm, but I believe it's a waste of money and time. Flash may be beneficial for older vehicles built to run on "leaded" petrol though((I say "may be" 'cos I don't know for sure). When I opened mine (1990 RB30 Patrol cylinder head) in late 2011, I couldn't see any valve seat recession at all. The vehicle was on LPG since 1990 and that's all it's been running on. It was never on flash lube. So, that's the evidence I have other than the literature on the internet that says flash lube is NOT necessary.

Running on LPG fulltime for many many years is NOT always friendly on the Patrol Nikki carby, as it doesn't get through the liquid petrol it's designed for and can cause some "brittleness" of the interior parts over years(my interpretation of the problem). I tend to put my carby through few minutes of petrol cycle on regular basis to prevent any possible interior material degradation of the carby.
I would encourage you to do that same. Bear in mind though, it's not easy to fine tune a carby engine ignition system for both fuels, unless you install a "Ignition Dual curve system".

http://www.gofastforless.com/ignition/advance.htmj
http://www.patrol4x4.com/forum/general-patrol-discussion-17/ignition-advance-auto-adjustment-lpg-271426/

Mine's tuned for LPG system atm, and i do a slight adjustment of Ignition for Petrol when I drive on petrol on longer distances. I haven't installed a 'dual curve system" yet, but I'm onto it. AEB is a good brand from what I'v heard so far.

[Fox7]

Hi, I ordered two repair kits for my Nikki carb from ebay. One for use and other one to keep in store. But i couldn't use them. Because it seems low quality.
Comparison of Old kit and New repair kit -->
Old kit has fuel resistant gaskets, Quality gasket paper, Accelerator pump assembly consists of Metal shaft and rubber washer.
New kit from ebay has fuel easily absorbing gaskets, thin tearing gasket paper, Accelerator pump consists of Plastic shaft and paper washer.

When i inquire, seller wasn't aware about this. They import from somewhere and sell it on ebay. But someone here might be running with those kit. I'd like to hear from them?

[LandRoverGhost]

Thanks - sounds serious enough to stick to well known sellers.

[dom14]

Hi, I ordered two repair kits for my Nikki carb from ebay. One for use and other one to keep in store. But i couldn't use them. Because it seems low quality.
Comparison of Old kit and New repair kit -->
Old kit has fuel resistant gaskets, Quality gasket paper, Accelerator pump assembly consists of Metal shaft and rubber washer.
New kit from ebay has fuel easily absorbing gaskets, thin tearing gasket paper, Accelerator pump consists of Plastic shaft and paper washer.

When i inquire, seller wasn't aware about this. They import from somewhere and sell it on ebay. But someone here might be running with those kit. I'd like to hear from them?

I haven't bought a kit from ebay, 'cos i get a better deal from local spare parts shop(Burson), and if there're any issues you can return the unused item. Judging from the ebay pictures, I suspected it is basically the same kit sold on spare part shops, but you're saying that is NOT the case. Accelerator pump plunger was made of leather in the repair kit I bought from Burson. The original one was rubber, but it appears the leather plunger is working ok. They may get too dry in an LPG running carby, so it's important to run on petrol for few minutes a day or so to get it soaked with petrol. This is true for the whole carby, not the just the accelerator plunger.

With the gaskets, use "White Lithiim grease" on both sides of the gasket to help it seat better. Paper gaskets collapse over time and start leaking, so using lithium grease is a good way to remedy that issue.

If you're not happy, return it for a refund. Fleabay refund policy should apply to those items.

BTW, I learnt to cut the gaskets(all of them, including the more difficult main body/float bowl one) myself to prevent from having to buy repair kits to replace gaskets each time I open the carby. Also I should mention, lithium grease helps preventing the break down of the paper gasket, so you can use the old gasket again.

Search my carby threads to find out how to cut the gaskets DIY.

[dom14]

BTW, if the petrol pump plunger is a leather one, make sure to apply bit of petrol or sewing machine oil and lather it a bit to soften the material. Fresh out of the kit the leather plunger is too stiff.

[dom14]

I haven't bought a kit from ebay, 'cos i get a better deal from local spare parts shop(Burson), and if there're any issues you can return the unused item. Judging from the ebay pictures, I suspected it is basically the same kit sold on spare part shops, but you're saying that is NOT the case. Accelerator pump plunger was made of leather in the repair kit I bought from Burson. The original one was rubber, but it appears the leather plunger is working ok. They may get too dry in an LPG running carby, so it's important to run on petrol for few minutes a day or so to get it soaked with petrol. This is true for the whole carby, not the just the accelerator plunger.



Sorry, I needed to correct the above highlighted. The accelerator plunger my RB30 Nikki carby had in it before I put a kit through(including the new leather plunger) was also leather, not rubber. I got it mixed up with another carby. I dunno for sure whether the original plunger was rubber or not, but the one I had in mine before the rebuild was still leather.

I'm guessing leather is a more durable material 'cos it doesn't react with petrol, comparing to any form of durable rubber made for submerging(and moving) in petrol?!