Carb Maintenance

[Mulletwagon]

Do Zenith carbs tend to clog if they dry out from the engine not being run for a month or few months ? Is blowing out the jets and passages pretty much routine maintenance ?

[eagle]

I've never done it on mine in 10 years. I use only non-ethanol gas and run carb dry when stopping.

[jhowes]

I would say NO. I see them run for years without attention. I personally don't care for the Zenith for a driver. I run Marvels which give better mileage and power as far as I can tell, and no stalling on hard turns or hard braking Jack

[Gene F]

What is a Marvels?

[1928Mik]

My Zenith was pretty well clogged when I first resurrected my car. Even tho I run clean gas and run it dry at shutoff, every winter I take it off and look inside. It still will get some of that gummy residue in it. I just shoot some carb cleaner just to keep it cleaned out, so it's routine for me.

[katy]

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Originally Posted by Gene F

What is a Marvels?

Marvel Carburetor

[Kurt in NJ]

for many years I did nothing, then I was finding a collection of goo on the tips of the jets after sitting, now I shut off the fuel and run the bowl dry,cured that problem, about once a year I drop the lower bowl (one of the best features, so easy to do, just one bolt), slosh the fuel around and dump it into a can----along with cleaning the fuel bowl screen

[Benson]

Miss read question.

[whirnot]

Don't do anything with mine, use ethanol gas, and have never had an issue.

[Jim/GA]

Originally Posted by Kurt in NJ

for many years I did nothing, then I was finding a collection of goo on the tips of the jets after sitting, now I shut off the fuel and run the bowl dry,cured that problem, about once a year I drop the lower bowl (one of the best features, so easy to do, just one bolt), slosh the fuel around and dump it into a can----along with cleaning the fuel bowl screen

After years of not having to do anything, I have been having the same experience lately. I use gas with ethanol in it.

It's not that big a deal to drop the bottom half of the carb, spray through the jets from the tip with some carb cleaner, shake the excess fluid out and bolt the bottom of the carb back. Maybe 5 minutes work.

If it ides really poorly, you need to pull that jet from the upper half and clean it.

I will go for months and not have a problem, then all of a sudden the car runs poorly when I start it after sitting. I clean the carb and it's back to normal.

Henry was a genius to have the Zenith carb held together with one bolt!

[Synchro909]

Originally Posted by Jim/TX/GA

After years of not having to do anything, I have been having the same experience lately. I use gas with ethanol in it.

It's not that big a deal to drop the bottom half of the carb, spray through the jets from the tip with some carb cleaner, shake the excess fluid out and bolt the bottom of the carb back. Maybe 5 minutes work.

If it ides really poorly, you need to pull that jet from the upper half and clean it.

I will go for months and not have a problem, then all of a sudden the car runs poorly when I start it after sitting. I clean the carb and it's back to normal.

Henry was a genius to have the Zenith carb held together with one bolt!

He wasn’t so clever to make it necessary to remove the carburetor completely before you can take the bottom off. Trying to do it on the car is sure to end with the long jet that hangs from the top being bent and eventually break, especially with a Gemma steering box.

[Jim/GA]

Originally Posted by Synchro909

He wasn’t so clever to make it necessary to remove the carburetor completely before you can take the bottom off. Trying to do it on the car is sure to end with the long jet that hangs from the top being bent and eventually break, especially with a Gemma steering box.

That's a RHD problem, for sure. They had to cram everything into a tight area.

The other side of the engine compartment is almost empty...

I wonder what percent of all Model A's were built with RHD?

[Patrick L.]

If I think the car may be sitting for a period I just run it dry. There is not too much to maintain on a carburetor. If they develop a problem, they are not hard to fix.