12 Steps to Cleaning a Mikuni Carburetor

The temps are falling, and you’re doing the snow dance. One area that may need attention before hitting the trails are the carburetors on your sled. Or, perhaps it wasn’t running right on the last run? Loss of top end performance? Today we’ll take a look at what’s involved in cleaning the carburetors to improve the performance on a two stroke Kawasaki Invader.

On this model, there are two carburetors that can be removed and cleaned separately. For each carb, you’ll want to perform the following steps:

• Remove the belt guard, allowing more space to get to the air box.

• Then remove the air box which is situated on the intake end of the carburetors, held on by four springs, two on each end.

• Remove the fuel line, usually a clear plastic tube. (Note: It’s not a bad idea to have spare lengths of tubing to replace any tubing that may break due to becoming brittle)

• Remove the slides from the carburetor, then the choke cable.

• Once the carburetor is off the sled, remove the float bowl, held on by four screws. Gently tap the float bowl to pop it off the carburetor itself. DO NOT pry the float bowl off! This almost always results in damage to the float bowl. Most of the inner workings of the carburetor are made of brass, a soft metal that can be easily scratched or gouged, which can dramatically affect the performance of the sled, so handle with care. Also, over tightening can strip the threads. Inside are multiple high speed and low speed jets that control the air to gas ratio, and can become gummed up, even possible when Sta-Bil is used in the gas over the summer.

• One effective way is to use a carburetor cleaner to dissolve the “varnish” inside. Then an air compressor can be used to clear the tiny openings of the jets.

• When finishing cleaning, check the jets with a flashlight, they should look clear. If the light shining through looks yellowish, they are likely still clogged.

• Once the jets have been cleared, blow out the body of the carburetor, taking care to point the direction of the airflow away from you, which will help to avoid splashing any gas or carb cleaner into your face.

• Reassemble the carburetor, checking to ensure the needle valve moves freely, before replacing the float bowl.

• Replace the float bowl, being careful not to force any of the parts or over tighten. Any damage to these precise parts will result in a replacement!

• Re-attach the choke cable, bending up the metal locking tab, which prevents the cable from working its way loose.

• Replace the belt guard and air box, making sure that no rodents have taken up residence. This actually happens more often than you might think!

Fire it up! Adjust the carburetor per the manufacturer’s suggestions. The sled should idle properly and have better throttle response than before. Take it for a spin, the acceleration should now be smooth from idle all the way to top end.