Cleaning Plugged Idle Jets in Webber 44's
Cleaning Plugged Idle Jets in Webber 44's
By - Bob Elliott - April 2006
(with much help from Carey Hines (www.beckspeedster.com)
When my 2180 started missing at idle, I began the process of figuring out how to clean the idle jets in my Webbers. I've always heard that they’re pretty small and prone to blockage, so I figure this was the source of my missing or lousy bottom end?
Cleaning the jets is actually pretty easy, if you can find them. All that is required is a flat head screwdriver and a compressor or can of compressed air (found at any computer store, Best Buy, etc...) The hard part is locating them and then, getting to them. On my Speedster, it was a chore and I ultimately had to cut access holes in the rear fender wells,
but that worked well and now it will be easy to do this a second time with these removable access ports.
The two smaller holes allow a screwdriver to get at the idle mixture screws, no plugs for them as of yet?.
You can follow these simple steps and if you can get to them, you can have your idle jets cleaned in about 30 min. total which should get your low RPM driving back to normal. Please view all of the pictures attached, they are a big help with locating and identifying the jets you will need to clean.
FIRST: remove your air cleaners via the two wing nuts located on top of the air cleaner top cover. This allows you access to the emulsion tubes located between the velocity stacks.
There are 4 of these, 2 on each carb, be sure to have a look at pictures of the emulsion tube assembled and disassembled for some help visualizing this assembly.
Simply back them out with a flat head screwdriver and pull out with needle nose pliers or something similar. Then clean with carb spray and blow them out. Also, gently blow out the holes from which they came from in the carbs. Set them aside in a CLEAN location. Then, repeat for the other side.
NEXT: There are 4 idle jets, again 2 on each carb.
These are on the outsides of the carbs, located near the fuel inlet. Simply look at the sides of the carbs for where the fuel line enters the carb. I have supplied a pictures of them removed and disassembled for a better idea of what they look like.
Remove the jet. If it comes out with the "o" ring attached, good. If not, remove the "o" ring from the hole. Pull the idle jet from the jet holder, clean and blow it out. Next, blow out the hole from which the jet came from in the carb.
Place the jet back in the jet holder, replace the "o" ring and place the jet back into the hole it came from. Tighten until you feel it "bottom out". Do not over tighten. You want it snug, but not too tight.. Repeat this for the other 3 jets. Once you are done with the idle jets, then you can replace the emulsion tubes. Tighten until they "bottom out". Again, do not over tighten.
Replace the air cleaner and air cleaner top covers w/ washers and wing nuts.
Start it up and hopefully your car is running much smoother. OK, it did not fix my problem, but now I’m pretty certain it’s not a plugged idle jet anyway. Oh well, what to try next??? The sun is shining and my Speedster is still not running good?
Many thanks to Cary Hines of Special Edition, Inc. for help locating the jets and providing some photos and to Mike Ragonese who provided assistance, moral support, donated parts and special tools that made this job much easier for me to do.
Hope this helps. Later, Bob E.