Tune Carbs - how often?

[scottevest]

How often do you tune your carbs? My car seems to be running fine, but hasn't been tuned in 2+ years since I went to SF to have Bill Arnold tune it. Before he tuned it, it ran like shit, but I didn't even know it. As you know, there is NO ONE where I live to trust doing this. I did find someone in Boise, 2.5 hours away, that says they can do it. I'm thinking of driving there and leaving the car there for awhile to do that, and other things that are needed. Here's his website. Based solely upon this, do you think he can do it, or do I need to drive to Bill again in SF?

Wondering if we did a hi-res Zoom call if someone could listen to my car and tell me if a tune is needed?

Thanks.

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[Mike Goble]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[Stevehose]

I think the only things needing "tuning" on your recent carb work would be looking at if they are still synchronized (each pulling same amount of air at idle and 3k rpm) via a linkage adjustment, checking the idle mixture screws for best idle rpm, and ensuring no vacuum leaks. If you ask the shop if they can do this (and they should based on the BMW 1600 on the rack) and they say yes, then go for it. It will take an hour at the most to do all 3.

 

[Markos]

I suspect that my carbs haven’t been tuned in 20 years. Other than being difficult to start the motor runs great. Starting issue could be due to six month intervals on 5yo gas though.

 

[Krzysztof]

Not sure carbs tends to make lean or rich mixture but I would at least check the CO2 once per year or faster (depending on yearly mileage).

Running lean is killing the valve's seats and can be ended with head cracks... But I'm probably overreacting

 

[tferrer]

The Hurless Brothers in Boise have a great rep. They did the PPI on my 2002 and where EXTREMELY thorough (pulled the valve cover to look at the valves/rockers etc). They've restored many 02's and one of the brothers has a fully restored CSi. I talked to the the older brother for at least 45 mins and he really knew his stuff. They are very reasonable as well. TIP: Do not try to cheap out or go in there with your camera running. You'll get thrown out.

 

[zinz]

One thing that is very important for carb’d cars, and that is the fuel you buy. If there is a non-ethanol choice… buy it.

I’ve torn down many carbs that are so fouled with green gunk, that I can only attribute to ethanol poisoning.

Good fuel, and drive them often.

Ed