How to Install Zama Carburetor Rebuild Kit

How to correctly install a Zama  rebuild kit or gasket and diaphragm kit

Zama technical support walks through rebuilding a carburetor, highlighting the proper technique for cleaning check valves with carburetor cleaner rather than compressed air. The process includes replacing the strainer, gaskets, and diaphragms, along with essential adjustments for the metering lever height.

Okay today I'm going to demonstrate how to put in a rebuild kit from Zama. We offer two kinds being diaphragm kit which is just gaskets and diaphragms and the rebuild kit which I'll be installing today is gaskets diaphragms Inlet needle meter and lever spring Welch plug strainer. Those are your basic items that come in a rebuild kit. These kits are available from any Zama distributor it just depends on your carburetor model number which is located near your fuel line connections normally and it'll be printed in black ink. Once you know the model number you can usually call one of our distributors and they can tell you what rebuild kits in it or you can contact us through email or phone and we'll be happy to tell you what rebuild kit goes into your carburetor. Zama technical support is available Monday through Friday so feel free to contact us any time.

I'm gonna begin by removing the pump side of the carburetor. The pump cover is what I'm currently removing you have the pump side and the meter inside. For those whose first time doing this so you want to remove these two screws loosen these as you remove the pump cover. If you have a primer bulb on that side or we call it a syringe you want to just remove it all with one piece if you can and set it to the side you then will have a gasket on top of the pot side and a pump diaphragm that's against the body of the carburetor. I'm gonna set the old ones to the side I'm gonna flip the carburetor over and I'm gonna remove the metering cover which is on the meter inside of the carburetor. The metering side in this particular case has two screws. The majority of metering covers will only have two screws. Remove these two you'll use those again. I'll remove the metering cover set it to the side on the meter inside the gasket goes down first against the body of carpet then the metering diaphragm some will remove those two next. I will walk to remove the metering lever spring Inlet needle and to do that. I'm gonna loosen this metering screw here so I'm gonna put my finger on top of the meter and lever and hold it down because it's spring-loaded. As I loosen this screw I'll just hold the meter and lever down. Once I have this screw I'll remove it. You will need to reuse that particular screw as it's not included in any of the rebuild kits. Once I have it removed I've got my finger holding down the meter and lever as I release pressure you'll see it pops up and the spring meter and leaver and pin. I'm going to set to the side look so I'm gonna remove the inlet needle set it to the side and we'll flip it back over to the pump side.

The first thing I'm going to do before installing the rebuild kit next is I'm gonna remove this strainer here and I usually do that with a scratch awl and I'm just gonna get it where it pops up like that. Let's go grab it and set it to the side. Now I'm going to take a little carb cleaner, You do not want to spray directly in the holes you want to spray at an angle because spraying directly into the hose it's possible to damage to the check valve from the compressed air in the can we just don't recommend it We also don't recommend spraying compressed air to any of the holes on the operator in any parts of it. Do not insert anything into any of the holes because spraying compressed air or inserting anything into any of the holes can damage the check valve so once the check valves are damaged there's really no other option but to replace the carburetor. So I more spray carburetor cleaner at an angle. Spray a little in that hole but at an angle so it's not directly hitting the check valve. I'm gonna flip it over and do the same thing on this side that way it'll remove any gum or built-up residue. I'm going to shake it to air dry just a little bit I'm not gonna spray any compressed air as we just don't recommend that at all. You're taking a big chance by spraying compressed air into these carburetors. It can really do a lot of damage. Next, I'm going soak the new strainer that I have for the carburetor that I got of the rebuild kit. Now you can put this in you can press it in with your finger sometimes you can use a drill bit which we recommend or the dull end of a drill bit. I'm going to use a five millimeter allen wrench it happens to work on the card stand and it also is a perfect fit for this particular strainer so more taking I will gently push it down till it's seated up there and go take my tweezers. I'm all just mash the edges of the strainer to make sure they are flat against the carburetor wall because you don't want any dirt or any debris to be able to bypass that strainer. Next I'm gonna put in the pump diaphragm and the pump gasket so I'm gonna line those up and I'm going to line those up with the screw hole and put them back just the way I took them off.

This is your new pump diaphragm first and your new pop gasket you've removed from your reap new rebuild kit. Once I have those in place I'm then going to reinstall the pump cover and it may take a little finesse here to get that to fit down in there exactly. You want all the holes to line up at the end. I'm going screw these two down and if your car brother should be dirty before doing the rebuild kit you can spray the outside off with carb cleaner to get it good and clean before beginning this one just happen to not be dirty. I'm they're gonna flip it over and I'm going to install the metering lever. I want to address one thing while I'm thinking about it on this particular carburetor. You have a Welch plug right here some people need to remove that Welch plug and some people don't. As a rule of thumb I don't remove the Welch plug unless the progression holes or stopped up right under here you can look underneath the welch plug into the venturi and you'll see two to threedrillings those drillings if they look clear I would not remove the Welch plug.

In a later video I will be going over how to remove a welch plugs and why to remove a welch plugs We also will be introducing a new kit that includes a welch plug remover and tools to install the Welch plug and that could be coming out sometime in August. 

So in this situation I'm not removing the welch plug. So next I will put the inlet needle meter and lever pin and spring in the first. I take the meter lever will let me grab it here and I'm gonna set it down where it's standing up. I'm going to take the meter and lever slide the pin through oops I'm gonna take the pin. I'm gonna slide it through the meter and lever. I'm gonna hold it with my forefinger and thumb. I'm then going to take the inlet needle slide it on the forks to where I'm holding everything. It was one piece. I'm then going to insert the end they needle into the hole as I do that I'm gonna compress the meter in spring as I push down and I'm going to hold it. Now sometimes in this situation the pin here will not sit down into the groove so you'll have to push it over to make it pop in. Once it's popped in and everything is flush you want to take your screw that you removed earlier and you want to put it back in the hole and by screwing this in you'll want to screw it down tight. Next you'll want to check once it's all screwed in. You can see the meter and levers moving. It don't move very much but the next crucial step is to check your meter and leave or height and width to do that you need either a Zama gauge or any straightedge will do. I would recommend taking the gauge running it over the edge of the carburetor. You want the edge planted to go directly over the rounded part of your meter and lever and you want to check to see how large the gap is between the meter and lever and the straight edge you want that gap to be very slight I would recommend it almost touching but not touching. If it's set too high in touching the straightedge it can cause gas to leak out of the carburetor when the engines not running and if it's set too low you just won't get the performance out of the engine you should. So by looking at this I'm gonna hold it up to light and I can see a large gap between my metering lever and my Z gauge so I'm gonna have to raise that meter and leave here a little bit. To do that I'm gonna take a flathead screwdriver and I'm gonna put it at the base of the metering lever at the forks. Then I'm gonna put some pressure on it just to hold it steady and then with my thumb nail or my forefinger finger nail I'm gonna raise that up I'm gonna pull up on that ever so slightly until I feel comfortable. Then I'm gonna push it down a couple of times to make sure I got the 

play on me then I'm gonna recheck that metering labor and sometimes you'll have to hold it up to a light to see for sure. So after checking this one I'm good my metering lever height is good. Now I will now apply the metering gasket and metering diaphragm so that on the meter inside the gasket goes down first and then I'm gonna put the meter and diaphragm I'm gonna make sure my holes all line up screw holes and then next will be my metering cover once those alone I'm gonna take my two screws I'm going screw those back in and I'm gonna tighten those up double-check my puck side and I'm good to go.

That completes installing a rebuild kit.

I hope that helps you if you ever get stuck or have any questions feel free to contact our technical support.

Thank you.