How long does a carb last?
Senior User
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 136
Likes: 0
Carb maintenance
I'd agree with pfogle, and add the following:
- keep a high quality, clean air filter on the carb at all times
- a common failure is the power valve being ruptured due to backfires thru the carb (due to the timing being advanced too far).
I'm not sure what you mean by 'last', they're pretty indestructable. After many, many years the throttle pivots may wear and need replacement. The other 'serviceable/wear' parts - bowl and metering block gaskets, accel pump & secondary vac diaphragms, power valve(s), etc should all gives years of service before simply replacement would be required.
- keep a high quality, clean air filter on the carb at all times
- a common failure is the power valve being ruptured due to backfires thru the carb (due to the timing being advanced too far).
I'm not sure what you mean by 'last', they're pretty indestructable. After many, many years the throttle pivots may wear and need replacement. The other 'serviceable/wear' parts - bowl and metering block gaskets, accel pump & secondary vac diaphragms, power valve(s), etc should all gives years of service before simply replacement would be required.
Posting Guru
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,162
Likes: 1
From: House Springs, MO
My dad had an old 2bbl motorcraft (essentially a Holley) that sat on top of a 351M for almost 20 years, and it still worked like a champ, even without a fuel filter. Ate a big ol hole thru the carb spacer and STILL ran like a champ, not to mention the fact that there's original carbed engines from the 40's that still function properly.
