1985 Spree Throttle Cable Removal from Carb

[RJM]

Hey,

I tried searching posts and the wiki but couldn't find anything definitive. My brother has an '85 Spree that I want to get running for him. I was trying to remove the carb tonight but the throttle cable has the thicker metal cylinder (still very small) that it's attached to inside of the carb. If it helps, this sits right above the mixture screw when looking at the carb from the side. Am I missing something? When unscrewing the cable it only pulls up so far toward the top. There is an odd clip over the jet, do I need to pinch that and pull it out in order to remove the cable? I can post a picture tomorrow evening if needed.

Thanks,

[Meatball]

pics

[Wheelman-111]

Greetings:

The cable-end aglet is attached by an odd spring-loaded keyhole to the carb slide. The cable and slide should pull together right out from the carb body, but Gum or a previously mis-installed slide can bind if the surfaces are gouged or the guide pin in the slide bore is jammed into the slide somehow. Try rotating that shiny carb slide one way and then the other to see if you can coax it out. Do NOT resort to Vise-Grips or you will almost certainly bugger the slide beyond redemption. Hope it's fuel resin, or your carb is probably jacked.

Once the slide is out, walk the spring away from its seat in the carb slide, then you'll see how the aglet at the end of the cable can unhook from the keyhole in the slide. Beware the spring tends to fly off in random directions, usually straight into a storm drain or under your water heater, never to be seen again.

[RJM]

I've attached a couple of pictures, I hope the resolution is decent enough.

[Meatball]

The first pic: Im not sure what Im seeing. I know its looking into the venturi of the carb and I can make out the needle in the center. No idea what the black blob is in the red square tho.

2nd pic: Looks like a typical slide in the top of a carb with the spring pulled back. Nothing awry visually.

As WheelDude has stated, it seems like a stuck slide from either gummed up fuel and deposits OR it was installed with brute force and its jammed in there causing irreparable damage to the slide, carb or both....you better hope its the first one!

It usually just pulls right out without much effort. Sometimes it gets sticky and you just have to be sure to pull it out SQUARELY. Tight tolerances cause it to bind if pulled a bit skewed.

[RJM]

Thanks for the feedback, my phone camera is junk. The black blob in picture one is what's connected to the actual throttle cable, but if it's all supposed to come out as one piece then I have some more investigating to do. I'll try some seafoam to hopefully break up any gunk, otherwise I may have bad news for my brother.

[eclark5483]

I'm gonna go with gunk build up as well. If it was myself personally, I'd kill 2 birds with 1 stone. I'd remove the cable from the throttle end, take the carb and cable out together, unscrew the bottom to expose the innards, place it in a small crock pot with some oxyclean solution, and let it cook overnight. Afterwards, blow it out with a can of air, then spray it down with some WD-40. The cable should pop right out, and as a plus, your carb should be clean as a whistle. Whatever you do, don't yank/force it.

PS, Seafoam is useless for cleaning a carb short term. It works best in the tank and driven for miles, or in a crock pot like I had suggested with the Oxyclean.

[Wheelman-111]

Greetings:

Could that springy thing be a W clip inserted as a throttle limiter? If so by all means carefully squeeze the legs together and see if it comes out. Then the slide should be free to pop out the top.