1988 Elite SA50 carburetor

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NiftySA50
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1988 Elite SA50 carburetor

Post by NiftySA50 »

I am a recent owner of a 1988 Honda Elite SA 50. We love this scooter but I quickly realized this thing needs help in the carburetor department. I got the mixtures working well enough to idle right and make it rideable but discovered the carb had a small gas drip and horrible gas mileage. I tried a new bystarter but made it worse where it won’t stay running. I’m not super mechanical so figured I would have local dealer rebuild carb. They said find the parts and we will rebuild. From the dealers response finding a rebuild kit to keep oem carb is difficult. I don’t want an aftermarket Chinese carb so what is my next step? Thoughts?
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Re: 1988 Elite SA50 carburetor

Post by Meatball »

First: stay away from the dealer. They charge way too much for things that are way too easy...even for those not mechanically inclined.

Second: read the wiki walk-through and educate yourself on the inner components of the stock carb. They are truly as simple as pie and consist of maybe 10 pieces.

Third: diagnose the leak! An easy way I use is to clean and dry the outside of the carb completely...spotless as you can. Wrap the carb in a paper towel (and tape) and run it. Inspect paper towel for wet spots to locate origin of the leak. Now you know the problem.

Fourth: fix it by buying the gasket, float needle, o-ring or whatever...and install it. Give the carb a good clean while youre there and be happy you just saved lots of money.
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Re: 1988 Elite SA50 carburetor

Post by NiftySA50 »

Thanks Meatball for the advice. Do you know a good place to buy the gaskets, float needle, o-ring etc.? I will try to remove the carb myself and determine all the inner components.
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Re: 1988 Elite SA50 carburetor

Post by Meatball »

Determine what you need, then I will try to provide a source. There isnt ONE place to get everything usually.
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Re: 1988 Elite SA50 carburetor

Post by bonesv »

How about an online honda parts store?
http://shop.jerseyshorepowersports.com/ ... sp?srt=mfg They should have gasket kit which has all the o-rings included.
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Re: 1988 Elite SA50 carburetor

Post by NiftySA50 »

Sounds good Meatball.
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Re: 1988 Elite SA50 carburetor

Post by NiftySA50 »

I will take a look at that site Bonesv. Thanks
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Re: 1988 Elite SA50 carburetor

Post by Shnapper »

I also will need to eventually replace a few carb gaskets on my SB50p. Right now it appears the float bowl gasket is seeping a little bit. Don’t want to pull carb unless I have everything, especially the manifold/reed gasket. Not sure why stuff like this gets discontinued when there are a bunch of these scoots still in service.
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Re: 1988 Elite SA50 carburetor

Post by bonesv »

I’ve had to make gaskets, it’s not too difficult with a good knife and smooth surface to cut on.
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Re: 1988 Elite SA50 carburetor

Post by Shnapper »

? The OEM bowl gasket isn’t rubber?????

I think my SB50p carb might be different, not sure..
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Re: 1988 Elite SA50 carburetor

Post by bonesv »

Shnapper wrote: Sun Sep 16, 2018 2:57 pm ? The OEM bowl gasket isn’t rubber?????

I think my SB50p carb might be different, not sure..
Sorry, I mean't the intake base gaskets. I was not aware the bowl gasket was no longer available. Edit: The title of your post is for sa50 parts. Now you ask for sb50 bowl gaskets? I am confused but you are correct about the sb50 - it is different. I don't recall having a leaking bowl gasket on any of the 20 or so elite 50cc carburetors I have seen. The leak usually comes from the o-ring missing, or damaged in the f/a adjustment screw and dripping down onto the bottom of the bowl. Double check it by cleaning off the side and bowl, then run it for a few miles. Inspect immediately after with paper towel.
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Re: 1988 Elite SA50 carburetor

Post by bonesv »

Shnapper wrote: Sun Sep 16, 2018 2:07 pm I also will need to eventually replace a few carb gaskets on my SB50p. Right now it appears the float bowl gasket is seeping a little bit. Don’t want to pull carb unless I have everything, especially the manifold/reed gasket. Not sure why stuff like this gets discontinued when there are a bunch of these scoots still in service.
sb50 was only made available to usa for 3 yrs.
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Re: 1988 Elite SA50 carburetor

Post by Shnapper »

bonesv wrote: Sun Sep 16, 2018 6:58 pm
Shnapper wrote: Sun Sep 16, 2018 2:57 pm ? The OEM bowl gasket isn’t rubber?????

I think my SB50p carb might be different, not sure..
Sorry, I mean't the intake base gaskets. I was not aware the bowl gasket was no longer available. Edit: The title of your post is for sa50 parts. Now you ask for sb50 bowl gaskets? I am confused but you are correct about the sb50 - it is different. I don't recall having a leaking bowl gasket on any of the 20 or so elite 50cc carburetors I have seen. The leak usually comes from the o-ring missing, or damaged in the f/a adjustment screw and dripping down onto the bottom of the bowl. Double check it by cleaning off the side and bowl, then run it for a few miles. Inspect immediately after with paper towel.

Yeah my bad on the carb model/scooter version, I hitched on to this thread thinking they were the same carb.

Wiped it all up(wasn’t much)and rode it a little bit. I don’t see anything that concerns me. Before I rode it, I pulled air box as I suspected it was coming from the box boot. I found a puddle of oil in the air box boot and wiped it out. My initial inclination was the air box as the residue was higher that the A/F screw so I’ll keep my eye on it. I most likely messed up in two ways..

1. sometimes I pop(stationary wheelie)up the front end to turn it around in my garage.

2. I just hand cut some UNI air filter foam and over oiled it which didn’t help either.
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Re: 1988 Elite SA50 carburetor

Post by Wheelman-111 »

Greetings:

I recently kitted my 2001 Elite carb ordering from 2WheelPros.com. Evidently the stuff for 1988 is more scarce, but you can see what they have here.
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Re: 1988 Elite SA50 carburetor

Post by NiftySA50 »

Meatball wrote: Sat Sep 08, 2018 7:38 pm Determine what you need, then I will try to provide a source. There isnt ONE place to get everything usually.
Now that the Florida heat is gone i removed and took apart my Elite SA50 carb. Trying to figure out what is wrong. Should I just use carburetor cleaner spray? The carburetor doesn’t look too dirty. The plastic float seems bouncy (I have a new one anyway). I was hoping to see something obvious. I did notice the metal housing you screw the jet into has a chip. Will try to photograph that. Thoughts?
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