Carb kits from Aliexpress for crossflow V4

[Gilera]

Just thought i'd share my experience here in case others are interested. I ordered a couple of carb kits from China mostly for the carb bowl gasket and needle and seat so I could clean out the carbs. The kits cost $14AUD each and came with all sorts of bits and pieces including O rings and little plastic fittings. They do include float and core plugs too. I have no idea what most of the stuff is supposed to be for but I guess they cover quite a few model variations. The funny thing is I got two kits for my 2 carbs from the same seller and the kits didn't even have the same contents!

The gasket for the bowl is some kind of pale red rubber - not sure if this is better or worse than the OEM black gasket material. When you tighten the screws it continues to squeeze the gasket without putting much force on the screws and this means that when you take the bowl back off the gasket you can see that it has no longer been perfectly aligned over the mating surface. The red fiber washers for the screw plugs to access the jets are not a good fit and flop around a bit so you have to line them up at the end when the screw contacts them. The paper gaskets between the carbs and manifold are very thin compared to the factory ones to the point where I think i'd feel safer reusing the thick factory ones in my case. The needle seat doesn't seem to want to screw in, like the threads are not finished well. I didn't force it and have reused my seat for now. I used the needle and clip only because the model of my carbs (1975 model Johnson 115) seemed to have needles which do not accommodate a spring clip. The needle that was in there had no place at the top to attach a clip and there were no clips or springs in either carb. Unless someone has replaced the needles previously with something from another carb I can only assume that this how they were and the needle relied on gravity for the needle to drop out of the seat when the float dropped. Perhaps someone can confirm if they have seen this before. Seems very strange to be not to have a spring or clip of any kind and would think this would be prone to having the needle stick. Anyway the needle from the kit seems to cause a seal when I blow into the fuel inlet so will use it for now.

I didn't try to use the core plugs after all of this but I get carb fluid flowing out of all the little holes so will leave it for now.

I used to think that these kits would likely be coming from the same factories producing the OEM ones. Who would go to the trouble of reproducing so many little parts for a low cost item right? This kit is definitely inferior to OEM and I would not buy one again.

Are the Sierra ones better or is OEM the only way to go?

[Forkin' Crazy]

I always used OEM. And unless the taper on the needle was worn, I usually just cleaned them well and put them back together. Those were MY carbs, not for a customer.

[kellytheaker]

I agree with above - OEM - or best quality you can get . You need confidence in the carb items installed . Do it once - do it right - forget about it or you will have to revisit the issue or chase your tail a bit . Burning a cylinder down or just a simple no run condition on the water is a bad day . Get a Sierra kit and or OEM .
I understand the need to try and save dough

[rjdubiel]

Brown rubber gaskets are the good ones. Red, Black, usually is not a good material in these cheap carb kits.

[racervboat]

I tried those cheap ass kits the are JUNK PERIOD.Lesson learned oem and sieara only for me now.

[Dave Strong]

I tried those cheap ass kits the are JUNK PERIOD.Lesson learned oem and sieara only for me now.

[rjdubiel]

I tried those cheap ass kits the are JUNK PERIOD.Lesson learned oem and sieara only for me now.

Racervboat, remember my old v6 crossflow carbs and the gaskets where just about closing off the air passages on the top of the carb as the black rubber swelled so much on that top cap of the carb.

[racervboat]

Racervboat, remember my old v6 crossflow carbs and the gaskets where just about closing off the air passages on the top of the carb as the black rubber swelled so much on that top cap of the carb.

Yep those jap rubber bowl gaskets swelled so much so fast they swelled right into the floats and froze them where they locked the float where it was.

[RoyE]

Thanks for sharing your experience with the Aliexpress, hopefully you will prevent many others from buying that junk

[racervboat]

ebays full of them you got to watch out what your buying.aliexpress is only one of many.

[racervboat]

Alot of times i usually just need the bowl gasket and the top plate gasket if the original black ones are still there.

[Gilera]

Yes i agree. My 1975 model carbs dont have a top plate so think ill just get genuine float bowl gaskets and the ones to the manifold. I came unstuck trying to reuse the original black float bowl gasket on a 9.9 merc before. Leaked like crazy.

[Forkin' Crazy]

They used black gaskets on the bowls too in the '80s. The brown ones came later. I expect when ethanol additives began. I soaked some brown gaskets in E85 for 6 months and they still looked like new.

And yes, the early carbs up to at least '86 didn't have a top plate. If I remember right, Alan Stoker said the 86 2.6 XP/GT carbs were the best, second to the year prior BTW.

[Mszed]

Installed a red gasket on one 2.6 GT. carb. The gasket swelled up and decenigrated. Gasket pieces blocked up needle seat float valve which cause gasoline to pour out of carb. I should have done a Scream and Fly search first Thanks for the post.

[racervboat]

Installed a red gasket on one 2.6 GT. carb. The gasket swelled up and decenigrated. Gasket pieces blocked up needle seat float valve which cause gasoline to pour out of carb. I should have done a Scream and Fly search first Thanks for the post.

Yep there absolute garbage.