Aftermarket vs OEM Carburetor Comparison

[Gwbarm]

 I Ran across this video today comparing an aftermarket to OEM Carb on Suzuki Vinson, thought it might generate some interest, it is quite long but informative.

 

[kp3004x4]

Completely understand with comparison but some aftermarket ones just has the look the feel but doesn't perform and mostly substandard,will run but not at top performance.

[Gwbarm]

I agree completely im battling that right now, I will not buy another with aftermarket carb, that's the first thing I will check. 

[JSL]

I've learnt my lesson with aftermarket carbs. And I usually recommend aftermarket to customers because of cost. But for me I've had better productivity by rebuilding carbs. That's just my 2 cents worth. 😆 

[Gwbarm]

I am working toward replacing the aftermarket carbs on all my ATV, one of them I put on, lesson learned, it just so tempting to pay 35.00 vs 650.00.

[lbdrummer3]

I haven't had good luck with Chineseium garbage from lawn mowers to Toyota 22r's.  Everyone one of them was junk.  Sure the engines ran, barely.  I'd rather buy a used rebuildable carb on ebay instead of a Chineseium copy.

[Gwbarm]

I bought my Suzuki Eiger, it was running poorly, I knew that when I bought it, it had an after market carb on it, I just took it off, and replaced it with another aftermarket, it ran much better, this was in August, ran it some not a lot, went to start it a couple of months ago and it started fine, fired right up, idled fine, but when I started to take off it stumbled bucked and really didn't want to take throttle. Im not blaming it on the Carb just yet, I know it has a bad vacuum petcock, it will run for about a minute in the run position and die, so I have been running it in the prime position and it has been doing OK until now. Just for my own piece of mind I bought a used OEM carb off eBay to rebuild and put on it. Ill see how that works out. 

[JSL]

Rebuilding a carb is generally cheaper and not very difficult. One thing to remember whether you are Rebuilding or cleaning a carb is never force anything through a jet. Doing so will increase the size of the jet opening. Causing the jet to release more fuel than intended. 

[KellyF]

Are the aftermarket rebuild kits I see on eBay and Amazon okay to use to rebuild an OEM carb? I’m working on a 2001 Bayou 220 that’s been sitting for a while. Can you buy an OEM carb kit, or do you have to order it all piecemeal?

[Gwbarm]

No OEM carb kit available for the 2 I am working on, Yamaha and suzuki, all parts are listed separately.

[JSL]

I've used Amazon and ebay rebuild kits with success 

[Gwbarm]

That's good to know , thanks

[afterburn]

One big factor in aftermarket vs oem is how easy it is to change the carb on your quad. Also instead of getting the $35 carbs maybe go with a brand name like nikki or pwk. They are not as good as oem but pretty close and way cheaper.

[Gwbarm]

I havent used a Nikki carb but i have been very happy with the Nikki parts i have used. Thanks for the info!

[puskinelis]

If OEM wouldn't be so expensive I wouldn't try chinese or non OEM. But I saw a lot of success with chinese ones and people claim they work really well. Also rebuild kit is best as you still have original carb structure.

[Gwbarm]

Chinese carbs have gotten a bad rep, and thats because people like me get a bad one and complain, but recently i have gotten one that is OK, it does not compare to OEM but most people wouldnt notice it , i do, they are many good ones out there, but the trick is finding them. The best way is from word of mouth from people who has used them, or at least get one that has a company brand. If they go to the trouble of putting their name on it thats a plus.  I have always been impressed with the build quality, but the jetting is wrong, wheather it is fuel jets to air jets ratio, im not really sure.

[kiriyaaoi]

On 3/7/2024 at 6:56 PM, Gwbarm said:

Chinese carbs have gotten a bad rep, and thats because people like me get a bad one and complain, but recently i have gotten one that is OK, it does not compare to OEM but most people wouldnt notice it , i do, they are many good ones out there, but the trick is finding them. The best way is from word of mouth from people who has used them, or at least get one that has a company brand. If they go to the trouble of putting their name on it thats a plus.  I have always been impressed with the build quality, but the jetting is wrong, wheather it is fuel jets to air jets ratio, im not really sure.

This is my experience as well. They come with incorrect jets and an improperly adjusted float level for the named application.  They seem to do fine once you manage to get them dialed in properly and install proper Mikuni jets.

[Tiha]

Sometimes the chinese carbs are our only options unfortunately. 

I have had mixed luck. On a kodiak the previous owner put one on and then sold the machine because it ran so bad. I tried everything I could think of to get it to run right and never did. Found a used OEM and problem solved. 

Swapping jets and setting the float is minimum. Seems like they never cold start or choke right either. 

have gotten carbs where air passages were never drilled. Total fail. 

Seems like on lawnmowers they work much better. Not perfect but same scenario, OEM is just not available new or used so you have to make something work. 

I was fighting random problems with a 300 bayou. Bought a chinese carb just as a process of elimination. Ran pretty decent. So I swapped jets and been running it ever since. 

 

 

[kiriyaaoi]

3 hours ago, Tiha said:

Sometimes the chinese carbs are our only options unfortunately. 

I have had mixed luck. On a kodiak the previous owner put one on and then sold the machine because it ran so bad. I tried everything I could think of to get it to run right and never did. Found a used OEM and problem solved. 

Swapping jets and setting the float is minimum. Seems like they never cold start or choke right either. 

have gotten carbs where air passages were never drilled. Total fail. 

Seems like on lawnmowers they work much better. Not perfect but same scenario, OEM is just not available new or used so you have to make something work. 

I was fighting random problems with a 300 bayou. Bought a chinese carb just as a process of elimination. Ran pretty decent. So I swapped jets and been running it ever since. 

 

 

It took a lot of work and rejetting but I've managed to get the Motoku clone carb running pretty damn good on my Quadrunner 250.  Part of the idle problem I was fighting ended up being a fuel pump issue, there was no fuel in the vacuum line but I think there was a pinhole leak in the diaphram. After replacing it I no longer have issues with it stalling every time at idle when warm.

[Gwbarm]

Good diagnostics, glad you got it up and running.