Walbro Vs Mikuni

Deere Hunter Canada · Post by **Deere Hunter Canada** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 3:02 pm

Hey Guys

I have a question for ya... I have Kohler and CCW engine with Walbro carbs. There is the thing... All the carbs seem to run different...All the carbs have been cleaned extensively, Rebuilt with new carb kits and adjusted to service manual specs. Some are hard starting (like lots of choke) then most seem to flood the engine if it does not start right away, some start fine then run, the engine gets warm and then it bogs and dies then is hard starting. They seem to be tricky to set to run proberly. Anyway I was wondering on the pros and cons of replacing the walbros to mikunis. First of all will they fit 295 Kohlers and 340 CCW air cooled?? I have heard Mikunis(I love the ones on my 76 liquifire) are easier starting, more reliable?? Please post all opinions I am interested in views from guys who have had both.

JDFanPa · Post by **JDFanPa** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 4:34 pm

Although the walbros are tricky at times another thing is people often blame carbs for problems caused by other things like worn out engine,misgapped points,weak spark,incorrect timing etc etc etc. I had a 340ccw from my 400 what a BIt%# to start so I regapped points and set the timing the right way to correct specs and it started and ran great.

Switching to mikuni isnt all that hard but you cant just turn screws to tune a mikuni you have to buy and change parts to tune them. Surely it will start and run better on one once everything is right but it will cost some $$$$ and time to get it there.

Mikuni or not your engine needs to be in good shape and the ignition in order also to run right.

vintagesledguy · Post by **vintagesledguy** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 5:18 pm

go with a mikuni i canget specs for u if u need them

400brian · Post by **400brian** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 5:19 pm

When our 400s were new, one ran 7 years before the carb was rebuilt, the other more than that. They had never been disassembled or cleaned, just ran.

Everyone talks about tearing down their Mikunis yearly it seems, just to clean them, regardless of what they did for storage prep. On 00/JDX sleds, carb access is not real simple.

Another thing, I messed with a Mikuni all last winter on a CCW 340/5. I wanted to do this, just to educate myself about Mikunis, as I had never ran one before.
I found it is a pain in the ass to have to buy jets each time you want to experiment with a new mixture setting. Also, I found that the Mikuni is LOUD!! With the cowl off, the thing just plain screams!! It's louder than the engine, and in a 00/JDX there really is no space for a typical air box to try to quiet it down.

my $.02