loctite in screws in carb?

[jamesm113]

So i'm doing a carburetor rebuild. I've never done one before, but I have the service manual, and it hasn't been too difficult thus far. However, last night I stripped 4 screws trying to get to the floats last night, had to bust out the dremel to get the screws off. I'm almost positive they had loctite in them as you could hear it "break loose" when the screw finally budged, and then the screws were easy to take out. I figured this could be by design, since if all 4 of those screws were to come loose, gasoline would fall onto the hot engine and the alternator, but I wanted to check as I didn't see it mentioned anywhere else.

[DumbLuck]

i would assume they were top cover screws or float bowl screws you're refering to. problem #1 is they are JIS, Japonese Industrial Standard and not regular phillips. makes them VERY easy to strip with a pillips head screwdriver. I automaticly put a phillips bit on my hand impact and loosen all the screws first thing. usually only takes a few light taps to break them free, and saves alot of hastle. If i know i'm done with a carb i do blue locktite the screws, but only after i've replaced them with the appropriate sized socket head cap screws. bought in bulk from like Fastenal, they're really cheap, and will save major amounts of greif down the road.

[Kreylyn]

Just wanna mention that aluminum (carb bodies) and steel (screws) will sometimes react with each other and form an oxidation layer that will work like lock tight.

Krey

[jamesm113]

Just wanna mention that aluminum (carb bodies) and steel (screws) will sometimes react with each other and form an oxidation layer that will work like lock tight.

Krey

I'm pretty sure my screws were brass (they were golden), would that still cause oxidation with the aluminum carb bodies?

[KenpachiZaraki]

Same thing happened to me, i had to bust out the dremel too. Thank God for Dremel tools!

[Kreylyn]

I'm pretty sure my screws were brass (they were golden), would that still cause oxidation with the aluminum carb bodies?

The stock jets are brass, most of the screws are steel. Some may have been heat treated to harden them and the end result is a golden looking patina that is slightly resisitant to corrosion. I have not seen brass screws used in carbs... only for the jets...

When putting the screws in, this can/does remove part of the surface coating (it's just carbonization from the heat) around the threads themselves, which can cause the issue I mentioned inside the hole.

Brass would patina pretty quickly to a very darkly colored look... less golden, more brownish.

Krey

[kevin2502000]

I replaced mine with stainless steel allen head. Use the hand impact or if all else fails vise grips will break them loose.