Experience with Nikki 2 barrel

I'm told by my mechanic that my 84 Mazda b2000 is in need of a new
carburetor. The cost for a new one, assuming it can even be found, is about
900 bucks. He is absolutely adamant about not replacing it with a reman and
his points are well taken. Now his claim is the carb is badly warped. Its
not that I doubt him its just that I was not aware of warpage problems in
the Nikki 2 barrel design. I'm no mechanic but I can do research. Plus I
installed a rebuild kit on that carb myself in 1990 so perhaps it is just
past due for a rebuild?

He is against a reman because he says the core they used cannot be trusted.
If it is a core, it was yanked for a pretty good reason in the first place.
Sounds logical to me.

So some questions:

How badly served am I if I go with a quality reman with a good warranty?

It's a 20 year old truck - not like it will run like new but it needs to
pass California smog.

How bad a problem was warpage with the Nikki 2 barrel line? Was it truly as
bad as he says? Seems the way the carb is mounted on the intake manifold
and all it is isolated from much of the engine heat. Or do they just slowly
warp over say 20 years?

He did say the carb was a Hitachi though I know it is a Nikki. Did Hitachi
and Nikki make the same carb design?


Thanks in advance,
Paul

On Fri, 31 Dec 2004, Paul M. Cook wrote:

> I'm told by my mechanic that my 84 Mazda b2000 is in need of a new
> carburetor.

Could well be.

> The cost for a new one, assuming it can even be found, is about 900
> bucks.

Probably. Asian carburetors of the '80s are notorious for two things:

1) Being very expensive

2) Being practically unrebuildable once they wear beyond just needing new
gaskets and seals (the hard parts wear in ways that cannot be fixed)

> He is absolutely adamant about not replacing it with a reman

He's right. You wouldn't be happy.

> Now his claim is the carb is badly warped.

He's very likely telling the truth.

> How badly served am I if I go with a quality reman with a good warranty?

Badly -- unless you like chasing endless carburetion problems and
exchanging the "remanufactured" garbage again and again and again.

> It's a 20 year old truck - not like it will run like new but it needs to
> pass California smog.

Pity you're in CA, where the smog regs require an OE carburetor, or I'd
suggest adapting a different carb.

> He did say the carb was a Hitachi though I know it is a Nikki. Did
> Hitachi and Nikki make the same carb design?

Hitachi, Nikki, Atsugi, Aisin...all made very similar carb designs.

Have you checked eBay?

"Daniel J. Stern" > wrote in message
n.umich.edu...
> On Fri, 31 Dec 2004, Paul M. Cook wrote:
>
> > I'm told by my mechanic that my 84 Mazda b2000 is in need of a new
> > carburetor.
>
> Could well be.
>
> > The cost for a new one, assuming it can even be found, is about 900
> > bucks.
>
> Probably. Asian carburetors of the '80s are notorious for two things:
>
> 1) Being very expensive
>
> 2) Being practically unrebuildable once they wear beyond just needing new
> gaskets and seals (the hard parts wear in ways that cannot be fixed)
>
> > He is absolutely adamant about not replacing it with a reman
>
> He's right. You wouldn't be happy.

That is my fear but I simply haven't the funds to do otherwise - especially
for a truck so old.

> > Now his claim is the carb is badly warped.
>
> He's very likely telling the truth.

How do they become warped if not ever exposed to excessive heat? I'm the
original owner of the vehicle and can attest to it never once overheating.
It's got 265K miles on it and for the most part has been quite trouble free
except for some expensive tranny work years ago.

Paul

On Sat, 1 Jan 2005, Paul M. Cook wrote:

> That is my fear but I simply haven't the funds to do otherwise -
> especially for a truck so old.

Well...have you checked eBay? Have you checked www.car-part.com
(searchable used auto parts nationwide)?

> > > Now his claim is the carb is badly warped.
> >
> > He's very likely telling the truth.
>
> How do they become warped if not ever exposed to excessive heat?

The warpage is caused slowly, over time and mileage, not so much by heat
but by mechanical tension of fasteners and springs pulling the carb body
parts out of alignment.

Now that I think about it, IIRC I had some info stashed away somewhere on
someone who was able to refurbish even these "impossible" Japanese carbs
satisfactorily. I'll dig around and see what I can find.

DS

"Daniel J. Stern" > wrote in message
n.umich.edu...
> On Sat, 1 Jan 2005, Paul M. Cook wrote:
>
> > That is my fear but I simply haven't the funds to do otherwise -
> > especially for a truck so old.
>
> Well...have you checked eBay? Have you checked www.car-part.com
> (searchable used auto parts nationwide)?

Thanks for the quick reply. Yep, tried eBay. Found a factory new radiator
but no new carb.

> > > > Now his claim is the carb is badly warped.
> > >
> > > He's very likely telling the truth.
> >
> > How do they become warped if not ever exposed to excessive heat?
>
> The warpage is caused slowly, over time and mileage, not so much by heat
> but by mechanical tension of fasteners and springs pulling the carb body
> parts out of alignment.

Yeah I can see that - the aluminum alloy they used was pretty cheap. I
stripped all three float cover threads when I installed a rebuild kit and I
wasn't even trying.

> Now that I think about it, IIRC I had some info stashed away somewhere on
> someone who was able to refurbish even these "impossible" Japanese carbs
> satisfactorily. I'll dig around and see what I can find.

Great - looking forward to what you can find. Thanks for the help.

Paul

On Sat, 1 Jan 2005, Paul M. Cook wrote:

> > The warpage is caused slowly, over time and mileage, not so much by
> > heat but by mechanical tension of fasteners and springs pulling the
> > carb body parts out of alignment.

> Yeah I can see that - the aluminum alloy they used was pretty cheap.

If it had been aluminum, there wouldn't be a problem. It's potmetal.
ZAMAC. Zinc alloy. Very soft and easily warped.

> > Now that I think about it, IIRC I had some info stashed away somewhere on
> > someone who was able to refurbish even these "impossible" Japanese carbs
> > satisfactorily. I'll dig around and see what I can find.
>
> Great - looking forward to what you can find. Thanks for the help.

May take me a few days.

DS