Flooding carburetors

[skanders01]

If reassembled correctly, shouldn’t the float valve close so as not to have gas leak out of the carb if over-primed? Just want some feedback before I tear things down again. All three of my rebuilt motors will leak gas if I prime too much….and none of the three want to start. Spark is OK, and fuel obviously is getting to the carbs. Any way to check to determine whether gas is getting to the cylinders?

Thanks for any suggestions. Need to improve my 0 for 3 batting average before spring thaw. I take no solace in this kind of consistency!

Kyle Anderson
Trempeleau, WI
skanders@triwest.net
920-764-0501

[ADAM GIBB]

Kyle,
You didn’t mention what type of carbs you are working on. OMC carbs have a bowl vent that must be free flowwing to let the air out so that the float will rise and close the inlet needle. When looking at the carb, the is usually a hole in the front face beside the throat. If you follow that passage, you will find that it goes back in the body and then turns down to the bowl. I had one that I though was clear, but the carb was overflowing. Frank Robb suggested that if I was sure that my needle and set were good, that a blockage in the vent passage must be the cause. As usual, he was right and it now works as it should.

[frankr]

0 for 3 is a pretty poor average with carburetors. It’s kind of hard to guess what you are repeatedly doing wrong. But you mention over priming. Could that mean you are mashing on the primer bulb? Squeeze it hard enough and it will force the float needle off the seat.

BTW, too much gas is just about as bad and not enough gas when it comes to the motor starting/running or not.

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