More modern question 9.9 Johnson question

[bullie]

I am having carb issues on a 1978 9.9 Johnson. The low speed needle is broken and wedged in its hole. Is there an secret easy way to get it out. I have removed the welch plug and tried tapping lightly to push it back through. No luck.

[fisherman6]

Mark,
I haven’t had to deal with one that was actually twisted off in the seat yet. If I did, I’d probably try heat first. Aluminum casting alloys have a somewhat higher rate of thermal expansion than brass. The carburetor body will get larger per degree of temperature than the brass needle point. With a few heat cycles and some tapping and maybe a penetrant, it should be able to be gently worked out of there. Heat gun, maybe hot water ton heat the carb body up without damaging anything?

Someone else may chime in with a proven technique. I’m just letting you know what my gut tells me I’d do.

-Ben

OldJohnnyRude on YouTube

[billw]

Yikes. Is the motor salty? I don’t even know how you could break it off unless it was corrson seized. I guess I would try carefully drilling and driving in a good quality easy-out and heating the carb body. Good luck….

Long live American manufacturing!

[fleetwin]

How much of the needle is left jammed in place? I’m guessing just the broken tip….
Here is a crazy idea if the heat cycling does not work….
How’s about drilling a small hole through the metering pocket directly opposite the broken needle tip…Then you could use a tiny punch to tap the tip back out of the body. The hole could be easily filled with jbweld/marinetex/epoxy…..

[Anonymous]

I have done exactly as fleetwin suggested. It was a complete success. It was on a 1976 Johnson 6HP motor.

[bullie]

Just the tiniest bit of the needle is poking out into the pocket. I haven’t really examined the broken needle to see how much is left in the hole. I am not good at drilling things I can see, I couldn’t imagine how bad I would screw up trying to drill that little needle in a hole I can’t see.

[bullie]

I have heated it and let it cool a few times with a penetrating oil in the hole. Letting it sit now. Took a few pictures of the broken needle. Weird eh?

[fleetwin]

Well, I’m guessing that someone really cranked the needle in there causing it to snap like that…Unfortunately, the hole that the needle is stuck in may have been deformed as well….So, even if/when you get the broken tip out, the carb might be hard to adjust at idle….

[outbdnut2]

I’d toss the carb and put one on from the same era 15 HP – that’s the only difference and you will have 15 HP when you are done.
Dave

[fisherman6]

That is a bit strange how that broke off. It has the whole tapered part of the needle stuck in there by the looks.of the rest of the needle. It seems likely that happened because someone cranked the needle into the seat and it stuck and broke off like Fleetwin said earlier. It may be salvageable but I wouldn’t count on it. I’d still try but at the same time I’d look for a replacement carburetor. That one may never idle correctly.
-Ben

OldJohnnyRude on YouTube

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