Problem with my float

[wyo307]

Hello everyone,
Last night I went to finally try to start up my 1947 evinrude sportsman 2 hp. It did start after maybe 5 or so pulls! Pretty cool to hear an old girl fire up after its been sitting for over 30 years. I did notice that the float was not popping up which was causing the float side of the carb to flood and gas was coming out of the top of the carb where the float rod comes out the top of the carb when it is closed off. This was also making it to where I couldn’t idle down very much. What would cause the float not to push up? My first thought is that it is not buoyant enough anymore, could this be the case? It looks to be in pretty fair condition and not much of the coating is missing. There is also a screen underneath the float rod that I guess it could be getting stuck on? This is my first engine so I am still new to these old style carbs so I need some insight by someone. Here is a diagram of my carb.

Thanks for your help,
Ryan

[joecb]

Likely that the float is OK. How about the little brass clips (120813) ? The bottom one must be clipped into the groove in the needle stem and the top one pressed down tight to the top of the float. Other that that, not much can go wrong. Very unlikely that the float is so contaminated that it would sink in gasoline… test it in a bottle of gas, if you have doubts.

Joe B

[garry-in-michigan]

Those floats are sealed with shellac which is dissolved by the alcohol in todays fuel. This allows fuel to be absorbed by the cork, making it less boyant. The trace of fuel that is left also leaves traces of shellac as it evaporates that can stick the float pin in place. An afternoon in the hot Florida sun will usually bake out the fuel so the cork can be re-sealed with fuel proof model airplane dope or Superglue.

[frankr]

The seat for the float pin is a drilled hole in the carburetor body. They can get corroded or buggered up making it so the tapered pin won’t seat. Different people have their own favorite ways of restoring it.

[stanley]

Three things I learned working on my 1947 sportsman carb were (1) the floats do need to be pretty level or the valve at the bottom of float chamber may not close completely and(2) there is a small cork pad on the underside of the carb lid.This limits the height of lift on the little poppet valve that controls the amount gas getting pulled into the cylinder.If it is missing or to worn you’ll have a flooded condition.If I remember correctly,the amount of lift is 1/8".(3)Check and make sure the pin running through the cork is straight.

[wyo307]

Thank you guys for the replies. I will have to take it back apart tonight and see if I can find something wrong. My next question is where/how do I set the mixture knob and the little lever behind it (102019) so that they are adjusted correctly? Right now I screwed the mixture knob all the way in till it was just barely bottoming out. At this location I set the knob so it was pointing at "lean". Then I rotated out so that it was pointing at "prime" and set the other one (102019) so that it was pushing the poppet valve all the way up. Is this the correct setup? Thanks again for the help.

[stanley]

I don’t remember exactly where I ended up,But you probably want to start at least one full turn out with the needle valve don’t worry about the pointer or the lever behind it until you get it running right.

[Tubs]

A "Boathouse Repair" is one that done without having tools or the skills to do it properly.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 6 months ago by Tubs.
• This reply was modified 4 years, 2 months ago by Tubs.

[vintin]

Be careful playing with fuel over an electric heating element there Tubs. I’m sure you are. It may be hot water baseboard, can’t tell.

[Tubs]

A "Boathouse Repair" is one that done without having tools or the skills to do it properly.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 6 months ago by Tubs.
• This reply was modified 4 years, 2 months ago by Tubs.

[Author]

Posts