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Old lawn tractor

M

MSS3020

Well-known Member
I know there is a specific sight but this is a carb question so... Carb was leaking gas out the welch plug. So took off got a carb kit and rebuilt. Made the adjustments as stated and it ran great. BUT this morning went to shed and gas was leaking out of the welch plug again. SO.. I replaced the inlet needle that attaches to the float but on this old unit you cant replace the brass seat just the needle. So do I need to adjust the float so the needle goes a tad tighter.. would anything else cause this to leak gas.. its a hose from tank to carb so no pump involved. thanks
 
Hmmm. . . adjusting might be enough. Can you ensure seat is clean? Did you replace float - it may have a leak and be full of fuel and not doing it"s job. Perhaps, if you can"t burnish the seat, you can get a soft-tip needle?
 
the kit cam with a soft tip needle..and the float didnt have fluid in it when I took it off..Shook it and didnt appear to have anyway. Thats what I was going to try is somehow smooth the brass seat somehow..??
 
Some old gravity feed carbs will leak when setting, many of the simple ones don"t have a gas filter bowl with shutoff valve like old Cubby. sometimes the gas gets into oil and troubles occur. A easy fix is simple inline shutoff valve- about $6.00 last year at small engine shop- and make a habit of turning gas valve to off position before turning off ignition, same drill as on many classic motorcycles like BMW/2, BSA and current Honda"s I ride. Couple years back did a inline valve on a Sears that was quoted $100.00 to fix gas in oil problem by shop- customer happy with oil change and fuel valve- was a old Triumph rider so no problem. Works on tillers, log splitters- anything with 3 inchs of line space available and you can reroute lines if needed for access as long as high point on line is lower than fuel level in tank.
 
I would chuck a Q-tip in a drill and go up and clean that brass seat a little bit with carb cleaner.
 
If an engine runs well otherwise, I have installed a simple full flow 1/4 turn shutoff valve in the gas line to shut off the gas.
 
Just as a safety net, I agree with the suggestion of adding an in-line shut off. Many walk behind mowers used to come with a fuel shut-off, but they found that by eliminating it they could save a bit of expense, and if you should get gas in the oil and blow the engine, well, that sells mowers.
One other thing that I don't believe was mentioned, the float has an adjustment tab. The little tab that contacts the needle can be adjusted to allow the float to ride higher or lower. There is a good possibility that this tab may need adjusting to allow the float to ride a little lower when it shuts off the fuel. Since you mentioned that the kit did have a soft tip needle, it should seal unless the seat has been messed up or still has a bit of trash in it,
 
When I get a kit with a viton tipped needle I always put the needle into the seat and apply some pressure to it by hand. Then install it on the float and assemble. Seems to seal better. As earlier stated, the seat needs to be squeaky clean.
 
Check your float if it's brass it may have gas in it which is shouldn't have. If it's a black plastic float they can become saturated and be heavy and not shut the needle and seat.

I always turn my sediment bowl valve off when I'm done using my tractor.
 
0000 steel wool, we use it all of the time for polishing seats, you can twist it into a point and then twist it into the seat.(you can then use the left over steel wool to polish aluminum too.)
 
Thanks for all the help.. Going to tackle this Sunday morning. Kit instructions stated to have float level BUT as suggested I plan to adjust tab to push needle in more after I hone the seat out and make sure needle etc is clean. Funny thing that is mentioned it does have a fuel shutoff at the carb. Would rather add another 1/4 turn shutoff in the line where easier to get to then the one I have already on it.. Good advise.. will try and let you all know how things go..thanks!!
 
Thanks for all the replies. I finally got the old lawn tractor fixed. Took couple times to finally get it. First I put a close off in the line. I tried to adjust the float to close sooner or tighter.. it still leaked. I finally took kitchen matches and stuck the heads into the seat and twisted...used about 5 until I looked down into the seat and it was shiny. Put it all back and NO LEAK.. so hopefully thats good for awhile. THANKS AGAIN for all the suggestions..
 
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