Your carb should NOT leak......Carb 101

I can't believe that people are so bewildered by a simple carb! These things on these old tractors are about as simple as it gets!

Let's have a carb lesson and put all those myths to rest. Your carb should NOT leak gas. You should NOT have to shut the gas off while not using it....I've got a 641 Workmaster that the fuel shut off DOESN'T EVEN WORK on it! It's froze in possition! (Yes, that shouldn't be so either, but I'm waiting for time to do the dog legs this spring, and my carb doesn't leak)

At the bottom, you'll find an article previously written, and free for the access right here on this site.

I'll also input some of my personal knowledge real quick. Don't bother with the environmentally safe carb cleaners. This being said, remove all jewlery before working. Good carb cleaner under the watch or ring burns bad! Also, for cleaning passages, if you don't have air, use needle nosed pliars to pull a wire from your wire brush. Their small enough to fit into the passages. (I turned wrench for several years on motorcycles...that's a proffessional tip I've not yet given out!) Follow the trails of the passages. Take a minute to look for all holes, and make sure they run carb cleaner completely through. If not, you've got a plugged passage.

MAKE SURE YOU USE SAFETY GOGGLES OR A FACE SHIELD!! CARB CLEANER WILL SHOOT RIGHT BACK AT YOU!!!

These things are simple! I've found that if it needs cleaned, and you don't have to take out the needles to get the carb cleaner to flow, you generally don't have to adjust anything when you're done! Floats don't change while being used, so if you don't change the needle, DON'T CHANGE THE FLOAT!

On the needle, my personal experience is that the triangular brass needle tends to drop out of the seat cleaner than the aluminum colored ones with the seperate head on them....must be the weight. That said, NOT ALL NEEDLES NEED CHANGED! Cleaning carbs on motorcycles, mopeds, 3 & 4 wheelers, I rarely changed needle and seats! Over the 5 years I spent doing this work, I probably changed TWO, and I've delt with some NASTY carbs! I am not bragging, but if I can take an abandoned corrosion FILLED carb and make it run, you can make yours work. Try grabbing the end of the needle while it's in the seat with a small pair of needle nosed pliars and giving it a twist while holding it in....this is seating it.

One last tip, and I'll stop my rant. Please try to work over a shop rag or three. In case you're afraid something might drop out on you, it won't roll away from you, and you'll be able to find it.

Now, GO CLEAN THOSE CARBS AND MAKE SURE THEY DON'T LEAK!!!!!

• Carb cleaning article

Wes

If you do turn a wrench once in a while, it's not that bad a deal. Read the article that I posted a link to (not mine, but it is good) Near the end (several pages) he shows the measurement for the float....your's may be a little different, so just measure yours and raise it a bit farther off the top of the carb. NOTE this would mean lowering the float in the bowl, (carb is shown and adjusted upside down from mounting possition)say 1/32" ....use a drill bit of the right size to get your measurement. While you're in there, give it a good rince down with carb cleaner. If it's running right, don't mess with the adjustments, just the float. Also, seat the needle like I described above and make sure that area is clean.

Hope you get her fixed up.

Put away your little bernzomatic torch, and bring out the real flame thrower. I wear asbestas underwear, so all your flaming does is give me a nice summer breeze. Feels good in the middle of the winter.

And for your information, it's "Mr. Fix It"

Yes, I could probably fix it for you, but that would do you no more good than someone making one payment on your credit card...helps, but doesn't fix the problem. And for your flaming, I'll suggest I never said anything about new this or new that. Fix the thing! Sure, you may not be able to get cork floats anymore, but cork is cork. Brass? Well, you might know how to solder, but that's another lesson. Don't come into my thread and start bit*&^$% about this and that! Was it you bobique that suggested this on an N board lately??? Since when couldn't you find N parts? I can find them today at the local farm suply store..... .in a non-farming community! Don't try to rash my arse by splitting hairs, it don't fly.

Now, for the helpfull me. You may have just stumbled onto part of your problem. Your distillate may just be some of your problem. There are several complaints in the small engine idustry about this eating away at gaskets and seals. When our equipment was built, rubber was not a widely used substance. I've seen metal needles and seats. I've seen cork floats.

Tell ya what, post up your problem in tractor forum and I'll see if I can be of any HELP to you. I had no intention of burning you on your problem, just that you offer this up to unknowing folks that are trying to get an answer. As you know, gas leaks are dangerous, and I hate seeing people even hint on letting it leak. Someone here posted up on a close call on a motorcycle. I deffinately don't want to be a part of that being MY advice. I don't know it all, nor do I pretend to, but I do know carbs rather well. I WILL HONESTLY TRY TO HELP YOU IF I CAN.

We do a lot of repair work on older farm-type vehicles, and some people DEMAND a rebuilt carburetor. With some exceptions, I cringe at the thought because of some of the cobbled-up factory rebuilt carburetors we've seen these last years. Apparently, good cores are hard to come by, and the rebuilders sometimes use cores that should have been scrapped.

:)

Here is the parts that are subject. This is one of the last two pictures on the page I gave you. One of these parts has to do with it. Big brass thing is the float, needle and seat are under it, better shown in the next pic on the page. What was said below is correct.

Think of it like your toilet. If the float is too high, the water runs to the over flow (out your breather hose or carb gasket). Needle bad is like the shut off being bad, ie: toilet keeps running water in and right back out the over flow.(carb leaking a little over time will cause it to go over and leak out the air inlet). If you poke a hole in the float, it won't float back to the top....just like a carb.

1.) Gas leakage that passes THROUGH the needle and seat, due to foreign material in needle and seat, or damaged needle and seat, including wear or scuff marks on the needle that cause it to jam in the bore of the seat when lifted by the float.

2.) Gas leakage that passes THROUGH the needle and seat, due to a leaky float that has gasoline inside, a bent or damaged float that catches against the side of the float bowl, and doesn't lift and tightly close the needle. Some carburetors have a FLOAT DROP adjustment that, when properly set, prevents the float from dropping clear to the bottom of the float bowl and jamming there when the float bowl is empty.

3.) Gas leakage that does NOT pass through the needle and seat. This might be due to a defective or missing gasket between the seat and the carburetor top cover, or the seat not being SECURELY TIGHTENED into the upper carburetor body. In rare, freak cases, there could be a flaw in the casting, allowing the gasoline in the passage fed by the fuel line to leak into the float bowl. I believe the bad or missing seat gasket, or inadequate tightening of the seat are a couple of the more common causes of a carb that drips.

Anybody else have other causes of carburetor leakage to add?

I agree, if you own a tractor with a leaky fuel bowl, you are a fool if you don't fix it. My stuff I keep in tip top shape.

One other good reason to shut off the gas....I once had a tracor "borrowed" for about 60 feet. Luckily they didn't know why she quit.

Hope I didn't put the jinx on you. LOL

Take Care
Steve

This is another problem; I'm posting on how people don't know or want to fix their stuff, and someone always has to post up an argument ...Well guess what, you're not fixing your carb by shutting the fuel off, you're safeguarding your investment....good to do, and good advice...still off subject.

You said you've owned motorcycles....did you know that since the 1980's, or even sooner they have been putting a vacume fuel shut off on the major majority of the motorcycles? You're just turning off the gas as a safety factor....doubling up. Why do you think the mfg recomend it? People have had fuel leaks due to improper fuel system maintenence, fuel has leaked out, and damage has resulted. The motorcycle industry gets sued over it and loose their arse. "CAUTION: COFFEE HOT!" Ring any bells?

Your tractor has leaked out gas? Definately not over night, or you need to be looking at a carb clean and a tank cleaning. If your fuel supply is perfectly clean, and you don't let it sit long enough to go stail, much less varnish, it shouldn't leak. Go fix your stuff. They didn't build these things with too much "columb pressure" to begin with, so something must be wrong.

End rant

However, just because someone owns a vintage tractor doesn't mean that they know any repair procedures at all. How many of us have seen a posting like " My tractor won't start, what is wrong".

Then there are those like my father in law who cobbles something up and says "that will work". This is ok for a temporary field fix, but these temporary fixes usually becomes permanent till the whole machine becomes a cobbled mess, and is declared a piece of junk, I then hear " I will never buy that brand again it is junk ".

Oh well...

I also never turn off the gas on my old 8N Ford, because the carburetor is in good repair and does not leak. The problem is, sooner or later, any carburetor is gonna have a fit, and, in the case of a gravity flow system such as this, one day we'll come out to start one of our tractors, and the machine will be sitting in a pool of however much gas is in the tank.

It sure makes you think what could happen, fire or explosion wise, when this happens.

I admire people who have the sense to shut the gas off, just in case, and I need to heed my own advise and start doing that myself!

I have figured out that I'm a little different from some folks in that I am mechanically minded. These things just make sence to me, where some it doesn't register the same way. To those people, I might suggest removing the carb and taking it in if you want to save money....sorry, but I don't have any advice other than to look it over good and get the gist of how it works before you tear it apart....Please don't tell someone else that is just is going to happen and there's nothing they can do!

Maby the best thing would be to try to find some local older gentleman that does mechanics....a little easier to find in the small communities, but I find their knowledge is sometimes unbelievably in depth. GREAT resource for those that like turning wrench on old iron. I've heard a couple storys from some of these guys and learned a lot....great.