WW2N

Member
Just me or am I not alone. One- when tightening the bail knob to sediment bowl be it new or old fittings I always have to tighten it with pliers to stop the gas leak, never can get it tight enough with fingers. When shutting fuel off, on or to reserve the knob is always stiff and the rubber seem to give out after a short time. If I loosen the nut that houses it it never gets it to just be a snug fit, to tight or to loose. Which is the best sed bowl gasket cork or rubber. In my defence I must tell ya these are not the worst problems I have in my life just some of those little things that can bug ya LOL.
 
I prefer Cork gasket. I had same trouble u describe when I used the rubber one..Just replaced my leaking, several year old cork one few days ago and seems so far that I might have got lucky with just finger tight, as tight as I could do it finger tight, seems to not be leaking..As for the shutoff knob, if it's not leaking, leave it alone..mine is pretty free/loose but don't leak so I'm not going to mess with it. If it's leaking, sounds like time for new packing around the stem--seems to work most of the time.
 
Turn the knob off fully, remove the bowl & carefully check the groove in the top of the assembly for dirt/crud/old gasket material. Most leaks on a new gasket are caused by having it seated incorrectly or because some of the old gasket was left in the groove. Or, some misguided soul may have gunked it all up w/ gasket pucky. Don’t forget to check the bowl rim for chips; if it’s chipped, you will never get it to stop leaking. Clean or replace the screen. You can get both the cork gasket & the screen from TSC; p/n 0237144. A cork gasket will work if you soak it first in gas, but I like rubber. Check out tip # 10 at the link below for the correct NAPA part number. However, the newer ones aren't as thick as the old ones and the price is now $4 each. I’ve got the new ones to work, but it takes a few tries. And, at $4 for a thinner gasket, I’m not planning on using the NAPA gaskets anymore.

Put the bowl back on & hand tighten the thumb screw. Turn the gas on & look at the bowl. If it starts to fill the bowl, turn the gas off & start over; it has a leak. You will know it's sealed when gas does not flow into the bowl w/ the engine off. It won't fill with the bowl securely on because the float has closed the needle valve in the carb and there is nowhere for the air in the bowl to escape. (assuming the carb bowl is full) When the engine is started the needle valve will open and the trapped air will escape through the carb vent. If you loosen the bowl, it will fill.....and leak.

Do not open the valve more than 2 or 3 turns. All the way open gets you the 1 gallon reserve & that port is usually clogged.

Tightening the knob may fix the leak there. The nut that holds the stem in keeps it from leaking. You need to find the happy medium of “to tight” (the knob won’t turn) or “to loose” (it leaks). If it leaks when almost "to tight", go to the hardware store, plumbing counter & get some graphite packing thread (not teflon) Pack it like a faucet.

All of the above assumes you have an OEM sediment bowl. (on the left in the pic) If not, I'd get one because a lot of the off-shore replacements never work right & the gaskets are odd-sized.
sedimentbowlsbrassfittings001.jpg

75 Tips
 
There is a product called Molykote 111 that is a non-hardening silicone. I use it on used gaskets as long as they are not broken and have no problem sealing. Gas does not affect it.
 
If you could see the edge of the glass bowl with a microscope, you'd probably see a rugged mountain range. Try this, get a piece of glass that is flat and lay a piece of 320 to 400 grit sand paper on it. Place the glass bowl on it cup side down of course and move it in the path of a figure "8". You'll know you've flattend it when the rim is frosty looking.
 

When I first joined the forum this spring I saw advice to always shut the gas valve off, so I did. But after two months of sitting in warm weather while I restored various things including my two Hat rims, it leaked like crazy when I finally started it.

So not feeling like cutting a new gasket, I cranked the snot out of the bale till the leak stopped. I've dealt with several of these on old vehicle fuel pumps and am always afraid of breaking the glass but it has never happened.

Anyway, I kind of respectfully disagree with the "always shut them off" theory, at least for lengthy periods, because i think that is what allowed my gasket to dry out and start leaking.

But taking that advice to heart also, I frequently do a visual and a nose check to make sure I have no weeping.

I built my own knob for it at that time as it had none.
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Bruce is that hammer that holds the seds upright tip 76, "When all else fails!"LOL, Thanks
 
Bruce is that hammer that holds the seds upright tip 76, "When all else fails!"LOL, Thanks
 

I was trying to get some drums off one time and asked a local service station owner how to get them off. He said to use a hammer. I said, "I tried that." He said, "Use a bigger one." :p

Turns out this idiot (me) didn't discover two threaded holes in the drums so two screws would force them away from the axle flange.
 
" When I first joined the forum this spring I saw advice to always shut the gas valve off,"

Yea, that would be tip # 9.

The fact that your cork gasket dried out doesn't negate the advice. Get a rubber gasket.

The alternative can get expensive. Check this post out from 2007:



We just had an 8N in the shop that the owner wanted us to fix the carb leak and replace the starter because the engine wouldn"t turn over. Turns out the base had more gas in it than oil and the bearings didn"t get enough lube from the diluted oil and seized the engine. I think of that tractor every time I park my tractors now and don"t forget to shut the fuel off.

(YT Post 10/10/07)
75 Tips
 

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