lastcowboy32
Well-known Member
Frequent flyer here lately. My apologies.
Anyway. I rebuilt the carburetor on my 2N. Before the rebuild, I could unscrew my main jet all of the way out, and the engine would still run. I was told that, that particular symptom pointed toward a plugged bowl vent within the carburetor. So, I disassembled the carb, cleaned it all out with carburetor cleaner and installed all new parts from a kit.
The engine does run better, and it now runs too rich and stalls out when I unscrew the main jet all of the way.
BUT...
I've noticed a little bit of dampness on the lower half of my carburetor after I run the tractor for an hour or so. It smells like gas.
I know that it isn't the screws that hold the carburetor together. I specifically remember tightening them down hard with a screwdriver.
Some possibilities in my mind, please let me know if these are plausible or if I'm missing a possible cause:
1. When I cleaned the carburetor out, I noticed that the gasket mating surface (the surface between the two halves) seemed to have some kind of sealer on it. The carburetor cleaner softened it up, and I scraped it off with a plastic putty knife. I reassembled with no sealer. I figured that a cardboard gasket wouldn't need it. Am I wrong here? Or maybe I just need to look at that surface again. Maybe the plastic putty knife didn't clean it well enough. The bowl seems like cast iron. It should be able to take a steel putty knife, shouldn't it?
2. Stuck float? But jeez, the kit came with a new float valve that I specifically remember putting in, and my float was at least 1/4" above the gasket when resting upside down (as my FO-4 manual said that it should be), and I installed a new pivot pin for the float from the kit.
3. This tractor did have a stuck valve that I recently loosened up. Could this valve still be partially sticking or intermittently sticking; which would cause the compression stroke in that cylinder to blow fuel/air back down the intake manifold at the carburetor?
I turn the gas off at the bottom of the tank when I put the tractor up for the night. I could possibly check into the stuck float theory by waiting for the outside of the carb to dry out and just turn the gas back on without running the tractor...if I see seepage then; it seems that my float valve must not be working, right? If that isn't the case; then I could check the other theories?
Anyway. I rebuilt the carburetor on my 2N. Before the rebuild, I could unscrew my main jet all of the way out, and the engine would still run. I was told that, that particular symptom pointed toward a plugged bowl vent within the carburetor. So, I disassembled the carb, cleaned it all out with carburetor cleaner and installed all new parts from a kit.
The engine does run better, and it now runs too rich and stalls out when I unscrew the main jet all of the way.
BUT...
I've noticed a little bit of dampness on the lower half of my carburetor after I run the tractor for an hour or so. It smells like gas.
I know that it isn't the screws that hold the carburetor together. I specifically remember tightening them down hard with a screwdriver.
Some possibilities in my mind, please let me know if these are plausible or if I'm missing a possible cause:
1. When I cleaned the carburetor out, I noticed that the gasket mating surface (the surface between the two halves) seemed to have some kind of sealer on it. The carburetor cleaner softened it up, and I scraped it off with a plastic putty knife. I reassembled with no sealer. I figured that a cardboard gasket wouldn't need it. Am I wrong here? Or maybe I just need to look at that surface again. Maybe the plastic putty knife didn't clean it well enough. The bowl seems like cast iron. It should be able to take a steel putty knife, shouldn't it?
2. Stuck float? But jeez, the kit came with a new float valve that I specifically remember putting in, and my float was at least 1/4" above the gasket when resting upside down (as my FO-4 manual said that it should be), and I installed a new pivot pin for the float from the kit.
3. This tractor did have a stuck valve that I recently loosened up. Could this valve still be partially sticking or intermittently sticking; which would cause the compression stroke in that cylinder to blow fuel/air back down the intake manifold at the carburetor?
I turn the gas off at the bottom of the tank when I put the tractor up for the night. I could possibly check into the stuck float theory by waiting for the outside of the carb to dry out and just turn the gas back on without running the tractor...if I see seepage then; it seems that my float valve must not be working, right? If that isn't the case; then I could check the other theories?