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Issue with leaky carburetors

D

David G

Well-known Member
I see a lot of times on here that people shut the gas off because a carburetor leaks through. I really believe a shut off valve should be a double safe guard, and the carburetor SHOULD be fixed so it does not leak first. We all have our little irritations, and this is one of mine.
 
I don't like leaking carburetors and get them fixed as soon as I can. I do have shut offs on all my garden and farm tractors and run them dry when not in use.
 
About 4 or 5 years ago I started shutting off fuel to all my tractors every time I was done with them. I had a carb on one of my garden tractors give me trouble and after opening it up the seat for float was part of carb body and pitted and could not be fixed and cost me close to $300.00 to replace. Dealer showed me several other carbs like it and said it was caused by the corrosive effect from the ethanol gasoline. That's why I run every thing dry and use a stabilizer for ethanol gasoline in fuel all the time.
 
Someone posted a repair trick for a pitted seat. I haven't tried it yet, but sounded good. Use a Q tip with lapping compound in a drill to polish the seat!
 
I agree, fix leaky carburetors. Many shut off the valve at the sediment bowl because the carburetor leaks, others shut it off just in case it might decide to leak. I prefer to not shut gas off, over use of the sediment bowl shut off wears out the packing, causing it to leak. I've fought leaky carbs and leaky sediment bowls, once I get them to not leak, I leave them alone. gobble
 
I pretty much agree with you, but on the old JD's everything is down hill and even if all is right shutting them off at the fuel bowl is added safety of not getting a crankcase or cylinders full of gas. All it can take is a wee speck of dirt.
 
I battled a fuel leak for a couple years, and could not find the spot of the leak. Turns out the needle is sealed by an internal "O" ring. Bought a new one for 15 cents and the problem is fixed. I had to cut the old one with a knife to get it out of the groove in the needle. I may not be using the correct terms. I am not a carb. man, just a tractor user.
 
Yes in a perfect world that works but nothing is perfect. All it takes if a small piece of rust or dirt and that float needle stops, stopping the gas flow and then you can have a problem.
 
I was also going to say shut them off and drain the carb due to ethanol. I have some that aren't a problem but others seem to collect the water. An ethanol free station just opened near here before that it was a 2 hour drive to the nearest one.
 
I'm here to tell you also that there are a lot of junk "one fits all" and just poorly made aftermarket needle/seats/floats out there that give one the false security that they DID fix the problem...until their crankcase is full of fuel (JD). Flea bay is full of them as are some so called tractor supply stores. I rebuild JD carbs and there are only 3 places in the USA that I will buy parts from. It's not always the owners fault for not fixing the problem..they tried.
 
(quoted from post at 09:51:03 04/05/16) I'm here to tell you also that there are a lot of junk "one fits all" and just poorly made aftermarket needle/seats/floats out there that give one the false security that they DID fix the problem...until their crankcase is full of fuel (JD). Flea bay is full of them as are some so called tractor supply stores. I rebuild JD carbs and there are only 3 places in the USA that I will buy parts from. It's not always the owners fault for not fixing the problem..they tried.
Click to expand...

I agree...hard to find good parts these days.
 
Engines with gravity gasoline fuel systems and side draft or down draft carburetors and down sloping intake manifolds can dilute the crankcase oil with gas without warning. So to me using a fuel shutoff is a good precaution even if the carburetor does not leak (yet).
 
The seat was in the body of carb which was made of an aluminum alloy and pitted real bad . About the only way to fix it right would be to find a threaded seat and have old one drilled out and taped for a threaded seat.
 
I got tired of smelling gas and put electric shut offs on three of mine. Turn on the key,it turns on the gas. No leaks when its not running. Doesn't get any simpler than that.
 
You can buy inexpensive inline shut offs and not use the shut off on sediment bowl and only it to clean bowl.
 
I found out from experience on both of my H Farmalls, I need to set the float in the carb 1/8" lower than both the book and kit instructions say to. Problem solved.
 
Lots of replys on here and one thing that I use is Star-tron in the gas. Breaks the ethanol down and saves the carbs. Another thing people do is when they rebuild a carb they push down on the float screwed up the rubber tip on the needle valve. NEVER push down on them. Use a pair of short jaw pliers.
 
What 3 places do you use? Neighbor had his carb rebuilt by JD with "genuine JD parts". Didn't last a week. He ended up taking it back twice more with the same results. They finally told him the cheap parts JD supplies aren't good enough so he has to shut the fuel off now when not in use.
 
I hate that too. I try really hard on the often used tractors to keep the carb in good shape so I don't have to turn the gas off. I did see an ad somwhere they were selling solenoid valves to shut off gas when you turn off the key switch. That would be my backup plan before I shut gas off at the sediment bowl every day.
 
Mine is people who leave wires just dangling around. Eventually they get tangled up in something like the fan, and then all heck breaks loose. Some just wont learn either. Know of one guy who rewired some stuff on his, didn't even bother to put it in a loom of some sort, and it just got all wrapped up in the fan, ruining the wiring.
 
Marks Carb for all steel needles/brass seat and a few other hard parts , Roberts for everything but needle/seat (won't carry all steel) , and Burrey Carb in Indiana (family run by husband&wife...nice people) You asked...now I'll get hammered. Until quality is top drawer across the board, there will be no loyalty to any one place. side note: I diagnosed / repaired / cured problem on a JD '37 A that was done by a long time JD dealer AND then the parts man at same dealer (who has many old 2 cyl Deeres) Neither found the problem. I've bought / rebuilt many carbs that someone "threw" a carb kit at and to no avail. There's just more to it than that and that's why I get them. When I decide to get away from it I plan on combining with Bob (Owosso Tractor Parts) at the annual MMOGTA show in Oakley MI and give a workshop for free. But that will be a while yet.
 
I had the first one here out of an old New Idea Uni System that I parted out. The second one was from a nitrous kit that my son had. I ordered the third one online,but I don't remember just where it was to be honest. I just searched buy electric fuel shutoff. I might well have been Amazon.
 
That's the product is what I started using after having to replace carb on garden tractor. I put it in the gas of every thing including 2 cycle engines.
 
I have no intention of hammering anyone. I am thankful for the names and will keep them in mind if any of my carbs start acting up. About the only shop around here is a JD dealer who's service department is going downhill fast. If I was closer I would make sure to be there for that workshop.
 
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