Carb. question, Clooney, John T Anyone?

~Seeing as you have experienced this on about 10 tractors it is either something having to do with your altitude, the fuel in your area, or more than likely something you are doing with the carbs.

~Are you using a drill or forcing a hard wire into those very small idle passages that could alter their size or flow characteristics? I always use a soft copper wire on those TSX idle passages.

~I seems hard to believe that all those carbs have a leaking manifold, or worn throttle plates, or improperly sealing throttle shaft seals, or other problems causing you to have to richen the idle with that idle screw. [to the same place]

~Are you cleaning the little bronze fuel drain filter in the bottom of the carb intake neck? If not maybe you are fighting puddling fuel in the bottom of the carb intake area.

~Is there a chance you are trying to idle those tractors well below the recommended idle RPM? If you try to go down too far with the idle speed the metering will not stay consistent & it will usually not follow the rules.

~About the only other thing I can think of is over the years [on all those carbs?] someone has overtightened the idle screws & distorted the seats or more likely the needle tip , then even when the screws are all the way in they are still passing air. You might also try a little soft or Teflon based pipe sealer on the idle screw threads, maybe air is getting sucked by the idle screw threads unless turned down tight.

~I guess the bottom line is: if you don't have an air leak in the manifold, around the throttle plates, past the throttle shaft seals or have a vacuum leak somewhere, the problem is inside the carb, or you don't have a problem & it's the fuel you are using from your area.

Clooney made a lot of sense when he stated it is either an environmental [altitude or gas type] or what you are doing issue...for all 10 to come in with the same problem [having to screw in the idle screw all the way] is pretty phenomenal. Based on some research, purchase one new idle adjusting needle and one new brass idle jet...take these and replace the old ones in one of the 10 carb's. With these being new, the point on your idle screw and brass orafice should have good tight contact [Ol John T would say LOL to that last statement]. Then try the 1.5 turns out and start her up from there. If she runs fine with 1+ out turns, then either all your needles and/or all your idle brass orafices are out of whack...but that is still a major anomaly for all 10 to be equally distorted. However, when you rebuilt all the carb's, if you did clean the air-passageways out too much and/or altered the metering, all bets are off. Perhaps you should describe to Clooney or someone your methodology for rebuilds and see if there is something you are over emphasizing...I will be interested to hear your resolution. tom

As you know, I am novice, but have sough the help of you guys and some other local tractor mechanics. Here is what I have found out. The reason those throttle shafts wear out is because they are moving, being turned all the time [50 yrs+], that is why the kit usually provides a throttle shaft replacement, and the packing that goes in there for some reason never seems [so I was told] to fit as good as the original...well, if the trottle shafts wear, so does the area of the carburetor where the t-shaft is ultimately installed...this area of the carb is never upgraded. Here is the test- try setting the idle screw to the conventional 1.5 turns, start her up cold, and increase the throttle some, then spray some carb cleaner into the throttle shaft hole, if she is sucking air, you will hear a difference in the engine...you can also try it around the hose if you suspect any leaks there...just remember to do it when she is cold because if the starts to heat, that carb spray is very flammable. let us know what happens...good luck.

The basic idea of 'air' screws is to idle with the throttle plate closed to within thousands of an inch. If you let it close completely it might stick shut and it might also affect idle mixture too much when flung open suddenly (dead spot). After all the messing around you may well find that it runs and idles the best the way you already have it set up. If that's the case, then stay with it and hold you mouth any way you want! :)