my 78 sachs balboa has this funny little problem where whenever i start her up, gasoline starts leaking out, all over the place. it comes out from the air filter housing, everything.
a friend of mine who knows more about engines that i do told me i just need to clean my carb, that my "floater was blocked up".
i guess i'll just clean the carb, but does anyone have any more specific suggestions? anything to look for, what to use, etc?
i'm still learning, so thanks.
brian
when you take out your carb you probably want to take an air compressor and blow all the pipes clean so it's getting fuel in and out of the carb.
What kinda carb ?
In some carbs, like the Encarwi - it's possible to accidently put the float in upsidedown...(needle points UP, in an Encarwi, FYI), and in many of them, like the DelLorto, you have to be real precise in how you put it back together.
And, of course, the damn things have a tendancy to get stuck.
Basically, clean the carb, and check to make sure the float operates as it should before you reassemble it.
-Ree
I'm not familiar with the gas system on your ride. But many petcocks are vacuum operated, meaning that gasoline doesn't flow until the motor is running.
Mechanical petcocks have "off" "run" and "reserve". Vacuum petcocks have "on" "prime" and "reserve", and no off position.
If you have a "prime" position on your petcock, or have no "off", then you have a vacuum operated fuel system. With the motor off, turn the petcock to "prime" and wait a while to see if the fuel overflows out of the bowl. If so ya got one of three problems:
(1) the float needle and seat are worn and will not stop the gas flow when the bowl is full; or,
(2) the float is stuck and will not rise with the bowl level to close the float needle/valve.
(3) trash or deposits have accumulated at the needle/seat junction and not allowing the fuel to be shut off.
If I had to wager, my bet would be on #1, especially with an older machine. Look on the float needle for a worn ring that will actually catch your fingernail. Some experts can resurface the needle and seat, but your best bet is to buy a matching needle/seat set.
Next, and the cheapest repair option would be #3. Look for this if the needle doesn't seem to be unduly worn.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Shotgun
brian cincinnati wrote:
>
> my 78 sachs balboa has this funny little problem where
> whenever i start her up, gasoline starts leaking out, all
> over the place. it comes out from the air filter housing,
> everything.
>
> a friend of mine who knows more about engines that i do told
> me i just need to clean my carb, that my "floater was blocked
> up".
>
> i guess i'll just clean the carb, but does anyone have any
> more specific suggestions? anything to look for, what to
> use, etc?
>
> i'm still learning, so thanks.
> brian
My 99 Tomos has a brand new carb float and needle and valve and it still leaks fuel all over the place from time to time.
I have a really cheap way to fix mine. I just pick up the front end, and drop it. Two or three times, and the leak stops like magic. I guess im knocking the float loose or something.
I found out when it pissed me off after the 130 dollar repair resulted in a repeat perfomance. I see no other adverse effects from the pounding, and will keep an eye out for anything shaking loose. I think its insane that a brand new moped acts like this, even after a repair. Now, could be a shoddy repair, but it is a reputable shop and the guy is recommended. Other than this, the bike runs great and only has 555 km. on it.
Anyone else ever heard of this?
Check the needle, seat and carb bowl for crud. Sometimes the needle will trap a small piece of crud against the seat and it will release when the needle is bounced away from the seat.
Consider an in-line filter near the carb and new fuel line if you have small black flakes in the carb bowl.
Ron
>>Anyone else ever heard of this?<<
Yes.
The little widget hooked up to the float that pushes up, vertically into this little hole (it has a little triangle-shaped rubber piece on the end) is prolly getting stuck.
That means either a bit of crud, the pin holding the float might be loose or (and I've seen this) the float might be either incorrect, on in some really screwed up cases...upsidedown, althought I doubt that in this one.
Take the float bowl off, and clean out the hole that weird little pin-thingie goes into, that should do the trick - a lotta folks miss that when cleanin a DelLorto carb.
-Ree
Want to post in this forum? We'd love to have you join the discussion, but first: