9/26/02
Stuck Floats, and Silly Putty?

A few weeks ago, I experienced a stuck float on one of my carburetors. The short movie (click the picture) shows fuel pooling at the bottom of the carb at the butterflies. Initially it was the front carb, but then the problem arose in the middle one. François explained that because I chose to save a couple of bucks by not replacing the needles and seats for the floats, the risk of sticking floats has come back to haunt me. It was a gamble that I lost, so I decided to order new parts for my floats.

Having a rich running engine however, is not the only thing to worry about! If the electric fuel pump is allowed to pump fuel into this carburetor without starting the engine, fuel can hydro-lock a piston, doing serious damage. Another problem is with so much fuel running in these cylinders, it can wash away the oil from the rings leaving the pistons without lubrication. Ruined pistons and scored cylinder walls will result in a premature rebuild. How much was I saving by not replacing these needles and seats? …Less than $40 bucks!

This week, three new needles and seat arrived in the mail from Pierce Manifolds in California. They will fit my three Weber 40DCZ6 carburetors. I evidently had a choice in needle size but I chose the 225s because the larger size needles were for wide open throttle racing. Stay tuned for the installation. 

I stopped in a local toy store and picked up some “Silly Putty.” It’s going to work perfectly for something I have to do with the Ferrari, but you’ll have to wait and see….

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