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Leaky carbs.

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C

Crisis

Jedi Hopeful
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I've had this problem for a while now. Carbs very wet on underside however it is difficult to judge exactly where they leak from. When this happens idle and running are very poor. I suspect problem is related to the choke but how many places could they leak? There is a gasket under the choke body it appears to be sound. Could the chokes cause this problem in another way? Any advice would be appreciated; car shouldn't smell like raw gas all the time.

Reid
 
Try spraying some carb cleaner around the trottle shafts with the engine idling. If goes up, you've found a leak, which is pretty common on the Strombergs after a many years.
 
Hi, Reid -

Which carbs do you have? The SU HS carbs have cork seals up where the choke rod enters the body, and they can and do dry out, causing a constant leak.

Mickey
 
No. Not SU's but ZS's. This leak is becoming an issue for me due to the smell penetrating the house (attached garage). Frustrating. I'm going to remove them again this weekend to try to find the source. Another thing I noticed last time I had them off - raw fuel on the filter side of the bridge. Is this normal?
BTW; its a 73 TR6. Thanks.
Reid
 
If you remove the reservoir, which can be done with carbs still on the car, carefully remove the plastic plug at the bottom. This is plastic and they can become brittle with age. You will find and o-ring on that plug. It will probably be shot. While you are at it, replace the reservoir gasket before reassembly.
Also check to make sure the floats are not hanging up or full of gasoline.
But I would guess that it is the gasket or o-ring.
 
My Stromberg's were leaking at the brass plug that goes up into the bottom of the carbs. There is an "O" ring on the brass plug. My "O" rings were dry rotted on both carbs. Ordered new ones, swapped them out, and no more leaks. Hopefully your's is leaking in the same place,...I say hopefully because it's probably the easiest carb leak to fix.

Good Luck
 
Since the car runs poorly due to the leak I would suspect that your float has stuck open or the float levels are set improperly. The needle valves and seat inside the carb have a tendency to stick open so that the fuel never shuts off and it will flow out past the main jet (raw fuel on the filter side of the bridge) which will cause the rough running.
Good Luck!
 
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