Leaking Carb After Rebuild

[Detroit650]

It's late and as my luck always goes, things never go smoothly. I just got done putting on my oil filter kit, replacing the sump screen and the carb rebuild kits.

Started up fine with a little starting fluid and some fiddling with the carbs. It was 50F according to the dipstick.

I was trying to let it warm up when the left carb started dripping gas from what looked like the bowl gasket. It was late so I didn't bother getting out the flashlight, cause it was time to call it a night. Is this common/ easy to mess up?

Yes the floats are adjusted correctly. I looked at the new float needles and they looked fine before installing them. The needle seat o-ring wasn't forgotten either and it was oiled so it wouldn't tear. What's the chance the float is just jammed?

 

[gggGary]

So they are BS34s 80 or newer. Brass floats or plastic? If they are brass check the floats for leaks. My favorite way is to dip them in a cup of very hot water for a couple of seconds. If you see a little stream of bubbles they are shot. Did you put on new fuel lines, clean the petcocks, clean and or seal the gas tank? Junk from upstream will often cause a flat valve to not seal. What height did you set the floats at?

I see it is an 83 heritage special so it would have foam floats stock. They are normally good. put a piece of plastic tube on the drain bend it up next to the float bowl open the drain screw the fuel level should be at the float bowl carb bottom seam if it's higher you need to reset the float. Heads up the Mikes XS floats are notorious for having sloppy pivots and can hang up. the float level is different for foam floats vs brass floats some manuals have it wrong. See the guide in the tech section on here. Let us know what you find? Also drain the float bowls into a clean white container, a cut down oil bottle is prefect, look for crap.

 

[weekendrider]

Detroit650,
Sometimes the floats hang(open) when I reassemble. A whack on the side of the bowl with a wooden handle may fix it. Or loosening and retightening the bowl. It happens no biggy.

 

[Detroit650]

Thanks for the input. It turns out that it was just a stuck float. I finally got to spend some time out in the garage today, and there was no leaking fuel.

I don't remember what the float levels were at, but they are what the manual calls for.