Finishing up my first rebuild and only have a leaky carb left to fix. I replaced needle/seat but it still leaks. Took it off the mower and tested on the bench with a gas tank hooked up, and it didnt leak so the needle and seat are seemingly ok. all i can think of is that maybe the float gets intermittently hung up or something once its on the mower and has been activated a few times. there were a couple of times where i would turn it upside down without the bowl on, blow air through the gas line, and the float would catch and not fully seat the needle... but it was very difficult to replicate so i dont know if thats what is going on when its on the mower. i would prefer to have it fully functional, but i installed a cut off valve on the fuel line so it's not a huge deal now.
anyway my main question is, is there a cheaper alternative to the gasket that goes on the bowl screw? i've went through 2 in the process of testing the carb, and they are $5 for a tiny little rubber gasket. anything i could pick up cheaper at a hardware store that would do the trick? just curious... thx for any ideas about the gasket or even the carb leak.
this is the carb (mine is specifically a walbro and has 38 stamped on it)
so one thing you need to do is make sure that the needle and seat are adjusted you can buy a
gasket making sheet for a little more then the other gasket cost that is one idea.
so one thing you need to do is make sure that the needle and seat are adjusted you can buy a
gasket making sheet for a little more then the other gasket cost that is one idea.
Don't know what you have for a gasket, but will a O-ring from the hardware store work? I have made my own gaskets but real small gaskets can be a bugger to make. They also make fiber gaskets that look like a flat washer?
Just for testing i took a utility knife and cut a crude gasket out of a milk jug... it actually worked great. I might get a sheet of gasket material for the final assembly, though. thanks again!
A leather punch is useful for making small holes in gasket material and for larger, tubing sharpened on a grinder make neat holes. Purchased gasket material should have a WOG ( water - oil - gas ) designation.
I have found that sometimes if you turn the needle and wire around that it works and does not catch. I think I read that it must be installed the right way. The wire on the needle must be away from the seat or it can catch. Just a thought that may be worth trying.
