Why I hate carbs, Stuck open float on Elwood Options

[ClayPerrine]

Saturday we took Elwood to cars and coffee. We were leaving early so we could stop and get some breakfast on the way.

Betty started the car up, and we left. We didn't make it off our street before we started smelling gas and Betty said that there was no power. So we turned around and pulled back into the driveway.

I immediately took off the air cleaner, and found that the rear float had stuck open on the right hand carb. The bores were full of gas, and there was a nice geyser out of the vent tube when the pump was on.

I immediately unplugged the CD box, and using a rubber mallet and some targeted percussive maintenance, I was able to un-stick the float. So now I have to clear out all the gas.

The gas had gotten down into the cylinders and the engine was hydraulically locked. So I pull the plugs on that side to empty out the cylinders.




So we can join the action as Betty and I try to clear the flooded cylinders, courtesy of our ring camera:




View on YouTube

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/mad.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon8.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/barf.gif)


And that, my friends, is another reason for me to hate carburetors!

[Superhawk996]

Clay -- I'm glad you're alright and didn't get an eye full of gas or worse. You've had a rough year.

But you gotta admit that video is funny.

1) Wife helping push -- You did well. Betty is a keeper. Any woman that will help with repairs or help push is awsome partner.

2) The gas geyser itself. I had carbs on my original teener for a decade and never had anything like that occur. I probably wouldn't have belived you but the video is priceless.

Again, very sorry all of this happened but thanks for posting it. It really made me chuckle! You gotta love the quirks of vintage cars and carbs. I agree with you on FI being the cat's meow. However, the failure mode of FI is that a crank sensor just dies randomly and then your walking. Not exactly an ideal failure mode. Fortunately, it is a very rare occurrence but I've been there done that too!

I also need to commit percussive maintenance to my list of sayings that are priceless.

[ClayPerrine]

Clay -- I'm glad you're alright and didn't get an eye full of gas or worse. You've had a rough year.

But you gotta admit that video is funny.

1) Wife helping push -- You did well. Betty is a keeper. Any woman that will help with repairs or help push is awsome partner.

2) The gas geyser itself. I had carbs on my original teener for a decade and never had anything like that occur. I probably wouldn't have belived you but the video is priceless.

Again, very sorry all of this happened but thanks for posting it. It really made me chuckle! You gotta love the quirks of vintage cars and carbs. I agree with you on FI being the cat's meow. However, the failure mode of FI is that a crank sensor just dies randomly and then your walking. Not exactly an ideal failure mode. Fortunately, it is a very rare occurrence but I've been there done that too!

I also need to commit percussive maintenance to my list of sayings that are priceless.

No gas in the eyes..... that is a small advantage of wearing glasses.

Betty is a 914 person. She has owned one longer than I have, and she has done maintenance on them when I was unable. She can handle almost anything I can on a car. She admits that I am much faster, though.

And yes, the video is funny. That's why I wanted to share it with friends.

Clay