Hello.
Long story short I am attempting to take care of my 87 yesr old father’s pride and joy with none of his auto skills. Feeling incredibly inept.
Latest problem is pronounced leak from each float bowl from the banjo connection. The car runs well otherwise. I’m struggling to know how hard it is to rebuild just the float bowls.
As an indicator of my overall incompetence I don’t know how to get at the air filter even after pulling the canister out of the car.
I feel your pain Bill, somedays, even though I’ve worked on cars since I was a kid, these cars make me feel completely inept too. I guess that’s what makes it special when you have a good day. Which banjo, the top or the side? If it’s the top one then you have an issue with the float/valve which is letting too much fuel in, if it’s the side one then it’s your seals on the banjo bolt and you need some new ones. The late Jerry M. once assured me that these were very tough fittings and I was being too gentle with tightening them. I’m still gentle with them but Jerry was a pretty sharp cookie.
You must get a manual as has been suggested. however if the leak is via the banjo and the fuel is escaping via the overflow pipes then you need to look at the top connection on the float bowls. It is ESSENTIAL that the washer are installed in the correct sequence. You can get an exploded diagram from Burlen fuel systems
https://burlen.co.uk
PS: I would be very careful with how much torque I put on the top banjo as the top piece (float cover) may crack.
Cheers,
LLynn
They’re uncomplicated. Since the car runs fine it’s not a fuel level issue, so you can rule out the float (24), the needle valve (25) and the lever adjustment (27), so you may need only change the fibre washers (30 and 34), the aluminum washer (31) and the lid gasket (28) to make the thing fuel tight. First thing I’d try though is to snug everything up. When you take the assembly apart shake the float to make sure it’s empty - if there’s any gasoline sloshing around inside replace it. Also make sure the filter screen (32) isn’t partially clogged as this will cause backpressure and possibly leakage.
True: proper washers and orientation, no MORE than 10 foot-pounds should be needed.
Thanks to all. I’m going to start with the fiber washers on each side of the banjo and see if that helps. Tightened up the #1 float bowl banjo bolt and the first leak point went away!
I’m going to try removing just the banjo assembly and then replace the gasket/washer on either side of the banjo assembly and see if this sorts it… tightening the bolts was to no avail.
After that doesn’t work (i’m a pessimist) then the next step will be to remove the top of the float bowl and dive in. I’m unclear as to the possiblity of doing this without pulling the carbs completely off the engine…
a big thank you to all who replied.
bill
The bowl tops should be removable: my trick was to leave the top banjo loose, then screw in the large banjo *by hand, till snug, THEN gently tighten the large one, snug up the top one, then fully tighten the large one.
please make sure you can see the difference between the fibre washers. the sequence they are fitted allows the float chamber to vent/breath
Bill,
If fuel is leaking from the top of the float bowl, then the float valve is sticking causing the float bowl to overflow. Tightening up the top connection wont stop that problem in fact it will redirect the leak to the overflow pipe and run onto the floor/road. By the look of things, there is a lot of dried fuel on the carbs, which indicates that the fuel inside the carbs make be similarly gummed up. Its a common problem when cars sit for too long without being started and run. Not a biggie, but requires the float valves to be cleaned or replaced. While you’re in there clean everything and reassemble with new seals.
Dont forget the wee little gasket under the inlet needle.
We’re rooting for you, Bill, and you’re doing us proud.
well i managed to replace the banjo bolt fiber washers to no avail. I’ve ordered replacement gaskets/washers for the float bowls but…
the engine was running fine even when the float bowl was leaking. Doesn’t this indicate that the float bowl was doing a good job in feeding fuel?
does this mean that perhaps by replacing the top gasket etc. i’ll cure the leak?
bill
Eliminate all possible sources of the leak. Narrow it down. You will find it. Then you can educate the rest of us.
Bill,
The large round gasket for the top of the bowl should only come into play when the car is moving because the fuel in the bowl sloshes around. Is it leaking just sitting there idling or worse when you simply energize the pump?
If so then that indicates that either:
Any of these things would cause the fuel level to rise in the bowl and cause it to overflow. Is this what you’re seeing? The fuel bowl gaskets can’t prevent such a leak because the level is simply rising too high.
The leak is when the car is just sitting with engine off and fuel pump on.
In taking off the top of the float bowls each needle felt slightly “gritty” when I slid them up and down manually. I’ll check the floats today to see if perhaps they failed.
There you go. That’s a common failure mode. FYI, they’re probably rubber tipped and most likely petrified if they’re old. The new ones are viton rubber and work well and are cheap enough.
You can reuse the fiber banjo washers several times as long as you keep them oriented the same way as you removed them so any compression marks line up again.
Again, to reiterate, do NOT tighten the bowl holddown tube nuts, until the fuel banjos are tight.
