[xj] Cleaning Zenith Stromberg Carburetors

XJ
1

List:

You may recall, a wayward welder left my car outside his garage for four months in anticipation of repairing the sills. As a result, the gas tanks were half filled with water. A mechanic next door drained the tanks, and installed filters and I was able to drive it back to the garage. But the car was not running correctly. I decided to remove and clean the Zenith-Stromberg carburetors, and found a mess.

See http://www.jag-lovers.org/v.htm?1326593831

The float bowl was filled with a tan, gelatin like substance that must have been water and gasoline. The gas inlet was almost blocked solid the same substance that had apparently dried. And the choke mechanism was also packed solid and therefore rendered useless. I’m surprised the car ran at all.

In about two hours I had everything apart, cleaned, and put back together. The last thing I do after reassembling carburetors is to lift the air piston, allow it to drop and hope for “a solid clunk.” This time, no clunk. I removed the top of the carburetor. I occurred to me that perhpas the piston shaft, that rises into a nipple attached to the carburetor cap, had corroded. I used a wire brush shaped like a small diameter bottle brush (from Harbor Freight) to rearm out the nipple. The smallest size fit the nipple and chucking it in a drill allowed me to turn it easily. I used 0000 steel wool on the outside of the piston tube, which slides into the nipple. Voila!. Solid clunk.

Tomrrow onto the front carburetor.

Regards
Lou

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2

In reply to a message from Lou Danzico personal sent Sun 15 Jan 2012:

Nice job, Lou.

BTW, I recently searched ‘‘rust’’ in the XJ photo section to
get much-needed inspiration for my current rust-repair
project. I saw your 2009 entry. Is this the current state
of your car–what you were hoping to have repaired by the
welder? If so, it definitely needs attention, particularly
the box sections. My 1971 car had similar, though not as
extensive, rust problems and (before losing a radius arm
mount altogether) it exhibited some scary rear wheel
steering on curves.–
The original message included these comments:

In about two hours I had everything apart, cleaned, and put back together. The last thing I do after reassembling carburetors is to lift the air piston, allow it to drop and hope for ‘‘a solid clunk.’’ This time, no clunk. I removed the top of the carburetor. I occurred to me that perhpas the piston shaft, that rises into a nipple attached to the carburetor cap, had corroded. I used a wire brush shaped like a small diameter bottle brush (from Harbor Freight) to rearm out the nipple. The smallest size fit the nipple and chucking it in a drill allowed me to turn it easily. I used 0000 steel wool on the outside of the piston tube, which slides into the nipple. Voila!. Solid clunk.

–
Bob Wilkinson, 73 XJ6
Saint Louis, MO, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
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3

In reply to a message from Lou Danzico personal sent Sun 15 Jan 2012:

Lou,
You know that’s what’s in your tanks too. I have the same
problem with both my xj’s. On the '86 I opened the left tank
(fuel sender and bottom large plug) and thoroughly cleaned
it using detergent and brushes on a long stick over a period
of days, and lastly a rinse with mineral spirits, cleaned
the change over valve an replaced filters. On the right tank
I got lazy after it ran well off the left… I drained it
and flushed with mineral spirits and hoped the pre filter
would keep me safe. It did for about 3 months. The fuel from
the left cleaned tank has always looked pretty clear and
clean in the plastic pre-filter before the changeover valve.
The right tank continues to have a very fine brown (rust)
sediment.
It’s easy to see what gets past this filter and into the
valves and lines whenever you take the output line off and
the fuel spills onto a good pair of jeans! A very fine
fuel/rust soup.

Here’s the real danger, and I was going to start a thread
about this last week but didn’t…
The contaminated fuel positively finds it’s way to all the
fuel related valves. If the changeover valve doesn’t close
off either tank completely it will pull fuel from both tanks
and it returns to the selected tank, over filling it. If the
filler cap seals well the fuel backs up into the purge
canister and vent lines and THAT is dangerous! Just last
week, as my car has been running great and I’ve been driving
it a good bit, I was on the way home after picking my
daughter up from school and I started smelling strong
gasoline fumes, so strong that it burned my eyes a little.
When I got it home I found that the carbon canister was
pouring fuel out of the large vent hose! The canister was
cold to the touch being full of fuel. The right tank was
over full (gushed fuel out when I opened the cap) and the
vent lines in the rear pillars smelled strongly of fumes.

So the potential fire hazard here is obvious. Even more so
was the low mileage XJC coupe on ebay a few months ago. It
started out at a pretty high price as it was mothballed and
a true very fine survivor, but a week into the auction it
was relisted with pic of the car beside a curb with the
right front fender on fire! Smoke billowing out, engine bay
in flames too. It made me feel sick.

But in thinking that I’m getting my car ready for my 16yr
old daughter to drive, this fuel thing has got to be right
from the tanks forward. As expensive as it is, I’m thinking
I may get all three valves new, thoroughly clean both tanks
and work forward including purging vent lines and renewing
the carbon canister. But all this work and money would be
fruitless without thoroughly cleaning out both tanks first
…as I’ve learned the hard way!
Bill–
The original message included these comments:

The float bowl was filled with a tan, gelatin like substance that must have been water and gasoline. The gas inlet was almost blocked solid the same substance that had apparently dried. And the choke mechanism was also packed solid and therefore rendered useless. I’m surprised the car ran at all.

–
'75XJ6C about to be unlumped, '86 XJ6, '67 FHC, '75TR6
moultrie, ga, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
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4

In reply to a message from Lou Danzico personal sent Sun 15 Jan 2012:

And now that I think about it, your car probably doesn’t
have return lines. But the soup will still get to the fuel
valves and freshly rebuilt carbs.
Bill–
'75XJ6C about to be unlumped, '86 XJ6, '67 FHC, '75TR6
moultrie, ga, United States
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5

Yes, terrible how slow these projects go. Although it did take some time to find the parts. And then some family health issues prevented me from doing anything with the welder until late in 2011, and the dumb welder wasted four months.

So, that is the current state of my car. I now have a former business associate who has retired and builds custom rods, and other great stuff, who OFFERED to install the sills. I must retrieve the sills from dumb welder and then I’ll be ready to ask for a date.

Regards
LouOn Jan 15, 2012, at 11:57 AM, Robert Wilkinson wrote:

In reply to a message from Lou Danzico personal sent Sun 15 Jan 2012:

Nice job, Lou.

BTW, I recently searched ‘‘rust’’ in the XJ photo section to
get much-needed inspiration for my current rust-repair
project. I saw your 2009 entry. Is this the current state
of your car–

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6

Bill:

You are correct that the S-1 cars dont’ have any gas valves, just a “T”.

However, I must either clean the tank with the dark, contaminated gas, or change it. I have a good tank from a parts car and I might just clean and coat it, and then swap it out for the bad tank. MIght be a whole lot easier to prepare a tank for use while it is out of the car, rather than cleaning one in the car.

Fortunately , the other tank in the car seems fine. The gas coming out is clean and clear. So I’ll run it on that one.

Has anyone changed a tank on a S-1 lately? I’m just curious how big a job it is?

Regards
Lou
71 XJ6On Jan 15, 2012, at 11:50 AM, slofut wrote:

In reply to a message from Lou Danzico personal sent Sun 15 Jan 2012:

Lou,
You know that’s what’s in your tanks too. I have the same
problem with both my xj’s.

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7

In reply to a message from Lou Danzico personal sent Sun 15 Jan 2012:

I change both tanks on my '72 S1 recently to ones from a SII with
the FI return lines.

Make sure you have new gaskets for the fuel sender, new gas filter
and the O-rings at the top. Clean and check the OHM’s on the sender
if you are having any trouble with the correct amount of fuel being
displayed.

The vent line (braided) at the top of the tank if old and probably
very fragile now. I had to put in a vacuum connector and new piece
of proper size rubber line to connect the broken pieces together.

I will send you the parts image seperately.

Other than those items, it is just R&R from the bottom. Take off
the tank cover, you will have to remove some bumper parts. The
strap piece actually holds the tanks up in the correct spot and the
other mounting piece is just a securing point.

It will take longer the first time, but 3-4 hours should be planned
on. Empty the tank first, of course. The sending unit has wire
attached that are seen from inside the rear fenderwell with the
tire removed for easy access. Jack it up and secure the car on wood
or jack stands…

My '72 car has an electric switching valve now that allows the
returned gas to reenter the tank feeding the engine. Not needed for
a non FI car.–
The original message included these comments:

Has anyone changed a tank on a S-1 lately? I’m just curious how big a job it is?

–
'71 XJ6 383/200R, '72 XJ6 LT1/700R,'74 XJ6 383/700R
Glendora, CA, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
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8

Lou Danzico personal wrote:

List:

You may recall, a wayward welder left my car outside his garage for four months in anticipation of repairing the sills. As a result, the gas tanks were half filled with water. A mechanic next door drained the tanks, and installed filters and I was able to drive it back to the garage. But the car was not running correctly. I decided to remove and clean the Zenith-Stromberg carburetors, and found a mess.

See http://www.jag-lovers.org/v.htm?1326593831

The float bowl was filled with a tan, gelatin like substance that must have been water and gasoline. The gas inlet was almost blocked solid the same substance that had apparently dried. And the choke mechanism was also packed solid and therefore rendered useless. I’m surprised the car ran at all.

So am I, Lou…

Good work, well done - and it will pay off…:slight_smile:

Frank
xj6 85 Sov Europe (UK/NZ)>In about two hours I had everything apart, cleaned, and put back together. The last thing I do after reassembling carburetors is to lift the air piston, allow it to drop and hope for “a solid clunk.” This time, no clunk. I removed the top of the carburetor. I occurred to me that perhpas the piston shaft, that rises into a nipple attached to the carburetor cap, had corroded. I used a wire brush shaped like a small diameter bottle brush (from Harbor Freight) to rearm out the nipple. The smallest size fit the nipple and chucking it in a drill allowed me to turn it easily. I used 0000 steel wool on the outside of the piston tube, which slides into the nipple. Voila!. Solid clunk.

Tomrrow onto the front carburetor.

===================================================
The archives and FAQ will answer many queries on the XJ series…
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9

In reply to a message from Lou Danzico personal sent Sun 15 Jan 2012:

Lou,
You’re on the right track. Clean and seal the tank from the
parts car first, then swap it out.
It’s not to bad a job, but the bolts behind the heat shield
beside the muffler are a pain.
You’ll need a long thin wrench. Is your parts car a series 1
or early carb ser 2? The ser3 cars
have different size fuel hose fittings that you’d have to
adapt but no big deal. Once the tank is out
check underneath the top of the quarter panel for rust,
especially around the fuel filler recess.
Use a good flashlight. Also don’t forget to order new seals
for the bottom bungs, the fuel sender hole and maybe new
retainer rings (only a buck for new).
Bill–
The original message included these comments:

However, I must either clean the tank with the dark, contaminated gas, or change it. I have a good tank from a parts car and I might just clean and coat it, and then swap it out for the bad tank. MIght be a whole lot easier to prepare a tank for use while it is out of the car, rather than cleaning one in the car.

–
'75XJ6C about to be unlumped, '86 XJ6, '67 FHC, '75TR6
moultrie, ga, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
–Support Jag-lovers - Donate at http://www.jag-lovers.org/donate04.php –

===================================================
The archives and FAQ will answer many queries on the XJ series…
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